Not every genetic modification has to involve a violent cleaving of nucleotides to insert or remove sections of the genome. The most common form this type of change takes involves what are termed double-strand breaks (DSBs) and they have long been something that scientists have wanted to avoid if possible. You may remember us discussing […]
Cloning has long been a topic fraught with controversy and vocalized concern about where the technology would lead. While we still grapple with these ideas to this very day, the science itself continues to move forward toward a better understanding of how cloning works and what repercussions biologically it might have. Or might not have, […]
Sudden death syndrome is, as the name would suggest, a devastating disease. It first emerged in Arkansas in 1971 and has since spread across the US and even into South America by the 1990’s, causing heavy fatalities. The fungus that causes it, Fusarium virguliforme, can be considered the root of one of the most deadly […]
The benefits of modern gene editing techniques and tools come with some downsides. While the precision of new and improved CRISPR systems is continually on the rise, there are some fundamental aspects of the tools that scientists have long wished we could work around, in order to reduce even the most minimal risk of off-target […]
Drought continues to be a primary driver of famine and crop loss around the world, with the accompanied water shortages not only affecting food production, but also drinking water availability. It is predicted that, by 2025, over two and a half billion people will be facing those sort of water shortages, especially as the effects […]
Recent events shed a light on what we possibly face in the future, as hurricanes and other weather events become more severe due to the increased energy capacity of the atmosphere from greenhouse gas influx. The colloquial term for this process is climate change. And scientists are hard at work on finding ways to mitigate […]
Decoding the impact of genetic manipulation is a convoluted task. When it comes to investigating multi-layered diseases like Parkinson’s, it is fully expected that a whole host of genes in sequence or applied in simultaneity are used to promote onset of the disease. The process of figuring out which genes are involved or, conversely, which […]
Being one of the earliest focused upon diseases for CRISPR to treat other than retinitis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy has seen a lot of scientific effort be put into finding a cure or at least a palliative treatment to restore some amount of strength. Previous attempts have involved various types of viral vectors to help remove […]
The field of embryology continues to be one with more mysteries than answers. Since it is difficult in many countries around the world to work directly with human embryos, animal models are often the best we can do. To a certain extent, stem cells allow us to at least observe the earliest stages of multicellular […]
Neurodegenerative disease research has long been focused on understanding the underlying genes and molecules involved in the breakdown of mental function. But it is a multi-faceted process, involving some of the most complicated cell types in the human body. The main focal point has been on determining how the diseases progress and what can be […]
