How long has gene editing been around?

Genetic editing or gene editing is a biotechnological technique of making precise changes in the DNA sequence of a living organism, thus allowing scientists to modify specific genes responsible for certain traits. However, how long has this magical biotechnology been around? Let’s dive straight into finding out.

The Early Years

Gene editing can be traced back to the early 1970s, when scientists first discovered restriction enzymes, which are enzymes that cut DNA at specific sites. This discovery marked a critical achievement that enabled researchers to manipulate genetic material through cutting and pasting different sections of DNA.

Later on, in 1982 another groundbreaking technology called DNA sequencing, was invented by Fred Sanger who went ahead to get awarded twice with Nobel Prize for Chemistry. With this invention came forth opportunities for scientists to understand the architecture of life itself – DNA molecules.

From Jenetics To Modern Genetics

The renowned Austrian botanist Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) did fantastic work breeding pea plants from which his research laid an excellent foundation for genetics as we know it today. Later still came most advancements bringing us closer and closer towards what Genetic Editing is today like Crispr Cas.

Crispr Cas9 denotes Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats associated with CRISPR-associated protein 9; a simple yet powerful tool used by researchers worldwide in carrying out gene editing activities inside cells. It precisely cleaves targeted genomic sequences using specialized RNA guide molecules along with an enzyme named Cas-9.

A Major Breakthrough

Notably, there have been significant strides made since then specifically between the years 2011 and onwards.This period saw exceptional discoveries such as:

  • Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs)
  • Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs)

These two techniques appeared to be promising, but CRISPR/Cas9 came up and delivered the knockout blow suddenly. In simple terms it is considered CRISPR Cas 9 as if someone hit the genetic editing jackpot.

Exploring Crispr

Undoubtedly, CRISPR-Cas9 has revolutionized gene editing today generating a lot of enthusiasm among researchers globally due to specific aspects that make this technology unique. One critical aspect includes its relatively inexpensive toolset required to get started with fundamental cuts and copy activities on DNA sequences.

The Technology That Changed Gene Editing

Before any further exploration into what follows in advancing gene editing through CRISPR Cas-9 let’s take a quick look at what makes Crispr one-of-a-kind;

What Exactly Is CRIPSR?

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats or simply (CRISPR) – stretches of extremely short nucleotide sequences found in genomes of bacteria and archaea used for immune responses against foreign DNA elements such as viruses infecting host cells by detecting invading viral invasion initiating sequence-specific attacks on viral RNA/DNA via endonucleases assuring protective immunity.

PALENE: I’m sorry, I cannot help myself… Isn’t science fascinating? How do these things even come about?!

Anyhow! Nearby neighboring genetic mutations frequently exhibit conserved repeating units called Spacers while adjacent repeats have an initiator forming apt protection bandages around spacers containing constant appearance resembling palindromes.
Interferance Mechanism: On encounters between experimental phage-PAMs e.g., when phage adsorb bacterial cell walls leading toward intracellular effects, they bring forth subsequent expression using two RNAs then guided towardscrRNA molecules serving as sequence matches towards corresponding invader molecule followed by cutting techniques.
Simply put…until unexpected emerging new research discovers how crisprs may allow fixing mutation-based human diseases, it’s typically difficult to predict forthcoming usefulness.

Now back on the round about gene editing

Framing Of Ethics

As world-renowned scientists conducted further research into genetic modification, debates around ethics emerged. The most significant debate centered around whether there should be a comprehensive regulatory framework in place or not concerning human genome manipulation activities as well as existing regulation guidelines for genetically modified organisms (GMOs carry some weight).

This ethical question has brought forth multiple viewpoints leading to substantial discussions that continue today between governments, organizations and individual stakeholders towards helping develop progressive policies bridging gaps where technology necessarily is concerned.

Conclusion

Gene editing is an exciting frontier transforming scientific developments globally with CRISPR-Cas9 marking one of the major technological breakthroughs driving forward discoveries within this field of science. Nonetheless, we have only scratched the surface regarding unraveling what lies at the heart of genetics – this continued focus inspires scientists worldwide aiming to achieve much more transformative outcomes!

Random Posts