The Stuff of Life for the Classroom
Gene editing is the new kid on the block in the fight against disease. This technology holds the potential to cure genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, Type I diabetes and Huntington’s. Although there are several gene editing technologies, the current favourite is CRISPR-Cas9. This was used in a Chinese patient for the first time in 2016 […]
Gene Editing goes Live again Read More »
Undesirable mutations often cause disease. Responsible for these mutations are the Dinky Amigos who make up your DNA. They gallivant about within the double helix and sometimes end up in the wrong place, giving the wrong instruction to your body and causing health problems. Scientists have been manipulating the position of the Dinky Amigos for
Morphing undoes Mutation Read More »
Cash for genes, anyone? We’ve all got them (genes, that is) and someone somewhere may be using them to generate extra funds. How? You ask. How dare they! You cry – or maybe not? The Polymerase Chain Reaction (or PCR for short) has been around for sometime. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993, Mullis and Smith
The Dinky Amigos spend much of their time in a double line (or double strand) paired with their best friends. The line is not straight. Rather it wiggles into a shape that looks something like a spiral staircase. This is known as a double helix. Sometimes, however this double strand has to split and become two
Those Dinky Amigos are an incredibly useful bunch. They can be used help solve criminal cases by identifying a perpetrator. They can identify relationships between current family members or ancestors. They can survive long after their host has died. In this case it is just as well. A woman in Spain claims she is the illegitimate
Dali Dinky Amigos may cost millions Read More »
Our genome has collected over 3 billion base pairs, separated them into 23 parts and packed them as tightly as they can go. Now what? Unlike many collections which just sit there looking pretty, this one has a myriad of uses. Each of the 23 chromosomes are split further. Some of these regions are called genes
The Genome – Part III Read More »
If you read the last post, you will be happy in the knowledge that Alina and Tristan are best friends. Gina and Crispin are even better friends and have a stronger bond. They spend most of their time lying around opposite each other in a long and bendy line known as a double helix. As
The Genome – Part II Read More »
There’s been a lot of talk about what humans can do with us and to us, but what can the Dinky Amigos do for humans? Maybe we should start at the beginning – with the genome. A rather unloved word, I feel. You may hear: “It’s in my DNA” or “It’s in his genes” but