The Nuffield Council on Bioethics says changing the DNA of a human embryo could be ‘morally permissable’ if it is in the child’s best interests.
Ian Sample Science editor.
CRISPR has been heralded as one of the most important breakthroughs in modern science, but there could be a hidden and potentially dangerous side effect to the wonders of its genetic editing technology, a new study reveals.
A systematic investigation of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in mouse and human cells has discovered that the technique appears to frequently cause extensive mutations and genetic damage that the researchers say wouldn’t be detected by existing DNA tests.
“This is the first systematic assessment of unexpected events resulting from CRISPR/Cas9 editing in therapeutically relevant cells,” explains geneticist Allan Bradley from the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK.
Recent research led by Professor G.V. Shivashankar of the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology (IFOM) in Italy, has revealed that mature cells can be reprogrammed into re-deployable stem cells without direct genetic modification — by confining them to a defined geometric space for an extended period of time.
“Our breakthrough findings will usher in a new generation of stem cell technologies for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine that may overcome the negative effects of geonomic manipulation,” said Prof Shivashankar.
Researchers isolated several mutations leading to melanoma and reproduced them in the lab using CRISPR.
Two papers authored by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco described the genetic changes that turn harmless moles into malignant melanomas and the experiment they devised to recreate the step-by-step evolution of normal skin cells into cancer cells [1], [2].
Summary ([1])
Continue reading “Two Papers Trace The Steps Leading From Moles to Melanomas” »
Derrick Broze, Guest Waking Times
New scientific research is causing scientists to rethink what they believe about the static nature of genes. What do these discoveries mean for a species increasingly facing environmental and political calamity?
Ongoing discoveries regarding how environmental factors can affect life on the genetic level are causing many scientists and researchers to rethink the notion that the genetic makeup of an individual is static and unchanging. Most recently, a team of researchers with Tufts University has found evidence which suggests stress or mistreatment during childhood can lead to genetic changes which are passed down to the victim’s children and grandchildren. Larry Feig and his team have shown that inducing stress on mice can lead to genetic changes which are imprinted on the sperm. This same effect has been found in male humans as well.
Continue reading “What Does Epigenetics Mean for Humanity’s Awakening?” »
Canadian researchers have discovered a new and direct molecular mechanism to stop cancer cells from proliferating. In the prestigious journal Nature Cell Biology, scientists from Université de Montréal show that a disruption of a fine balance in the composition of ribosomes (huge molecules that translate the genetic code into proteins) results in a shutdown of cancer cell proliferation, triggering a process called senescence.
“Ribosomes are complex machines composed of both RNAs and proteins that make all the proteins necessary for cells to grow,” said UdeM biochemistry professor Gerardo Ferbeyre, the study’s senior author. Cancer cells grow and proliferate relentlessly and thus require a massive amount of ribosomes, he explained. Growing cells must coordinate the production of both ribosomal RNAs and ribosomal proteins in order to assemble them together in strict proportion to each other.
“We were surprised, however, to find that if the production of ribosomal RNA–protein proportions are driven out of balance in a cancer cell, proliferation can be shut down by in a very simple and direct manner,” said Ferbeyre.
Life extension genetics.
Many factors contribute to exceptional longevity, with genetics playing a significant role. However, to date, genetic studies examining exceptional longevity have been inconclusive. This comprehensive review seeks to determine the genetic variants associated with exceptional longevity by undertaking meta-analyses.
Meta-analyses of genetic polymorphisms previously associated with exceptional longevity (85+) were undertaken. For each variant, meta-analyses were performed if there were data from at least three independent studies available, including two unpublished additional cohorts.
