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Researchers Identify Newer and More Precise System For Genome Editing

An anonymous reader writes: Scientists have identified a new advanced molecular system for human genome editing with potential to increase power and precision of genome engineering. The team, including the scientist who first harnessed the CRISPR-Cas9 system for mammalian genome editing, described the features of the new system and demonstrated that it can be engineered to edit the genomes of human cells.

33 comments

  1. Aww... by EmeraldBot · · Score: 3, Funny

    Aww, read that as

    "Researchers Identify Newer and More Precise System For Gnome Editing"

    for a moment there.

    --
    "Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
    1. Re:Aww... by Greyfox · · Score: 1
      Is Gvim still the de-facto thing? I always just use EMACS. I haven't really used Gnome for quite a while, though.

      To stay somewhat on-topic, "Swell, now I'm going to have to learn assembly language for DNA." Which I probably would also use EMACS for. Maybe we could code an ACTUAL gnome, though. That would be confusing and funny at the same time. I'm sure the Germans have a word for that.

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    2. Re:Aww... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Germans actually have a word for "The act of genetically coding the DNA of an actual gnome in assembly, using emacs, and being finding the situation both humorous and confusing"

    3. Re: Aww... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Me too.

    4. Re:Aww... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If we start with genetically-modified midgets we're already halfway to gnomes. It's feasible.

  2. Genius by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    CRISPR

    Your body stores genetic signatures of bad bugs in your immunity DNA, and, well, have a listen.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  3. An anonymous reader writes: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds more like an anonymous/ghost writer to me. In no way a disinterested person. So what is the motivation? $ is involved. PR is a probable.

  4. This is amazing news by Ambassador+Kosh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I would bet that Editas and other companies switch over to this almost immediately. The problem with Cas9 is the blunt ends and that makes it much harder to do highly specific genome editing but it does work. This method looks vastly better and just as easy to work with. It is hard to explain why the creation of sticky ends is so much better. The old method would be like sawing a piece of wood straight through and the new method a cut half way through, a horizontal cut and then completes it the rest of the way down so you have an overhang. The overhang makes the method far more precise for hooking up new sequences.

    I can't wait for us to finally start curing genetic diseases at the source. Biotechnology is progressing so quickly right now and many of the things we have already created are amazing but I don't think this is even the tip of the iceburg yet. Once we can cure genetic problems that will deal with a huge amount of health problems that humans have and these techniques are actually cheap. CRISPR is easy to do and easy to replicate.

    It is going to be an interesting next few decades coming up. :)

    --
    Computer modeling for biotech drug manufacturing is HARD! :)
    1. Re:This is amazing news by anomaly256 · · Score: 1, Funny

      *looks at your username*
      *looks at your user ID*
      *feels a bit anxious and apprehensive*

    2. Re:This is amazing news by Ambassador+Kosh · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You should have looked at my signature. :)

      I have already done some genetic engineering and I am going to be doing a lot more of it in the future since that is part of my profession. There are risks and there will be mistakes but not trying won't help anymore. Imagine how long it would have taken us to make jet airplanes if we didn't even try to learn how to fly until we where completely sure?

      There are drugs today that raise cancer survival rates from 5% to 95%. There are diseases caused by a single defective gene that we can cure. Heck we can now build a robotic arm that has a sense of touch and wire it to your BRAIN. 10 years ago the state of the art was still a danged hook.

      Technology is changing quickly and biotech/nanotech developments are going to allow us to cure problems we never even imagined would be cureable. Long term I hope to work for Google's biotech company and work on solving human aging.

      The best reason ever to climb a mountain is "because it is there" and I feel the same way about this. We have an opportunity that is unlike any other in human history and we can make a real difference and we should find out how to do it safely and accurately. I hope that in 20 years you will be able to go to a doctor and get a security patch shot that upgrades your tumor supressor genes, grants immunity to a wide range of viruses, improves your regeneration capabilities and your lifespan. That is my goal and that is what I am working towards.

      --
      Computer modeling for biotech drug manufacturing is HARD! :)
    3. Re:This is amazing news by anomaly256 · · Score: 1

      Oh the apprehension isn't over the technology or advances we could make. Just the thought of a allegedly benevolent but utterly secretive alien from the Babylon 5 universe being so excited about tinkering with our DNA.

    4. Re:This is amazing news by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      This is old news, CRISPR/Cas9 editing has been around for several years now. You can hire a company to make you a mouse or rat with an edited genome using this system right now.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    5. Re:This is amazing news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Read the summary again. You need the practice.

    6. Re:This is amazing news by tepples · · Score: 1

      But is the mouse genome mapped well enough that one can order a mouse that, say, does not develop hind legs but is otherwise normal?

    7. Re:This is amazing news by javilon · · Score: 2

      The only thing I can say is: Thanks. Thanks a lot.

      Keep up the good work. This is the most important undertaking that can be taken at this time. You and people like you are going to change the world.

      I am an old programmer, maybe too late to change paths. I do try to help the SENS initiative when I can, with money.

      --


      When his defense asked, "Which computer has Jon Johansen trespassed upon?" the answer was: "His own."
    8. Re:This is amazing news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. There is something of a perception that genes are lots of little switches that we can turn on or off like variables in C. It's not that simple. It's more like a billion nested loops that don't have any comments, and no one knows what all the loops are. We can't engineer a radically different or new animal with what we know now, and I wouldn't put a timeline on doing so either. We can study the effects of single gene alterations, but we mostly do that by breaking a given gene and seeing what it does. Even that takes years of effort sometimes.

    9. Re:This is amazing news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd say the answer is a pretty solid, "probably", though I can't imagine why one would want to do that. My field is biology. Though I don't work with mice, developmental biology has been a major focus of my interests over the years.

    10. Re:This is amazing news by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 1

      The mouse and human genomes are fully covered now, however, there are lots of pseudogenes, and lots of polymorphisms. Plus, there is lots of splicing that occurs to make different isoforms of many different proteins. So there are many layers of complexity, but the answer is yes, we can knock out any specific gene quite accurately now. But you often can't knock out genes for body patterning, like hind legs, because they are too important for early fetal development. So knocking many genes out turns out to be "embryonic lethal". So the answer to that question is no, we can't knock out a gene to make mice without back legs.

      --
      A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
    11. Re:This is amazing news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We need to engineer a genome editing bomb that edits out stupidity. When will that happen?

  5. please stop this genome engineering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    genome complexity is an np-problem that we are not able to tackle correctly. This type of research can lead to disasters. Millions of years of crafting and some ppl think they master it in few years ? Think about what was tought as "garbage dna". Crazy biologists.

    1. Re: please stop this genome engineering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't say if troll or just stupid

    2. Re:please stop this genome engineering by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      It's an "aviation problem," that's all. Gaining the ability to fly was highly dangerous, but the advantages were so great that there was no way we could not do it.

      The place to start with human genetic engineering is by knocking out specific single genes we know are associated with diseases life CF or Tay-Sachs. As we learn more about the genome, we will gradually expand into enhancements, like giving everyone tetrachromat vision. Should be recuse from genetic engineering because of the potential danger? If we did, we would inevitably lose out to societies that were willing to take more risks.

    3. Re:please stop this genome engineering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah, so let's take some risks. science is going to save us from all the shit we do. or destroy us.

      btw, there are some very good mechanisms in place to evolve quick, it's cross-breeding.

      and we still don't understand protein folding and enzymes. mad scientists all day long, think that they master their stuff.

      and there are some alternatives to not develop some genetic illnesses, like early hormone therapy. but this doesn't mean making money, and life-long treatments.

      I don't care being "right" in anyone's view right now, but in 10-15 years from now on, I'm pretty sure I'll be.

    4. Re:please stop this genome engineering by delt0r · · Score: 1

      np-hard is about how the problem scales. Genomes and indeed a cell has finite complexity. It is bounded. NP or not.

      also it is not a np problem.

      --
      If information wants to be free, why does my internet connection cost so much?
  6. system system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But is it a system?

  7. Laron syndrome by tepples · · Score: 1

    Maybe we could code an ACTUAL gnome, though

    Part of that depends on what scale of gnomes. Do we want the Poortvliet/Huygen gnomes, who are 15 cm tall like the Lilliputians that live with mice and rats in Who Moved My Cheese and its parodies? Or do we want the more Warcraft-style ones closer in height to dwarves and halflings? If the latter, we could probably start with the allele for Laron syndrome (growth hormone insensitivity), which has fewer adverse effects than some other forms of human dwarfism, and then add a few other desirable traits associated with fantasy gnomes.

  8. To keep them patients longer by tepples · · Score: 1

    Cancer is much too profitable for their AMA.

    I think the point of curing a disease to remission or preventing it entirely is to let patients live longer so that they can be patients longer. Reduce infant mortality and children survive to catch adult ailments. Get the infectious diseases out of the way (measles, mumps, whooping cough, tetanus, Tetris) and people survive to need treatment for type 2 diabetes. Keep the diabetics alive and they survive to need treatment for cancer.

  9. Can any of these system edit DNA in real cells? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I doubt it. It would have to find the right chromosome and the right location. Cause the DNA to be unwound. Edit the DNA. Then wind it back up. It is a first step but not the entire path.

  10. It is still unknown by sherry+Green · · Score: 1

    Uhmm,, I saw this news, it still unknown that if this cpf1 is better than CRISPR Cas9 technology, But some advantage is very clear. I belive the potential of this cpf1.