The Creation of the Woolly Mouse and What It Means For the Future

 On March 5, 2025, CNN Health published an article about the development of mice that have several woolly mammoth traits. The article explains that in a study conducted by Colossal Biosciences, mice were genetically modified to have specific traits that differed between woolly mammoths and their closest living relative, the Asian elephant. The goal of this research is to, eventually, genetically modify Asian elephants into woolly mammoths and release them into their previously natural habitat. Traits relating to “hair length, thickness, texture, color, and body fat” were targeted. Eight genetic edits were made to the lab mice for seven different genes. One limitation of the study is that there is no evidence that the modified mice are cold-tolerant, which would be necessary for any modified elephant to live in the Arctic. More research will need to be done in order to translate the mice results to elephants. 

While the research conducted and ideas behind it are extremely interesting, I am not sure about the plausibility of returning woolly mammoths back into an environment they haven’t inhabited for thousands of years. I think there could be really disastrous consequences to introducing an essentially new species to an environment. The Colossal claims that the introduction of woolly mammoths would pack down the snow and slow the permafrost thaw and carbon release. Not to mention the ethical dilemma of breeding Asian elephants, which are endangered, in order to make genetic changes to form them into woolly mammoth-like animals. 

Study Illuminates the Genetic Architecture of Bipolar Disorder

 NIH Study Sheds Light on a Common Mental Disorder

    A very common mental disorder named Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental health conditioned ultimately characterized by extreme fluctuations in mood, energy, and lastly behavior. In the article, it goes ahead and explains many people feeling extremely "up" or irritable and also feeling very "down" or lack of pleasure. This disorder can be treated with medication, but over a long period of time it can get challenging to keep up with. The study suggests "a persons risk for developing bipolar disorder is influenced by many genes but open questions remain about the full range of genes involved and whether they differ for specific subtypes." This study is the largest to date with including 158,036 people with the specific disorder and 2,796,499 total people who do not have the disorder. The participants were of East Asian, African American, Latino, and European. In this study they found almost 300 gene locations and 36 unique genes being linked to this disorder. There were shown to be many overlapping other mental disorders like depression and schizophrenia. This research is a building block and new medications or approaches can be sought out and identified to help individuals suffering from bipolar disorder and even other types.

    My dad suffers from bipolar disorder and I know a few others who do to. It is more common than we know and some people just brush the symptoms off or don't know what to look for, so it gets untreated. It is great that researchers want to know more about the architecture of it and what genes make up the mental disorder. More studies and research can help educate individuals suffering from this specific disorder or even healthcare workers can learn something too. I wonder what research in the future will look like and what advancements in medicines and approaches there will be to help people like my dad. 

Sources:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-updates/2025/study-illuminates-the-genetic-architecture-of-bipolar-disorder

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder

Are we born political?

 Dr Leor Zmigrod has made a discovery, the politics a person associated with is correlated to biological factors. She has found that the brain structures of a person differ based on the types of politics a person follows and if their thinking is "flexible" or "rigid". For example, people with conservative beliefs have a larger amygdala, when compared to people with liberal ideologies. The amygdala being the part of the brain that processes fear and disgust. 

On a genetic level, it was found that people who are more cognitively flexible, have genetic markers that indicate greater amounts of dopamine in their prefrontal cortex, and less in the striatal regions of the brain. Dopamine has been known to be a genetic factor in personality, like extraversion traits. 

This can be a scary concept, as biological determinations for politics take away from hope that people can adapt their beliefs, as well as fear of interfering with a person's genetics/brain composition in order to change beliefs. These findings also emphasize how some individuals are more susceptible to political influences like propaganda. 

Dr Zmigrod mentions that she plans to do a longitudinal study, to determine if the brain's structure influences politics, or if politics influences the makeup of the brain later in life. 

Article

More on Dopamine and Personality

Unraveling the Genetic Prelude to Gastric Cancer

The article discusses research by Coorens et al., which analyzes human stomach tissues to explore the mutational landscapes across normal, precancerous, and cancerous stages. It highlights how normal gastric glands accumulate mutations over time, and how this mutational burden increases in metaplastic glands, potentially setting the stage for cancer. Normal gastric glands accumulate mutations over time primarily due to two factors: the natural aging process and the high turnover of cells. DNA replication errors can occur as cells divide to replenish the gastric epithelium, leading to mutations. Environmental factors such as diet, toxins, and even normal metabolic processes can also introduce DNA damage. These accumulated mutations can then contribute to the development of metaplasia and potentially lead to gastric cancer. This study offers insights into how early mutations in normal tissues could lead to cancer, emphasizing the importance of early detection and understanding mutational processes for cancer prevention.

The findings by Coorens et al. underscore the value of genomic surveillance in seemingly normal tissues. By identifying mutational signatures that appear early in the disease process, researchers may be able to develop biomarkers for early detection or risk assessment. This could pave the way for preventative strategies or targeted surveillance in individuals at higher risk for gastric cancer. Furthermore, understanding the mutational mechanisms at play may guide the development of therapies that interrupt the progression from metaplasia to malignancy.

Links:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00803-y 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03790-y

New CRISPR tool enables more seamless gene editing — and improved disease modeling

 Yale researchers have developed a new CRISPR tool that makes gene editing more smooth, accurate, and efficient. This development enhances the capability of CRISPR, a technique recognized for its ability to modify DNA with extraordinary precision. The new method decreases gene editing mistakes, increasing the reliability of genetic alterations, which is critical for both research and medicinal applications. Improving the accuracy of gene editing has the potential to open up new pathways for therapeutic development and personalized treatment.

    One of the most intriguing uses for this new technology is illness modeling. The upgraded CRISPR technology enables scientists to generate more precise genetic models of illnesses, hence boosting genetic research and therapy development. This might lead to a better understanding and potential solutions for genetic abnormalities, since researchers can more accurately duplicate human diseases in the lab. The new CRISPR technology represents a tremendous advancement, paving the path for more tailored medicines and transforming our approach to genetic research and therapy.

New DNA Nanostructures Could Improve Drug Delivery and Diagnostics

 A recent study by the RNA Institute of the University of Albany discusses a new method for assembling DNA nanostructures that could be a game-changer in biomedicine. Typically, these structures required extreme heat and controlled cooling, limiting their use in practical applications. However, scientists have discovered a new way to assemble them at moderate temperatures using metal ions like nickel and strontium, instead of magnesium. This breakthrough simplifies the process and makes it possible to create DNA-based nanodevices in environments more similar to the human body. This discovery could open the door to DNA nanotechnology being used in real-world medical treatments.

             However, researchers still need to refine this process to ensure stability and effectiveness in human cells. If perfected, these nanostructures could help deliver drugs more precisely, reducing side effects and improving treatments for diseases like cancer. While this is still an early-stage research, it is an exciting step toward using DNA-based technologies in future healthcare solutions.

Tragic Outcome in DMD Gene Therapy

A 16-year-old patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) died from acute liver failure after being treated with Sarepta Therapeutics' gene therapy, Elevidys®. This therapy aims to deliver a functional version of the dystrophin gene, which is mutated in DMD patients, using a viral vector. This approach seeks to enable dystrophin protein production, which is crucial for muscle function, potentially slowing or halting the disease's progression. This incident marks a severe case of liver injury not previously reported with this therapy. Sarepta has stated that while the treatment has a positive benefit-risk balance, it will update its prescribing information. The liver failure could have been exacerbated by a recent cytomegalovirus infection the patient had, which can damage the liver. This event has prompted discussions about gene therapies' unpredictability and investment risks.

Gene therapies offer transformative potential in treating various genetic disorders by introducing, removing, or altering genetic material within a patient's cells. These therapies can potentially correct or replace malfunctioning genes responsible for disease, offering treatments for conditions that were previously considered untreatable. By directly addressing the genetic root of a disease, gene therapies can reduce symptoms, halt disease progression, and in some cases, potentially cure the condition. This represents a significant advancement in personalized medicine, tailoring treatments to individual genetic profiles. Although it is important to take each patient's death seriously, I believe that this should not stop the use of gene therapy because of how much more the medical field still needs to learn about our genome. Using specific genes, medicine can target mutations very specifically and lead to a world without problematic genetic disorders.

Links:

https://www.genengnews.com/topics/genome-editing/dmd-patient-dies-after-treatment-with-sarepta-gene-therapy/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/gene-therapy/about/pac-20384619

A Sister Study Shows linkage between Pregnancy Complications and Heart Risks

    On Monday February 10, 2025 an article published by HealthDay News called Sister Study Shows Link Between Pregnancy Complication, Heart Risks, reported that new research shows that even just being a sister to a pregnant women can result in having an even higher heart risk, suggesting that it can be genetically shared within families. The study lead author Angla Mantel states that it is important to try and identify all of the women early on in order to offer preventive treatment for pregnancy complications as well as having life counseling to follow up on the potential cardiovascular disease risk. Pregnancy conditions such as premature delivery and preeclampsia spikes the blood pressure which can be commonly dangerous to the pregnancy, however numerous studies have shown that women who experience this during their pregnancy are now at a higher risk of heart disease later on in life. Mantels team wondered "what the role of genetics might be in this predisposition." So they decided to review medical records of more than 1.2 million Swedish women who were all free of heart disease during the time of the study. Most of the women have never had any complications during pregnancy, however nearly 166,000 women who did have history with heart disease, there was about 61,000 of their sisters who had never had any pregnancy complications. As expected women with history of pregnancy complications were at higher risk of long term heart issues compared to women without any history of it. But after reviewing the records of the sisters of complication affected women found a risk in the risk. Comparing the women with no complications to the sister group, they faced a 40% higher chance of heart issues over the follow up period. The finding of the study show that the risk of cardiovascular disease after a pregnancy complication does not just depend on how the pregnancy was alone but can also be influences by genes and the environmental factors. 

I found this article very interesting because it this is not just a problem for women who are experiencing difficulties during their pregnancy but can also affect their sisters. This makes me wonder if having pregnancy complications could serve as an early warning sign for the families to seek preventative healthcare early on. This study suggests that genetics are shared with environmental factors in cardiovascular health which leads me to think that if women decided to seek preventative healthcare after finding having early complications, if doctors could use that information to identify high risk individuals earlier. 

Links:

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-02-10/sister-study-shows-link-between-pregnancy-complications-heart-risks