Restriction enzymes cut at specific sequences, and although there are lots of variations, this restricts where the new material can be inserted. CRISPR can match an arbitrary sequence, so there is much more control over where changes are made.
Comment on Crispr gene editing shown to permanently lower hereditary high cholesterol
TWeaK@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I find it quite funny that CRISPR gene editing sounds, at first glance, no more complicated than genetic modification of e-coli bacteria that I performed in an undergraduate Biochemistry course 20 years ago.
Back then, I just followed a recipe - extract DNA from the bacteria, mix it with a chemical to cut at certain places, add in your desired gene, mix it with a “glue” chemical that joined them together, then just spin your new DNA in a centrifuge with the bacteria and finally grow it all on a medium that your new gene has a resiliance against, such that only the bacteria that absorbed the desired DNA would survive. I’m sure the CRISPR process is much more finessed, but many of the core principles are the same.
I also wonder if cold and other SARS/Covid viruses somehow mix and share genetic material in swirls in the air, like a natural centrifuge.
Kethal@lemmy.world 7 months ago
j4yt33@feddit.de 7 months ago
Yes, although it’s not completely arbitrary as you need a PAM sequence to be present right where you want to cut the DNA. It’s quite small though so chances are, you’ll find one in a convenient location
Big_Boss_77@kbin.social 7 months ago
Close, the centrifugal effect comes from children spinning around on playgrounds before passing the newly minted viruses back into the world.
frezik@midwest.social 7 months ago
This one is apparently a better version of CRISPR, which is more targeted. Traditional CRISPR breaks DNA and expects your body to do the fixup, which increases cancer risk. This one is more targeted and safer.
HubertManne@kbin.social 7 months ago
there is a youtube video of a guy making a virus to cure his lactose intolerance which comes from the crisper process. Process is pretty much the same.
Silverseren@kbin.social 7 months ago
I mean, I've worked with CRISPR in plant biology. It's not really that much more complicated. It's just much more effective.
TWeaK@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I suppose I shouldn’t really be that surprised. I’m an electrical engineer these days, and one thing I’ve noticed is that most things are all just the same core principles (eg V = I x R) but applied in slightly different ways.
Eufalconimorph@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
RF circuits are the same core principles filtered through black magic and the Laplace domain.
prole@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Reminds me of the similarities between electricity and water flow. Obviously, there are differences, but the metaphor holds up well enough that you can use one to help explain the other.