Gene

Despite indispensable, the number of essential genes is composed to be the minority in an organism. In the single-celled Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) genome, the whole genome systematic gene knockout analysis found 18.7% genes that are essential for viability (GIAEVER et al. 2002). There are around 25% in Drosophila (DIETZL et al. 2007). In Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), it is estimated that there are ~15% of the total genes in the genome are essential genes (JOHNSEN AND BAILLIE 1997), although genome-wide gene knockdown analysis using RNA interference (RNAi) only successfully identified 7% (1,170 of 16,757) defective genes that result in sterility, embryonic or larval lethality (KAMATH et al. 2003), which, however, might miss some…

Despite early failures that dismissed gene therapy as a viable means to treat disease and genetic disorder, decades of research have resulted in the development of safe and effective vectors, methods of targeting particular types of cells, and techniques to minimize and manage immune responses. In the process, scientist now know more about the disease-causing genes themselves than ever before, paving the way for the development of successful gene therapy treatments. As of now, people have been…

change the genes that have been passed down through past generations? What would you do if you could change them? Scientist have found a way to do this and it is called gene editing. The answer for me is no however, my genes don’t have any serious diseases that are hereditary. Gene editing can have a positive effect on families and our society as a whole. The first positive effect that gene editing has on families and society is that it can cure diseases. It can do this because when using the…

Introduction Gene drives are a controversial new invention made to affect genes of a species, which can potentially eliminate animal spread diseases. A gene drive refers to a genetic system that manipulates a gene, guaranteeing all offspring to contain a certain dominant trait. As the trait is dominant it eventually spreads throughout the whole species, allowing them to all contain the manipulated trait. Scientists have designed this in order to eliminate mosquito-transmitted diseases such as…

ask 50 males and 50 females for a total of 100 voluntary Tibetans who are 18 and older from the same region to give a small sample of blood. The blood samples contain DNA and genes that we will use to analyze to find the EPAS1-TD gene. In order to analyze the genes from the blood samples, we need to perform the procedure of PCR, polymerase chain reaction, to amplify and clone the DNA. Performing PCR is necessary because it allows us to amplify a particular region of the DNA, the EPAS1 gene, set…

Gene therapy held many possible promises when found in the beginning of the 1990’s. “Gene therapy was the answer to what ailed us” (The Gene Hunters). Gene therapy is defined as, “The application of genetic engineering to the transplantation of gene into human cells in order to cure a disease caused by a genetic defect, as a missing enzyme” (Dictionary.com, 2005). This special field of medicine still holds promise for treating some types of genetic diseases, instead of just discovering their…

Gene Therapy: The concept of gene therapy emerged in the 1970s. The basic premise of gene therapy is using DNA enclosed in a vector as a therapeutic treatment for diseases. In the decades after it was conceptualized, many clinical trials of gene therapy were developed but stalled in phase I or phase II. During the 90s, only 1% of gene therapy trials made it to phase III and none of them went past phase III. The excitement for gene therapy was reduced when a participant of a clinical trial died…

successfully completed in 2003 (National Human Genome Institute, 2014). This project allowed scientists to understand the “sequences that make up the human DNA” (Moss, 2014, p.155) and map out almost all the genes in the human genome, as well as acquiring an excess amount of information. As a result, gene therapy was introduced to prevent or decrease the effects of diseases by replacing…

Technology is rapidly advancing in the field of editing genes in human embryos, and ethical debates on whether humanity should carry out this act have ensued. Those who oppose it are against the engineering of the human germline because changes are heritable and effects are unknown, and many also fear it will have negative societal effects. Those in favor of editing the human germline embrace the opportunity to enhance humanity. Baird (2007) says that controversy has been present since the…

We, as a society, should always be moving forward and bettering ourselves, but is genetic manipulation the best way to do it? Gene editing can help cure fatal diseases in children however it could be possible for parents to choose their children’s personality traits. Science should be used to better a person’s life, not determine it. It is not a moral obligation of a parent to screen out “personality flaws” but it is a parent’s moral obligation if they want to cure their child of sickle cell…