A group of scientists in Oregon have edited the genes of human embryos for the first time in the United States, using CRISPR-Cas9, a cut-and-paste gene-editing tool. [1]
The experiments were conducted by Shoukhrat Mitalipov and colleagues at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. The single-celled embryos Mitalipov edited were discarded after the experiments to ensure they could not become too developed.
A new study shows that CRISPR gene editing can cause hundreds of unintended gene mutations. DNA tinkering is part of a long-standing program, originally funded by the Rockefellers, to transform the human race into two distinct species: one to serve and the other to command. [...]
CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing has been hailed as one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of our lifetime. The technology is often called “molecular scissors” for its ability to “cut and paste” pieces of DNA, thereby removing unwanted traits and replacing them with more desirable ones. CRISPR is being celebrated for its accuracy, but a recent study sheds light on some imperfections surrounding the technology that we should be aware of.
Doctors and researchers are in a race against the clock to find new antibiotics and alternatives to antibiotics as the problem of drug-resistance worsens and spreads. One bacterial superbug in particular which has researchers especially worried is Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile – a bacterium which can cause fatal infections in hospitals and nursing homes.
