Nick’s Bio Corner

Detailed in the Science Translational Medicine journal this month is the fact that a team of Chinese scientist in Beijing successfully developed a method with CRISPR in which they used to slow down aging in mice. And these findings may one day be used to do the same in humans. The team began by identifying genes that they suspect to be key drivers in cellular senescence, a pivotal moment in cells hypothesized to be largely responsible for the aging process. To do this, they performed a genome wide CRISPR-based screen of human cells afflicted with Werner syndrome and Hutchinson progeria syndrome, two conditions leading to premature aging, and identified KAT7 (a specific gene) as a driver of cellular senescence. After identification, the team inactivated the KAT7 gene in mice via knockout, a process in which a gene is made to be inoperative, and studied the effects of the treatment. What they found was a improved appearance in already aged mice, improved muscular strength, and a 25% increase to their lifespan. They also found zero evidence of cellular toxicity. Roughly 10,000 genes where screened and 100 of these genes were identified to contribute to cellular senescence, but KAT7 was identified to be the gene that contribute in greater effect to cellular senescence than the others. KAT7 is also generally found in mammals which presented the researchers further opportunity to test the effects across species. Read the full article

by Nickoli Parkinson & Editor Elizabeth Lugones Before discussing cellular senescence, let us first discuss the aging process. During the aging process, organisms undergo significant physiological changes. Sometimes these changes can lead to the development of chronic diseases such as cancer and neuro-degeneration. Billions of dollars have been invested in age-related research which has contributed to new discoveries. However, much more research is needed to develop interventions to prevent age-related diseases. In fact, research suggests that the development of a lot of these diseases can be prevented if the aging process is subverted. What is Aging? To understand how the onset of age-related diseases can be prevented by blocking the process of aging, we first must understand what aging is. Aging can be defined as the progressive loss of molecular fidelity after reaching sexual maturity. In other words, there is a decrease in the efficacy of molecular machinery in an organism. This molecular machinery is responsible for maintaining homeostasis and ensuring the continued survival of the organism when it has reached reproductive maturity. However, the efficiency of this molecular machinery gradually deteriorates once reproductive maturity is reached. As mammals age, they become more susceptible to diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration. Read the full article

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) are a subset of genetically inherited conditions and gene mutations that progressively weakens voluntary skeletal muscles, generally those most proximal to the hip and shoulder girdles. Collectively, the many different constituents of Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy rank as the fourth most common cause of genetically caused muscular atrophy (degeneration). (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); What Causes Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy So what causes LGMD? The answer lies in your genes. Genes are the functional unit responsible for encoding the proteins that are the building blocks for all of life. This code however is far from perfect and are prone to mutations. When mistakes happen in the genes of an organism, this can lead to complications that may manifest themselves as disease. This is the case in LGMD. When genes that are responsible for muscle function mutate, proteins vital to normal muscle function, regulation, and repair will not form. Without these proteins, the muscle will lose functionality. The different types of Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophies are classified into two major groups based off their inheritance patterns. LGMD1 and LGMD2. LGMD1 types are inherited autosomal dominant and LGMD2 types are inherited autosomal recessive. Read the full article

Part 1 The Beginning of Life on Earth Fossilized remains of microscopic life, date the beginning of life to approximately 3.8 billion years ago (though isotopic analysis of zircons could date life to as far back as 4.4 billion years ago.). Though there seems to be consensus on the when, the how life got its start remains a topic that has yet to have been agreed upon. One of the first models to have been accepted (other than the belief not backed by any scientific evidence that life was created by god), is that life started from a primordial soup of the molecules necessary to form the building blocks of life (Herschy 2014). In this model molecules such as methane, ammonia, hydrogen gas, and water vapor were present in a solution and subjected to an electric shock that catalyzed their reaction to form amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); A newer model, however, says life originated near hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean. These vents emit geothermally heated alkaline water, that when mixes with the oceans acidic seawater (the early oceans are thought to contain very high levels of CO2; making it acidic), provided the energy gradient necessary for the production of organic molecules, and then eventually, self-replicating molecules. Read the full article

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Though I provided only two entities, numerous companies and educational institutions around the word are pursuing an HIV cure along the gene therapy avenue. However, once we successfully find the cure via gene therapy, as I believe we inevitably will, the challenge of making said therapy affordable to the estimated 40 million people worldwide living with HIV remains. Despite these challenges however gene therapy is still the most likely candidate for providing us with an HIV cure. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Read the full article

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He Jiankui, the biophysicist who back in November of 2018 claimed in an online video that he genetically modified the embryo of two unborn twin girls creating the worlds first CRISPR babies, has been sentenced to 3 years in jail and fined about $430,000 for a charge of “illegal medical practice” by a Chinese court in Shenzhen. Two other colleagues, Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou, who assisted He plead guilty and were also handed sentences. The trial also brought to light the fact that He’s team had falsified their regulatory paperwork. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); November 25, 2018, in a viral video that shocked the scientific community, He Jiankui announces that the first CRISPR babies are here. In the video, He Jiankui claims that he used CRISPR-Cas9, a gene-editing tool, to modify a gene that, when expressed, codes for a protein receptor used by HIV to infiltrate and infect white blood cells. This new modification would supposedly mutate the gene to a different form which would render the twins immune from contracting specific strains of the viral disease. He Jiankui announces to the world that he modified human embryos with CRISPR-Cas9 His announcement was followed swiftly by a barrage of criticism from not the media, but also his scientific peers. Groups all around the world questioned the ethics his actions and scientist questions efficacy of the experiment. Not only that but concerns were raised about the unintended consequences of what would happen when changes to the human genome, which the effects we cant yet predict, are passed down into the population. During the trial, Chinese authorities stated that, “None of the three defendants acquired doctor’s qualifications. craved fame and fortune, and deliberately went against the country’s regulations on scientific research and medical management. went beyond the bottom lines of scientific research and medical ethics,” according to Kinling Lo from a report in South China Morning Post. All three of the defendants admitted to the charges and other personal that was involved in the experiment were blacklisted and banned from their field and all jobs related. Read the full article

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