Scientists say they have discovered a tool that makes gene editing easier and more precise, opening up possibilities from eliminating diabetes to fighting global warming.
Gene editing is revolutionising medicine, agriculture and biotechAn international race is on for better, more accurate toolsExamine, a free weekly newsletter covering science with a sceptical, evidence-based eye, is sent every Tuesday. You’re reading an excerpt –Now, working with a small but mighty team at the University of Sydney, he may have one-upped her.
The capability to manipulate the code to life itself is one of the great scientific leaps of the century. Gene editors have already used CRISPR toBut CRISPR can introduce dangerous changes to DNA, and treatments using gene editing cost upwards of $2 million. So how could this new tool change the game?CRISPR was derived from the immune systems of bacteria, which use enzymes to slice DNA from invading viruses.
The naturally nomadic genetic material latches onto extremely specific “target sites” on DNA strands. “CRISPR is not a perfect tool. It can introduce undesired changes at times,” Doudna acknowledged at a Sydney Opera House talk last month. The new cutting-edge research in the field, she said, would be scientists finding ways to make CRISPR more efficient, cheaper and easier to deliver therapeutically.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
‘It’s a total game changer’: Australian breakthrough in DNA editingScientists say they have discovered a tool that makes gene editing easier and more precise, opening up possibilities from eliminating diabetes to fighting global warming.
Read more »
‘It’s a total game changer’: Australian breakthrough in DNA editingScientists say they have discovered a tool that makes gene editing easier and more precise, opening up possibilities from eliminating diabetes to fighting global warming.
Read more »
Nelson’s HMS Victory gives scientists vital DNA for battle against deathwatch beetleInsects from the famous Royal Navy flagship are helping experts plot the genome of the notorious timber pest
Read more »
Tiger shark vomits up echidna, startling Australian scientistsA tiger shark's spiky snack has shocked marine researchers.
Read more »
Tiger shark regurgitates whole echidna, leaving Australian scientists ‘stunned’Mammal was likely swimming between Queensland islands when it ‘just got unlucky and got snapped’ – spikes and all – in apparent world-first
Read more »
New vaccine needed for deadly Australian strain of Japanese encephalitis, scientists sayThe mosquito-borne virus killed seven people in Australia in an unprecedented outbreak in 2022.
Read more »