The pandemic raised the need for such experiments. This summer, the FDA authorized two Crispr-based tests, both for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Boston-based Sherlock Biosciences received the green light for its trial in May, and Bay Area Mammoth Biology followed in August. It marked the first time the FDA has allowed a Crispr-based screening tool to be used on patients. The tests still need to be tested in a laboratory, but they are faster than the standard method for detecting SARS-CoV-2, called PCR, which usually takes four to eight hours to run. The new tests return results in about an hour. Both companies are currently working towards home-tested versions of the test.
“Before the pandemic, there was a lot of general optimism about the next-generation diagnostic ability to spread the test industry, but there was still a lot of inertia,” Mammoth Head of Biology Trevor Martin told WIRED over the summer. The coronavirus, he says, shocked the industry. “What would take years are now things that need to be done in months. ”
4. Mitochondria join the genome editing party
Crispr can make precise cuts to almost any organic genomes on the planet. But mitochondria – energy-producing nanofactories – have their own DNA separate from the rest of the genome. Until recently, this DNA targeting device was unable to modify the genetic code contained within it.
And unlike chromosomes, which you inherit from both parents, mitochondrial DNA comes only from your mother’s side. Variations in mitochondrial DNA can damage the cell’s ability to generate energy and lead to destructive, often fatal conditions that affect approximately one in 6,500 people worldwide. To date, scientists have tried to prevent mitochondrial disease by replacing the mitochondria of one egg for another, a procedure known as triple IVF, which is currently banned in the USA.
But in the summer, scientists in Seattle and Boston published a study showing that they had found a way to make use of a strange enzyme found in bacteria that form biofilm to make precise changes. production of mitochondrial DNA. The work was led by David Liu, who owns an evolutionary laboratory at the Broad Institute and Harvard University on a series of state-of-the-art DNA modification tools over the past few years. The new system has not yet been tested in humans, and clinical trials are still a long way off, but the discovery opens up another promising avenue for the treatment of mitochondrial disease.
5. Nobel victory at Crispr
Last but certainly not least, in October, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Crispr genome editing. It was both an amazing choice (as a DNA modification tool, Crispr has only been around for 8 years) and a completely anticipated one. Crispr has completely changed biological research since its inception in 2012; Since then scientists have published more than 300,000 studies using the device to manipulate organic genomes across all kingdoms, including mosquitoes, tomatoes, King Charles Spaniels, and even humans. It’s cheap, fast and easy enough for almost anyone to use. Today, scientists can customize Crispr components with the click of a button.
The advantage also broke other types of barriers. Doudna and Charpentier are the first women to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences together. And there had been a lot of speculation about who the prize would go to, as credibility for Crispr’s creation story remains a hot topic of debate (and lawsuit). “A lot of women think that no matter what they do, their job will not be recognized as it would be if they were men,” Doudna said while learning the news. “And I think [this prize] going against that. It makes strong statement that women can do science, women can do chemistry, and that great science is recognized and respected. ” In other words, she continued, “women rock. ‘We could not agree any more.
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