New Way To Turn Genes On
December 10th, 2014
Summary:
Researchers from MIT have discovered a gene-editing system, originally developed to delete specific genes, that has shown it can be used to reliably turn on any gene in living cells. This new application for the gene-editing system should allow scientists to more easily determine the function of individual genes. This also enables rapid functional screens of the entire genome, allowing scientists to identify genes involved in particular diseases. The system relies of cellular machinery that bacteria use to defend themselves from viral infection. Before, this system could be used as a tool for turning genes off or replacing them with a different version, but now it is engineered to turn genes on, rather than knock them out.
Relevance:
This relates to Term 2 of Biology because the gene-editing system they use is artificially mutating cells, which relates to our study on mutations. Also, by using screening the entire genome of a disease, such as cancer, scientists are able to locate certain genes which may cause cancer to recur and spread, and turn off those genes to prevent the spread of cancer. This second part relates to our short study on cancerous cells.
"New way to turn genes on." Biology News. N.p. 10 December 2014. Web. 11 January 2015. http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2014/12/10/new_way_to_turn_genes_on.html
December 10th, 2014
Summary:
Researchers from MIT have discovered a gene-editing system, originally developed to delete specific genes, that has shown it can be used to reliably turn on any gene in living cells. This new application for the gene-editing system should allow scientists to more easily determine the function of individual genes. This also enables rapid functional screens of the entire genome, allowing scientists to identify genes involved in particular diseases. The system relies of cellular machinery that bacteria use to defend themselves from viral infection. Before, this system could be used as a tool for turning genes off or replacing them with a different version, but now it is engineered to turn genes on, rather than knock them out.
Relevance:
This relates to Term 2 of Biology because the gene-editing system they use is artificially mutating cells, which relates to our study on mutations. Also, by using screening the entire genome of a disease, such as cancer, scientists are able to locate certain genes which may cause cancer to recur and spread, and turn off those genes to prevent the spread of cancer. This second part relates to our short study on cancerous cells.
"New way to turn genes on." Biology News. N.p. 10 December 2014. Web. 11 January 2015. http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2014/12/10/new_way_to_turn_genes_on.html
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