gene-editing – Learning, Science and Society

Could CRISPR Cas-9 Rebuild your brain? As the brain ages, cells and circuits die off. Hence the unprecedented rise of neurodegenerative diseases in our ageing populations. Hope that this could one day be treated comes from several sources. None more so than this new development in CRISPR Cas 9 gene editing, a much touted favourite on these pages, we admit. Here’s the inimitable Nature Briefings:

Reducing the activity of one particular gene in ageing mice rejuvenates brain stem cells, allowing them to proliferate and provide a supply of fresh neurons. Researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to systematically disrupt 23,000 genes and test the effects on neural stem cells. Messing with one such gene, Slc2a4, reduced stem cells’ glucose intake and increased their power to proliferate in old animals, but didn’t affect the cells in young mice. The results provide crucial information for the design of cell therapies that might one day treat neurodegenerative conditions, says neuroscientist Saul Villeda.Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Nature paper

Fungal resistance: a growing problem. Regular readers of these illustrious pages could be forgiven for thinking we spend too much time on antibacterial resistance among bacteria, and not enough on fungi. We hope this very prescient article from The Conversation may go some way to correcting this imbalance

https://theconversation.com/antifungal-resistance-is-not-getting-nearly-as-much-attention-as-antibiotic-resistance-yet-the-risks-to-global-health-are-just-as-serious-239677?utm

Good Growth/Bad Growth The difference in utility between having a small family car, such as a Vauxhall Corsa, and no car at all, is very great indeed. The differences between having that same Corsa and a Rolls Royce are, we humbly submit, rather marginal. Unless you count the awe-inspiring status statement which the latter brings. Growth is good for raising people out of poverty. Yet for centuries it has been based on the production and consumption of status goods rather than useful ones. The complexities of this issue are so fiendish, that we have never known where to begin to understand it. But Larry Elliott of the Guardian makes a brave first try at untying the Gordian knot:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/20/degrowth-image-problem-solve-planet-climate

#veblen #growth #status #antimicrobial resistance #CRISPR Cas 9 #alzheimers #medicine #health

Far in the future when the current crop of elections in France, the UK, Iran and the USA are lost in the dusty pages of history books, people will remember this sunny weekend . For it was when Nature Briefings published not one but two stories (count ’em!) about learning and technologies which will still be shaping the lives of those yet unborn. And you read about them here, gentle reader!

Epigenetic Advance From one time Cinderella to starring role, the science of Epigenetics(all that stuff hanging around DNA but isn’t your honest to goodness genome)[1] has started to come of age. Proof of this lies in the fact that it’s starting to become the basis of real cures, in this case for Prion-based diseases “Epigenome Editor” blocks bad proteins

A molecular-editing tool that’s small enough to be delivered to the brain shows promise for warding off prion diseases, a rare but deadly group of neurodegenerative disorders. The system — known as coupled histone tail for autoinhibition release of methyltransferase (CHARM) — changes the ‘epigenome’, a collection of chemical tags that are attached to DNA and that affect gene activity. In mice, CHARM silenced the gene that produces the disease-causing proteins in most neurons across the brain without altering the gene sequence. This system is the first step towards developing a safe and effective ‘one and done’ treatment for reducing the levels of harmful proteins that cause prion disease, says bioengineer Madelynn Whittaker.Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Science paper

Goodbye CRISPR, welcome Bridge RNA Remember how this blog used to wax lyrical about CRISPR back in the ancient days of 2022? Well, there’s a new kid on the block “Jumping Gene” enzyme edits genomes

A technique that harnesses ‘jumping genes’ — mobile genetic sequences naturally found in bacteria that can cut, copy and paste themselves into genomes — could hold the key to redesigning DNA at will. Guided by an RNA molecule called a ‘bridge’ RNA or ‘seekRNA’, the system has been shown to edit genes in a bacterium and in test-tube reactions, but it is still unclear whether it can be adapted to work in human cells. If it can, it could be revolutionary, owing to its small size and its ability to make genetic changes that are thousands of bases long — much larger than is practical with the CRISPR — without breaking DNA.Nature | 6 min read
Reference: Nature paper 1, Nature paper 2 & Nature Communications paper

You’re a funny old species, aren’t you? When you use your inherent qualities of curiosity and intelligence you can achieve things like this. The rest of the time you divide yourselves into imaginary groups and spread destruction, holding yourselves back by centuries from a better life. Will someone pray tell us why you do it?

[1]https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/nessa-carey/epigenetics-revolution/9781848312920?msclkid=f5800b66adbb110d62696d196c3d84a0&utm_source=bing&utm_m

#medicine #epigenetics #genetics #prions #gene editing

Tag: gene-editing

Round Up: New Brains for old, Fungal resistance, do we need growth?

Goodbye CRISPR and epigenetic medicine. Two genuinely exciting developments in one day