V. D. Chouwa
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CRISPR-Cas9 GENOME EDITING
We've explored a handful of biotechnology concepts in previous tutorials, but now it's time to introduce what is undoubtedly the most promising biotechnology technique of the last decade. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a genome editing technology that has revolutionised molecular biology because of its precise and site-specific gene editing capabilities, which essentially allow an unprecedented level of control over the manipulation of a living organism's genetic information. How does it work mechanistically and what are its applications? Let's take a closer look, starting with some historical context. In 1987, Atsuo Nakata and his research team at Osaka University in Japan first reported the presence of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, or CRISPR, in the Escherichia coli genome. These are short, repeated sequences of DNA nucleotides found in the genomes of prokaryotes. These sequences are the same when read from 5' to 3' on one strand of DNA and from 5' to 3' on the complementary strand, and are therefore referred to as palindromic repeats, in the same way that we refer to words like racecar or kayak as palindromes because they are the same when read forward or backward. This was further reported in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, as well as archaea, raising the obvious question of the relevance of CRISPR to these organisms, which drove research for some time. Later, in the mid-2000s, the functionality and importance of CRISPR was first realised in prokaryotes. It turns out that the CRISPR system is a key component of their adaptive immunity, which protects these prokaryotes from attack by viral DNA, bacteriophages and plasmids.
By V. D. Chouwa3 years ago in FYI
Is meat really unhealthy ?
When our vegetarian ancestors started eating meat around two million years ago, it wasn't just because animals taste good, it was out of necessity. Climate change made many of the plants our ancestors relied on less available, and meat filled the gap. At least since the discovery of fire, meat has been a staple of the human diet. But in recent years, eating meat has been increasingly associated with health risks such as heart disease, certain cancers and early death. So how unhealthy is meat really?
By V. D. Chouwa3 years ago in FYI
