Thank you very much to everyone who attended our student presentation on the world of Genetic Engineering and its future, co-presented by myself Evelyn Day and Jenny Marsh. Initially we covered a brief background into what genes are, where they are and what exactly they do in the body, and why in some cases this can be a problem, such as mutated genes that can cause disease and disability in people. We then explored many areas of the wide field of genetic engineering from some of the basic techniques of genome editing that are commonly used today; gene insertion into an organism via a virus or agrobacterium vector, all the way to DNA ‘cutting and pasting’ with specific DNA enzymes called DNA endonucleases and ligases. We also explored their roles in the research of genetics, for example with Knockout Mice as a valuable research resource into the more specific functions of different genes, and other more medicinal applications in different forms of corrective Gene Therapy, drawing on more specific examples such as a potential genetic treatment for Cystic Fibrosis.
We then moved on to one of the more topical aspects of Genetic engineering today, CRISPR-Cas9, an only relatively recently discovered ancient immune mechanism present in almost all bacteria that allows them to fight and acquire immunity to viral infections. We spoke a little about CRISPR’s history and its recent discovery in 2012 by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, and then on to what it means for genetic engineering. After a viral infection of a bacterium, the CRISPR immune response is designed to target a specific section of that infecting viral DNA that has been incorporated into the bacterial DNA, very quickly and very accurately. The Cas9 ‘cleaver’ protein in the Cas9-RNA complex ‘cuts out’ the offending viral DNA section, leaving a gap in the bacterial DNA (which the organism then closes with one of two response pathways). This gap is crucial for scientists as they are now able to stuff new DNA into it. The revolutionary aspect about CRISPR is the precision, accuracy and reliability to which it functions, traits which most other genome editing techniques fail to exhibit. Its targeting system is very easily reprogrammed to whatever we want, its speed and efficiency cuts the process time from weeks to days, and its simplicity makes it an available tool almost anywhere in the world. We went on to speak about the mixed implications that this has, such as creating artificial gene drives with this technology, and the topic that seems to be often buzzing around the media; ‘designer babies’, and the fact that CRISPR has such a high accessibility to a wide range of scientists of many different abilities and means, pretty much anywhere in the world. Finally, whilst still meditating on these thoughts we ended the presentation with questions on how these powerful tools will shape us, the human race, throughout the future, and what rules and regulations should we put in place to stop ourselves going too far? I hope you all enjoyed our talk! Written by Evelyn Day
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AuthorOur blogs are written by the girls that attend this society. Archives
June 2020
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