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1. Repeats: 6 (+1 considering last repeat that has mutation), Spacers: 6
2. MDKKYSIGLD
3. Length of Cas9 gene: 4106bp or 1369 amino acids long, Stop codon: TGA
4. Cas1 and Cas2 form a heterohexameric complex that catalyzes spacer integration via two transesterification reactions on each strand of a double-stranded prespacer substrate at the phosphodiester backbone within the CRISPR array. What gives you the most unease about a future world in which germline editing becomes commonplace?
If such a thing were to happen, there would be an ultimate race to create the perfect designer baby. The richer someone is, the better prospects of them of having their ideal designer baby. Industry sectors or academic sectors even would no longer be able to differentiate between the potentials of each designer baby as all of them would typically have traits that dominate. The concept of giving all a fair chance will eventually eradicate. Creating designer babies will reduce the relation of a child to their parents as they will lose the traits that associate them to their ancestors.Which concerns, if any, do you think are misplaced or poorly supported?
Ethical concerns in case of germline editing are potentially the biggest concern. Not everyone would agree to creating designer individuals. There are also high risks involved – procedure may not go as planned, there could be chances of mutations occurring during the procedures itself.If it were possible to safely and precisely edit embryos to confer lifelong HIV resistance, à la the experimental approach of Dr. Jiankui He, is this something we should pursue as a society? Why or why not?
I think if the means used is safe and targeted towards a disease such as HIV, then we must pursue it as a society. We are on the voyage to eradicating diseases as much as we can. However, there are also ethical norms and concerns that must be taken care of before such procedures are delved with. What would you do with CRISPR gene editing technology? Why would this be a priority? What applications of CRISPR seem most exciting/scary/excessive to you?
With CRISPR gene editing technology I would explore the areas of food technology (Eg: creating foods that do not attract insects at all), organ harvesting, edit genes in humans to cure even trivial conditions like lactose intolerance or edit genes to rid them of allergies. This would be a priority as (a) in the food industry, it would be a revelation since it would increase the shelf life of foods (b) in case of humans, it is one way of ensuring that future generations wouldn’t be susceptible to conditions like lactose intolerance and allergies (in case they are hereditary).
The application of CRISPR that seems exciting, scary as well as excessive is de-extinction of dinosaurs. Although, as mentioned in the video that it is not possible (in case of dinosaurs), it still seems like an exciting area to explore. One application that seems exciting and promising is regrowing of amputated limbs. It would be very beneficial for the human race. Since the jumping genes are selfish, in that they copy themselves for survival, it may so happen that they possess certain genetic codes that allow for their survival in the host. Once they integrate within the host, such as bacteria, the host’s genomic sequence automatically changes. It could be that the transposon genome sequence possesses genes to provide resistance against certain phenomena, and upon integrating into the bacteria’s genome, the bacteria now benefit from these resistance genes that support its survival in an environment.
1. The coronovirus exists as single stranded RNA with genome size smaller to that of a human genome.
2. The virus posseses different proteins. One such protein is the Spike or S protein that plays key role in recognition and fusion with the host cell membrane. The S protein identifies the ACE2 receptor on the host where the head of the S protein binds to it. Once this occurs, another protein (enzyme) called protease cleaves a portion on the S protein that causes it to unfold (straighten) and thus fuse with host membrane to begin transfection.
3. The coronavirus enters the host cell and immediately starts to replicate as it has a lytic form replication.