• With advanced technology, many incurable diseases in the past become curable nowadays. However, have you ever imagined that we can get rid of genetic disorders one day? This is no longer a pipe dream. CRISPR/Cas9 is bringing us light.
• Genetic disorders are not only limited to those rare ones e.g. Down Syndrome—a genetic disorder associated with characteristic facial features, physical growth delays, and mental retardation. According to Melissa Conrad Stöppler, a U.S. anatomic pathologist, common chronic illnesses such as cancers and heart diseases are also genetically related disorders. Hence, if we can repair abnormal genes—a unit which made up of DNA to determine some characteristics of an individual such as whether or not the individual will look alike to the parents, we will have a much lower risk of suffering from these diseases.
• So, what is CRISPR/Cas9? According to Jennifer Doudna, a geneticist co-invented Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9, CRISPR is an immune system in bacteria allowing them to identify and destroy viral DNA.
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Cas9, which is a CRISPR associated protein that acts as a scissor to cut the DNA. With the help of sgRNA—a RNA, which is the cousin of DNA, that is designed to identify specific genes. A question popped up, why can cutting DNA repair abnormal genes? This is because cells can recognize and fix broken DNA. It’s like they are using glue to stick the broken DNA back together. Thus, as mentioned in the research lead by Lichun Tang, cutting DNA at the place or near a mutation causing diseases can trigger the cell to repair the
• Genetic disorders are not only limited to those rare ones e.g. Down Syndrome—a genetic disorder associated with characteristic facial features, physical growth delays, and mental retardation. According to Melissa Conrad Stöppler, a U.S. anatomic pathologist, common chronic illnesses such as cancers and heart diseases are also genetically related disorders. Hence, if we can repair abnormal genes—a unit which made up of DNA to determine some characteristics of an individual such as whether or not the individual will look alike to the parents, we will have a much lower risk of suffering from these diseases.
• So, what is CRISPR/Cas9? According to Jennifer Doudna, a geneticist co-invented Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9, CRISPR is an immune system in bacteria allowing them to identify and destroy viral DNA.
• …show more content…
Cas9, which is a CRISPR associated protein that acts as a scissor to cut the DNA. With the help of sgRNA—a RNA, which is the cousin of DNA, that is designed to identify specific genes. A question popped up, why can cutting DNA repair abnormal genes? This is because cells can recognize and fix broken DNA. It’s like they are using glue to stick the broken DNA back together. Thus, as mentioned in the research lead by Lichun Tang, cutting DNA at the place or near a mutation causing diseases can trigger the cell to repair the