Hello everyone! Since finals are over, it’s finally time I start making a posting schedule. I’ll try to get you updated once a week.
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Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats or CRISPR is a bacterial defense mechanism against repeated virus attacks. The bacteria is able to do this by cutting the viruses RNA. (Note: This is extremely simplified.)
Scientists have taken this and made a version adapted to human needs. The Broad Institute says that, "When the target DNA is found, Cas9 – one of the enzymes produced by the CRISPR system – binds to the DNA and cuts it, shutting the targeted gene off. Using modified versions of Cas9, researchers can activate gene expression instead of cutting the DNA. These techniques allow researchers to study the gene’s function."
CRISPR has many purposes including:
- Disease treatment (By turning on and off genes, traits can be determined i.e. curing Huntington's, HIV, etc.)
- Stronger crops (Helps plants survive in harsh conditions)
- Stop allergic reactions to food (Turns off genes that cause allergic reaction)
- There are many more, these are just some.
Finally, the pros and cons of CRISPR.
PROS:
Can cure genetic diseases in humans
Crops become resistant to pests and diseases
Inexpensive to use
Cancer treatment
CONS:
Causes mutations and changes to the Germ-line
Takes a long time to use and experiment on
Side-effects
So, what do you think? Should we use CRISPR?
Anyways, thank you for reading the post! Tune in next week for more information :D
I tried to use a slogan generator and this is what showed up:
Science, good.
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