My lab is daily working on cloning, performing genetic manipulations and constructing mutant genes by using PCR and #CRISPR-Cas9 tools (special thanks to outstanding scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna!)
The WOW effect
For me, it sounds like a usual thing, but for only beginners in this field or any other non-biology related people is something WOW! ( to be honest I am still under this WOW effect, whenever I experiment). Anyway, in this blog, I will tell the story about how we came to where we are now and how close we are to make superheroes even better than X-men! ( no offence to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee)
Intro Synthetic Biology 101
It all started in the early 60x of the 20th century! Biologists, called selectors studied Botanics (the study of plants). One group decided to put plants under the UV light.
(FYI: the UV light can break DNA and cause mutations. so, if your mama* or papa* tells you not to go under the SUN, it is better to listen to ). Back to the story! The UV light caused some random mutations in the plant genome. This is how scientists got their first "alien" new types of plants!
The recent Noble prize discovery was CRISPR-Cas9 molecule, the magic bullet that recognises desired sequence and cuts it off. What does it mean for us? It is a big step towards personalised treatment development for patients with cancer and other serious disorders.
After one decade we could already isolate those genes from plants and animals and clone them into bacteria ( famous E.coli) to understand the function of these genes and develop drugs.
In 1974, we could create the first transgenetic animal models! By getting a special certificate of allowance in this field, researchers could design bacteria that maintained the oil resources, isolated insulin, growth and coagulation factors! Only in 1994, the market presented the first GMO foods.
Later on, business got interested in this and now we have farms with hyper-muscular pigs, really long and fatty salmon and hairless skinny pets. Sadly to say, our great discoveries became more involved in the market. People get pets with fluorescent genes and we have no idea what they will do with them and how it can change our environment and ecosystem.
The recent Noble prize discovery was the CRISPR-Cas9 molecule, the magic bullet that recognises the desired sequence and cuts it off. What does it mean for us? It is a big step towards personalised treatment development for patients with cancer and other serious disorders. OR it can lead to some different and crucial events like cloning, designing perfect people (like in the movie #Gattaca: if you have not watched yet, strongly recommend it) or bioweapon designs? Depends on how crazy or great our minds!
References:
1. Cong, L., Ran et.al (2013). Multiplex genome engineering using CRISPR/Cas systems. Science,339,819-823.
2.Ted talk: Jennifer Doudna (2015). "How CRISPR-Cas9 let's us edit our DNA".
3.TV documentary series " Unnatural Selection" (2018) Netflix.
4.An educational youtube channel Kurzgesaght episode (2016). "Genetic Engineering will change everything forever - CRISPR.
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