DARPA reveal project to develop gene editing system

[MindWars]

• The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool has made DNA editing more accessible
• DARPA's Safe Genes program aims to develop these technologies safely
• It recently announced awards for seven teams that will pursue this mission
• It could have applications such as the protection of troops against infectious disease and controlling populations of disease-spreading mosquitoes

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DARPA reveal project to develop gene editing system | Daily Mail Online
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Playing God is getting way , way out of hand. All of this is going to create an unnatural balance that isn't going to work out well.
It doesn't matter if you believe in a God or not when that higher power gets ticked off enough at all this bs the world is going to know it.
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End Time Headlines

 

[waltky]

Studies could lead to new treatments for inherited diseases...

'Incredible' editing of life's building blocks
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 - The studies could lead to new treatments for inherited diseases.

Scientists have demonstrated an "incredibly powerful" ability to manipulate the building blocks of life in two separate studies. One altered the atoms in DNA to rewrite the human genetic code and the instructions for life. The other edited RNA, which is a chemical cousin of DNA and unlocks the information in the genetic code.

The studies - which could eventually treat diseases - have been described as clever, important and exciting. Cystic fibrosis, inherited blindness and other diseases caused by a single typo in the genetic code could ultimately be prevented or treated with such approaches. Both studies were performed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Base editing

The first, published in the journal Nature, developed tools called base editors. DNA is built out of the four bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T). If a single one of them is in the wrong place, it can cause disease. Base editors alter the atomic structure of one base to convert it into another. Researchers can now manipulate the four bases. And the team used base editing to correct an inherited disease that leads to dangerously high levels of iron in the blood.

Prof David Liu of the Broad Institute said: "We are hard at work trying to translate base editing technology into human therapeutics." However, he admits there are still issues around safety and implementation: "Having a machine that can make the change you want to make is only the start. You still need to do all this other work, but having the machine really helps."

RNA

 

[badger2]

CRISPR-Cas9 are not fool-proof, there are some problems. For example the targeting of checkpoints for switching off or interfering with cancer genes.