CRISPR critics say gene editing results in ‘unknowable mistakes’. Here’s how scientists are addressing that challenge

CRISPR critics say gene editing results in ‘unknowable mistakes’. Here’s how scientists are addressing that challenge

Marc Airhart | 
One of the grand challenges with using CRISPR-based gene editing on humans is that the molecular machinery sometimes makes changes ...
Increasing yields without genetic modification? A bio-spray that silences plant genes is in the works

Increasing yields without genetic modification? A bio-spray that silences plant genes is in the works

The use of bioactive molecules has shown the capability to infiltrate into plant leaves and into the cells themselves with ...
300,000 Americans contract Lyme disease each year. A gene editing solution could reduce that dramatically

300,000 Americans contract Lyme disease each year. A gene editing solution could reduce that dramatically

Hillery Metz, Sara LaJeunesse | 
Reducing tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, may now be possible thanks to two new gene editing methods developed by ...
Nature vs nurture? ‘Culture is not a mere moderator of our biology, but a fully fledged cause’

Nature vs nurture? ‘Culture is not a mere moderator of our biology, but a fully fledged cause’

Lisa Feldman Barrett | 
Few scientists today would say that 100% of your attributes are inborn or are learned; the debate tends to be ...
Rwandan genocide permanently altered survivors' DNA, epigenetic study finds

Rwandan genocide permanently altered survivors’ DNA, epigenetic study finds

Scientists with the USF Genomics program and Center for Global Health and Infectious Disease Research have taken a significant step ...
Why is eugenics back in public conversation?

Why is eugenics back in public conversation?

Jennifer Marquez | 
A century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that legal scholars generally consider to be among the ...
Is there an ‘exercise gene’? Scientists believe CRISPR guided gene therapy could help curb muscle loss in elderly people

Is there an ‘exercise gene’? Scientists believe CRISPR guided gene therapy could help curb muscle loss in elderly people

“Many millions of elderly people worldwide suffer from sarcopenia, a disease that is characterized by muscle wasting. A large proportion ...
Happy anniversary CRISPR: Transformative gene editing technology is 10 years old. What's next?

Happy anniversary CRISPR: Transformative gene editing technology is 10 years old. What’s next?

Geulah Livshits | 
2022 marks 10 years since the initial publications characterizing Cas9 as a programmable RNA-guided endonuclease. These findings have led to ...
Who owns the rights to CRISPR? In startling blow to Nobel Prize winners Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, Boston’s Broad Institute awarded patent

Who owns the rights to CRISPR? In startling blow to Nobel Prize winners Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, Boston’s Broad Institute awarded patent

Megan Molteni | 
Ending the latest chapter in a years-long legal battle over who invented CRISPR, the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled ...
For the first time, CRISPR gene editing tools were injected into the human body — and cured a patient's blindness. What’s next?

For the first time, CRISPR gene editing tools were injected into the human body — and cured a patient’s blindness. What’s next?

Mark McCord | 
More evidence for the efficacy of a groundbreaking new gene-editing medical procedure has emerged, deepening hope it will provide one-shot treatments or ...
Genetic gold rush: Next generation CRISPR gene editing techniques poised to develop new wave of targeted drugs

Genetic gold rush: Next generation CRISPR gene editing techniques poised to develop new wave of targeted drugs

Megan Molteni | 
In the 10 years leading up to 2012, 200 papers mentioned CRISPR. In 2020 alone, there were more than 6,000 ...
Genetic innovations top Nature’s list of most anticipated science advances of 2022

Genetic innovations top Nature’s list of most anticipated science advances of 2022

Michael Eisenstein | 
From gene editing to protein-structure determination to quantum computing, here are seven technologies that are likely to have an impact ...
Black Americans are under-represented in genetic studies. Here's why that’s an issue — and what's being done to address it

Black Americans are under-represented in genetic studies. Here’s why that’s an issue — and what’s being done to address it

Erin Garcia de Jesus | 
The overwhelming majority of genetic data is from people of European ancestry. As of early January, nearly 96 percent of ...
Some endangered species can no longer survive in the wild. So should we alter their genes to protect them?

Some endangered species can no longer survive in the wild. So should we alter their genes to protect them?

TIffany Kosch | 
Around the world, populations of many beloved species are declining at increasing rates. According to one grim projection, as many as ...
How are animals and plants adapting to our increasingly warming and polluted world?

How are animals and plants adapting to our increasingly warming and polluted world?

Amit Katwala | 
Peppered moths living in industrial areas of Britain were getting darker, better for blending in against the soot-blackened buildings and ...
7,000 rare diseases: CRISPR gene editing-based therapy has led to cures and offers hope for 30 million Americans

7,000 rare diseases: CRISPR gene editing-based therapy has led to cures and offers hope for 30 million Americans

Meeri Kim | 
CRISPR-Cas9, whose creators were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry a mere eight years after its discovery, allows researchers ...
Epigenetics and trauma: How the Rwanda genocide scarred survivors' yet-to-be-born children

Epigenetics and trauma: How the Rwanda genocide scarred survivors’ yet-to-be-born children

Natalie Crowley | 
In 1994, one of the most horrific civil wars took place in the rural country of Rwanda. In a period ...
Genetically modified babies? Turkish-based medical tourism company says they can help you make one

Genetically modified babies? Turkish-based medical tourism company says they can help you make one

Pete Shanks | 
Heal2Go describes itself as “an innovative medical travel platform” with a mission “to make medical traveling easier… We’re working on ...
‘Deleting’ disease? How gene editing and transgenic GMO technology can cut disorders before they are inherited

‘Deleting’ disease? How gene editing and transgenic GMO technology can cut disorders before they are inherited

Elizabeth Rayne | 
What has now been proven possible was once the stuff of science fiction dreams. CRISPR has shown it can successfully ...
Disease free future? Debating the prospects of human embryo gene editing

Disease free future? Debating the prospects of human embryo gene editing

Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced that he had produced the first gene-edited human babies on November 27, 2018, shocking an ...
CRISPR’s biggest challenge is addressing complex hereditary ailments like cystic fibrosis — but progress is being made

CRISPR’s biggest challenge is addressing complex hereditary ailments like cystic fibrosis — but progress is being made

Bill Alpert | 
Treatments based on the Nobel-prize winning Crispr gene-editing approach can make permanent changes to a genetic flaw— but those edits ...
CRISPR gene-editing techniques could prevent illness by reprogramming gut bacteria

CRISPR gene-editing techniques could prevent illness by reprogramming gut bacteria

Robert Sanders | 
To date, CRISPR enzymes have been used to edit the genomes of one type of cell at a time: They ...
CRISPR gene therapy shows great promise — but evidence suggests caution about unintended consequences is warranted

CRISPR gene therapy shows great promise — but evidence suggests caution about unintended consequences is warranted

Gemma Wilson | 
CRISPR-Cas9 works by creating double-stranded DNA breaks at specific points in a DNA sequence, allowing scientists to target and edit ...
3 years ago, CRISPR was used to alter the genes of two babies in China. How are they faring now?

3 years ago, CRISPR was used to alter the genes of two babies in China. How are they faring now?

Vivien Marx | 
Three years after the ‘CRISPR babies’ burst into the public eye and caused outrage, their fate remains shrouded in secrecy ...
Regrowing limbs using CRISPR? It’s been done with lizards, with hopes that human limb regeneration will be possible in the future

Regrowing limbs using CRISPR? It’s been done with lizards, with hopes that human limb regeneration will be possible in the future

Ricki Lewis | 
I’ve admired the cockroach’s ability to regrow lost legs since learning about them while working on my PhD in developmental ...
How epigenetic tweaks can increase corn and soybean yields

How epigenetic tweaks can increase corn and soybean yields

Laurie Bedford | 
Through a field of science called epigenetics, [Sound Agriculture's On-Demand Breeding] platform increases or reduces expression of existing genes in ...
Programming biology: How gene synthesis will lead to a host of medical and drug innovations

Programming biology: How gene synthesis will lead to a host of medical and drug innovations

Yiren Lu | 
As a customer, you can visit the Twist website, upload a spreadsheet with the DNA sequence that you want, select ...
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