Synbio To The Rescue
The numbers continue to grow and, as Dr. Fauci says, it is going to get worse before it gets better. If we all do a good job in social distancing, the curve will bend sooner rather than later. The government is pulling out all stops for therapeutic solutions, as Dr. Kuhn described on Thursday. As […]
CRISPR Gene-Editing Trials Encouraging
About three years ago, I wrote about CRISPR technology, not exactly a household name. CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. If you read the details about CRISPR, it might make your head hurt. It is really complex. CRISPR was discovered in 2007 when a yogurt company found a bacteria which could eliminate […]
Huge Genetic Study May Lead To Arthritis Breakthrough
Osteoarthritisa is a degenerative joint disease in which a joints become damaged, stop moving freely freely, and become painful. It is a complex disease, and more than 20 million Americans suffer from it. Globally, the number is 350 million. Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of disability, and unfortunately, there is no cure. The disease is managed with […]
Gene-editing Gets Major Funding
Last year, I wrote about a team of Chinese scientists having received ethical approval to perform a clinical trial of gene-editing. The goal was to test whether gene-editing may be a potential cure for cancer. The technology used for the trial is called CRISPR/Cas9, not exactly a household name. CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Cas9 stands for […]
DNA and the Genome
I have been fascinated with DNA and genetics for years, and have read a number of books about them. It seems the more I read, the less I know. The terminology is mind numbing and still expanding. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and […]
