Archive for the ‘genetics’ category: Page 427
Dec 28, 2017
Faster, stronger, better jumpers: Genetically engineered ‘super-horses’ to be born in 2019
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics
Scientists, who had previously cloned polo ponies, have achieved yet another breakthrough in their work that could lead to the creation of genetically engineered “super-horses” that are faster, stronger and better jumpers than regular horses within two years.
Scientists in Argentina reportedly managed to rewrite the genomes of cloned horses by using a powerful DNA editing technique called CRISPR. They also produced healthy embryos that are now expected to be implanted into a surrogate mother by 2019.
CRISPR, an acronym that stands for Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeats, is basically a technique in a bacteria’s immune system. When a virus invades a bacterial cell, the CRISPR system captures a piece of the virus’s DNA and slides it into a section of the bacteria’s own DNA, allowing it to detect and destroy the virus as well as similar viruses in future attacks.
Dec 27, 2017
Crispr Isn’t Enough Any More. Get Ready for Gene Editing 2.0
Posted by Derick Lee in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, transportation
Usually, when we’ve referred to Crispr, we’ve really meant Crispr/Cas9—a riboprotein complex composed of a short strand of RNA and an efficient DNA-cutting enzyme. It did for biology and medicine what the Model T did for manufacturing and transportation; democratizing access to a revolutionary technology and disrupting the status quo in the process. Crispr has already been used to treat cancer in humans, and it could be in clinical trials to cure genetic diseases like sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia as soon as next year.
But like the Model T, Crispr Classic is somewhat clunky, unreliable, and a bit dangerous. It can’t bind to just any place in the genome. It sometimes cuts in the wrong places. And it has no off-switch. If the Model T was prone to overheating, Crispr Classic is prone to overeating.
Even with these limitations, Crispr Classic will continue to be a workhorse for science in 2018 and beyond. But this year, newer, flashier gene editing tools began rolling off the production line, promising to outshine their first-generation cousin. So if you were just getting your head around Crispr, buckle up. Because gene-editing 2.0 is here.
Dec 26, 2017
Bioquark Inc. — The Becoming SuperHuman Podcast
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, biotech/medical, cryonics, DNA, futurism, genetics, health, science
Tags: aging, anti-aging, biotech, biotechnology, healthspan, immortality, lifespan, longevity
Dec 25, 2017
FDA Approves First Ever Gene Therapy for Inherited Disease
Posted by Brady Hartman in categories: biotech/medical, genetics
The success of a gene therapy for blindness caused by a genetic mutation paves the way for gene therapies which treat other forms of blindness as well as similar treatments which treat other diseases.
FDA approves novel gene therapy to treat patients with a rare form of blindness. The first gene therapy approved for inherited disease.
Dec 22, 2017
Researchers Discover Key to Diseases in Mitochondrial DNA Mutations
Posted by Brady Hartman in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension, nuclear energy
New view on mitochondrial DNA could put the brakes on mutations that drive diseases. Scientists perform landmark sequencing of mitochondrial DNA and discover surprising facts.
Summary: New view on mitochondrial DNA could help put the brakes on mutations that drive diseases. [Author: Brady Hartman. This article first appeared on LongevityFacts.]
DNA sequences between mitochondria inside a single cell are vastly different, reported scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. This discovery will help to illuminate the underlying mechanisms of diseases that start with mutations in mitochondrial DNA and provide clues about how patients might respond to specific treatments. The researchers published their findings in the journal Cell Reports this week.
Continue reading “Researchers Discover Key to Diseases in Mitochondrial DNA Mutations” »
Dec 21, 2017
Bioquark Inc. — Beyond Confidence — Biotechnology and Human Health
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, biotech/medical, DNA, futurism, genetics, health, life extension, neuroscience
Dec 20, 2017
Bioquark Inc. — Make 90 the new 50! — Healing Ties Podcast
Posted by Ira S. Pastor in categories: aging, bioengineering, biological, cryonics, DNA, genetics, health, life extension, science, transhumanism
Dec 19, 2017
FDA Just Approved The First-Ever Gene Therapy For an Inherited Disease
Posted by Shane Hinshaw in categories: biotech/medical, genetics
In a historic move, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a pioneering gene therapy for a rare form of childhood blindness, the first such treatment cleared in the United States for an inherited disease.
The approval signals a new era for gene therapy, a field that struggled for decades to overcome devastating setbacks but now is pushing forward in an effort to develop treatments for haemophilia, sickle-cell anaemia, and an array of other genetic diseases.
Yet the products, should they reach patients, are likely to carry stratospheric prices – a prospect already worrying consumer advocates and economists.
Continue reading “FDA Just Approved The First-Ever Gene Therapy For an Inherited Disease” »
Dec 18, 2017
Mutant mosquitoes. Gene drive. And a bold vision to eradicate Zika
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: biotech/medical, genetics
Just three years ago, the idea of wiping out disease-causing mosquitoes using gene drives seemed a distant theoretical possibility. Now it’s in reach.