CRISPR Gene Editing: Moving Closer To Home
By Amber Dance,
Discover
| 02. 02. 2024
Around the turn of the century, microbiologists at Danisco USA Inc. had a problem: The bacteria they used to make yogurt and cheese were getting infected with viruses. Investigating more deeply, the scientists found that some bacteria possessed a defense system to fight off such viral invaders. These virus-resistant bacteria carried weird, repetitive collections of DNA letters in their chromosomes — bits of DNA from their encounters with past viruses that the microbes had “saved” in their own genomes. It was a form of molecular memory akin to the way that our own immune system remembers invaders so it can make antibodies against a recurring infection.
In this case, the microbes’ immune system, dubbed CRISPR-Cas, or more casually, just CRISPR, shreds any viral genome that matches the sequences in their molecular memory banks. The yogurt-makers weren’t looking for biotechnology’s Next Big Tool. They just wanted to preserve the products in their vats. But other scientists soon realized the potential value of CRISPR for their own designs: With some modifications, CRISPR allowed them to cut any genetic sequence they wanted to...
Related Articles
Not the species, certainly, but the Institute of that name, which was founded by transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom in 2005 as a research group at Oxford University. According to a recently posted Final Report, its goal was “to pursue the big questions in a transdisciplinary way” by pulling together “researchers from disciplines such as philosophy, computer science, mathematics, and economics.” This evolved before long into the study and promotion of “effective altruism” and “longtermism” as...
By Tristan Manalac, BioSpace | 04.02.2024
Verve Therapeutics has suspended enrollment in the Phase Ib Heart-1 study evaluating its lead gene editing program VERVE-101 following a serious adverse event, the company announced Tuesday.
A patient, who received a 0.45-mg/kg dose of VERVE-101, developed a grade 3...
By Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres, First Monday | 04.14.2024
The stated goal of many organizations in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), an imagined system with more intelligence than anything we have ever seen. Without seriously questioning whether such a system can...
By Harold Brubaker, The Philadelphia Inquirer | 04.04.2024
Acompany started by University of Pennsylvania scientist Jim Wilson has received FDA approval to test a form of gene editing in infants for the first time in the United States, the company said Thursday.
The Plymouth Meeting company, iECURE, is...