On Thursday, April 8, 2021, 10:48:30 AM PDT,
Using human-edited mRNA,we could theoretically commandeer our cellular machinery to make just about any protein under the sun. You could mass-produce molecules that occur naturally in the body to repair organs or improve blood flow. Or you could request our cells to cook up an off-menu protein, which our immune system would recognize as alien a nd destroy.
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Gene-altering technology : the good,the bad,and the unpredictable!
The Code Breaker: gene editing and. The future of the human race
-- Walter Isacson
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/15832908-walter-isaacson-facing-moral-questions-crispr-gene-editing
Gene-modification technology is " out of. the bag" "...and like all technology has constructive and destructive potential.
The negative ramifications are horrendous!
Now that chemistry has given us understanding of the genetic code at the heart of every cell, we can use our unde rd standing of molecules to alter genes and genomes and consequently synthesize whole designer biological organisms with enhanced predetermined and specifically targeted characteristics.
We have only to see the results of the ability to make synthetic molecules wc h have not existed in nature. Such designer molecules have revolutionized our lives through all the miracles of chemistry (e.g. pharmaceutical medicines )...but this technology has also polluted the environment with toxic molecules that threaten life on the planet.
The negative consequences (most of wc h are unforeseeable) of creating and releasing synthetic genetically modifi ed organisms into the environment will be far ,far worse than the consequences of creating and disseminating synthetic chemicals!
The use of designer mRNA for the creation of the Cov Sars2 vaccines is an example of good use of this technology. The mRNA vaccines are saving many lives ,and are a vital tool for freeing us from this global pandemic.
However human beings should utilize this technology with extreme caution and restraint!
The genomes of existing biological organisms represent millions of years of trial-and-error evolution,. We should not meddle lightly with what nature has taken millions of years to perfect.
Gene-editing technology is already being used rampantly without adequate ethical consideration and regulation (there are thousands of examples) ...and I fear it will end up biting us in the butt!
Francoise E. Baylis (Q20090252).
Baylis, F. (2019). Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674976719.
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breakthrough in technology holds promise in treating genetic diseases
Dec 14, 2020
mRNA vaccine technology
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are mRNA vaccines wc h represent a new methodology.
According to my admittedly simplistic understanding ,conventional vaccines utilize antigen proteins that are integral components of a virus wc h then provoke the immune system to produce antibodies to neutralize the antigen protein on the virus.
The mRNA vaccine utilizes an RNA sequence that instructs the cell's protein synthesizing apparatus to make a specific protein wc h is part of the virus's structure.This protein is the antigen protein wc h then triggers the production of antibodies.
The broader implications of this methodology is revolutionary.because the same methodology can be used to treat any genetic condition involving a missing or ma!functioning protein.
For example,diabetes is a deficiency in insulin. Insulin is a protein.
If the mRNA coding for the insulin protein can be introduced into cells ,it will direct the cell's protein- synthesizing apparatus to make more insulin.
Voila!! Diabetes cured!
The same for any other condition due to a specific protein deficiency!
The negative ramifications are horrendous!
Now that chemistry has given us understanding of the genetic code at the heart of every cell, we can use our unde rd standing of molecules to alter genes and genomes and consequently synthesize whole designer biological organisms with enhanced predetermined and specifically targeted characteristics.
We have only to see the results of the ability to make synthetic molecules wc h have not existed in nature. Such designer molecules have revolutionized our lives through all the miracles of chemistry (e.g. pharmaceutical medicines )...but this technology has also polluted the environment with toxic molecules that threaten life on the planet.
The negative consequences (most of wc h are unforeseeable) of creating and releasing synthetic genetically modifi ed organisms into the environment will be far ,far worse than the consequences of creating and disseminating synthetic chemicals!
The use of designer mRNA for the creation of the Cov Sars2 vaccines is an example of good use of this technology. The mRNA vaccines are saving many lives ,and are a vital tool for freeing us from this global pandemic.
However human beings should utilize this technology with extreme caution and restraint!
The genomes of existing biological organisms represent millions of years of trial-and-error evolution,. We should not meddle lightly with what nature has taken millions of years to perfect.
Gene-editing technology is already being used rampantly without adequate ethical consideration and regulation (there are thousands of examples) ...and I fear it will end up biting us in the butt!
Francoise E. Baylis (Q20090252).
Baylis, F. (2019). Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674976719.
*********
breakthrough in technology holds promise in treating genetic diseases
Dec 14, 2020
mRNA vaccine technology
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are mRNA vaccines wc h represent a new methodology.
According to my admittedly simplistic understanding ,conventional vaccines utilize antigen proteins that are integral components of a virus wc h then provoke the immune system to produce antibodies to neutralize the antigen protein on the virus.
The mRNA vaccine utilizes an RNA sequence that instructs the cell's protein synthesizing apparatus to make a specific protein wc h is part of the virus's structure.This protein is the antigen protein wc h then triggers the production of antibodies.
The broader implications of this methodology is revolutionary.because the same methodology can be used to treat any genetic condition involving a missing or ma!functioning protein.
For example,diabetes is a deficiency in insulin. Insulin is a protein.
If the mRNA coding for the insulin protein can be introduced into cells ,it will direct the cell's protein- synthesizing apparatus to make more insulin.
Voila!! Diabetes cured!
The same for any other condition due to a specific protein deficiency!
mRNA technology could transform how w we treat disease!
ReplyDeletehttps://trekmagazine.alumni.ubc.ca/2021/health-science-technology/how-mrna-technology-could-transform-how-we-treat-disease