CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

weatheriscool
Posts: 12727
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Breakthrough in CRISPR research may lead to more effective and safer gene editing
https://phys.org/news/2022-10-breakthro ... -gene.html
by University of Copenhagen
10 years ago we saw a breakthrough in modern biology.

An American scientist discovered that manipulation of the Cas9 protein resulted in a gene technology worthy of a sci-fi film: CRISPR.

Think of it as a pair of molecular scissors capable of cutting and editing the DNA of humans, animals, plants, bacteria and viruses.

The potential is huge and covers anything from deleting hereditary diseases to producing crops able to withstand climate change.

However, like any other new technology, CRISPR has had its challenges. One of the main challenges has been to make the technology as effective as possible and to make sure the scissors only cut where we want them to.

'We have described new mechanisms behind CRISPR'

Two new studies from the University of Copenhagen conducted together with researchers from Aarhus University can help solve these problems.

"We have described new mechanisms behind CRISPR," says Professor of Bioinformatics Jan Gorodkin from the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12727
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

New function of CRISPR gene scissors discovered: Protein scissors activate defense function
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-function- ... otein.html
by University Hospital of Bonn
For several years now, the CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors have been causing a sensation in science and medicine. This new tool of molecular biology has its origins in an ancient bacterial immune system. It protects bacteria from attack by so-called phages (viruses that infect bacteria).

Researchers from the Institute of Structural Biology at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn, in cooperation with the partner University of St Andrews in Scotland and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Hamburg, have now discovered a new function of the gene scissors. The study was published in Nature.

Bacteria and phages have been engaged in a life-and-death struggle on Earth since time immemorial. When an attacking phage injects its genetic material into a bacterium, it is forced to produce new phages, which in turn infect more bacteria. Some bacteria have evolved the CRISPR system in response. With this bacterial immune system, the phage genetic material is recognized and destroyed.
Xyls
Posts: 689
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 9:20 pm

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by Xyls »

Base editing: Revolutionary therapy clears girl's incurable cancer

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/editing-revol ... 13324.html

This quite possibly will be next year's Scientific Breakthrough of the Year, or this one's...
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8663
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
lechwall
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2023 3:39 pm

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by lechwall »

Possibly a very stupid statement but I feel genetic engineering is one of those future technologies which will never be a huge thing.
By the time genetic engineering is ready I feel we'll already have AGI and there'll be more efficient ways to increase our intelligence such as brain computer interfaces. Generally the way we'll enhance ourselves will be through non-biological means.
User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2023
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: Clermont, Indiana, USA, October 7th 2019 B.C.E

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by Time_Traveller »

Gene editing company hopes to bring dodo ‘back to life’
Tue 31 Jan 2023 10.31 EST

The dodo, a Mauritian bird last seen in the 17th century, will be brought back to at least a semblance of life if attempts by a gene editing company are successful.

Gene editing techniques now exist that allow scientists to mine the dodo genome for key traits that they believe they can then effectively reassemble within the body of a living relative.

Dodos are most closely related to pigeons, according to sequencing of the proverbially dead bird’s genome.

The scientists in question said their work, beyond providing an insight into the extinct dodo’s existence, could help inform the conservation of rare species that are not yet extinct. However, there is a fierce debate among biologists over whether this sort of research should be pursued.

Colossal Biosciences, the gene editing company involved, has already embarked on projects to revive the woolly mammoth and the thylacine. But the dodo would be its first bird, which is significant as it means changing the gene editing technique to accommodate an external egg.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... ck-to-life
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12727
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

US survey finds high interest in polygenic screening, genetic editing of embryos
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02- ... netic.html
by Geisinger Health System

An article published today in the journal Science indicates that a substantial proportion of Americans are willing to use an essentially unregulated reproductive genetic technology to increase the chances of having a baby who is someday admitted to a top-100 ranked college.

Survey respondents with college degrees, as well as those under 35 years of age—prime child-bearing age—were more willing to use polygenic embryo screening in conjunction with in vitro fertilization (IVF) to do so, the study found.

Polygenic indexes (also called polygenic risk scores) can provide an estimate of disease risk—or other traits—based on an individual's genes. Private companies working with IVF clinics offer the service to patients who can select an embryo with a lower chance of developing diabetes, cancer, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Alzheimer's disease or schizophrenia as an adult.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12727
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Hijacking our cells' enzymes to eliminate disease-causing proteins

by University of Illinois at Chicago
By studying how enzymes move from one membrane compartment to another inside a cell, scientists at the University of Illinois Chicago have figured out a way to better target cellular proteins, which play a role in many diseases.

Their findings, published in a Cell Reports paper titled "Palmitoylation and PDE6δ regulate membrane-compartment-specific substrate ubiquitylation and degradation," have implications for developing new therapies.

Lead author Shafi Kuchay, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics in the College of Medicine and member of the University of Illinois Cancer Center at UIC, said that most common drugs work by targeting proteins that are located at the membranes of cells. Many of these proteins can cause diseases by being overly active. Unfortunately, most currently available drugs just block the activity of the harmful proteins, and while they are helpful in the short term, resistance to the drugs can develop over time.

"We are interested in understanding how and why ubiquitin ligase enzymes, which can naturally degrade proteins, move around the cellular compartments and are able to find very specific proteins to degrade," Kuchay said. "We want to leverage this natural process so we can repurpose ubiquitin ligase enzymes to completely remove problematic proteins that lead to diseases, as opposed to just blocking their activity."

The researchers looked at a ubiquitin ligase enzyme named FBXL2, known to degrade proteins at various cellular membrane compartments. They found that by attaching or detaching a fat molecule or lipid to FBXL2—a process called palmitoylation and de-palmitoylation—they could direct where the FBXL2 went.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12727
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Using CRISPR-Cas9 to knock out asparagine gene in wheat to reduce cancer risk

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org
https://phys.org/news/2023-02-crispr-ca ... ancer.html
A team of biologists from Rothamsted Research, the University of Bristol and Curtis Analytics Limited—all in the U.K.—has used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system to knock out the asparagine gene in wheat grown in real-world conditions—part of an effort reduce the risk of cancer in people who consume food made from plants that produce the compound. The team has published an article describing their work in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

Scientists have known for a long time that many types of plants and animals produce an amino acid called asparagine, which by itself is not considered harmful. When it is heated to a certain degree, a chemical reaction occurs that results in the production of acrylamide, a carcinogen. Prior research has shown that it can increase the risk of developing cancers in mice.

Asparagine is produced by cows and winds up in both milk and meat, and also by many types of food fish. It is also produced by many crop plants, such as potatoes and asparagus and by many whole grains, including wheat. Medical scientists have not been able to verify whether baked products such as bread have levels of acrylamide high enough to pose a health risk but would like to see levels of asparagine in flour reduced to ensure safety.

Prior research has shown that the amount of asparagine in plants varies depending on weather conditions as they grow. In this new effort, the team in the U.K. sought to reduce the amount produced in wheat plants independent of weather conditions.

Back in 2021, the same research team used CRISPR-Cas9 to remove the gene responsible for the generation of the amino acid in wheat plants to reduce the amount of acrylamide created during baking. They tested their work by growing wheat samples in a greenhouse and measuring asparagine levels after the plants grew to full maturity.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6474
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: CRISPR & Genetic Engineering News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

^^^Interesting. Possibly why some nutritionists warn against highly processed foods and recommend whole foods instead.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
Post Reply