Sunday, October 14, 2018

Adding Jellyfish Genes Into Monkeys

Scientists Place Jellyfish Genes Into Monkeys is an article explaining the method of incorporating specific jellyfish genes into the rhesus monkeys' sperm cells.  This technique is currently being experimented on and tested to then be able to
mix human genes into monkeys.  If this is an effective technique, it is hoped that fertility doctors would eventually be able to infuse genes into human embryos to reduce and possibly prevent diseases.  The blend of genes would act similarly to vaccinations that are injected into children.  However, added genes may not only just deal with diseases, but could also aid in the improvement of cognition and memory.
To begin the experiment, scientists mixed jellyfish genes into the monkeys by attaching them to the outside of the sperm cell and would then use them to fertilize an egg.  In order to see if the jellyfish genes were present, scientists would then take the sperm cell and place it under a fluorescent light.  If it glowed green, the jellyfish genes were actively working and incorporated in the cell. However, when these mixed sperm cells swam towards the egg and shed their outer coat, the added jellyfish genes were discarded and only the genetic material of the sperm fertilized the egg.  Scientists then discovered that the jellyfish genes would enter the egg if they were directly injected into the sperm themselves.  This experiment was also recently done as Dr. Yanagimachi fused the jellyfish genes into rabbit sperm, as he was the first scientist to directly insert the jellyfish genes into a different animal's sperm. With these tested animals showing the traits of glowing fluorescent, there are no other added benefits.  However, with knowing that this experiment works, it gives scientists the ambition to begin adding genes that will have beneficial results.
While I believe that adding genes that could help in the prevention of inherited diseases is an interesting concept, I do not believe that it should be done to human offspring as there are possible dangers in doing so, such as affecting nearby genes.  This could then result in unforeseen disabilities or health complications when the child is born.

6 comments:

  1. This article is extremely eye opening because it has the potential to change our futures. If we are able to control whether or not we are able to prevent certain diseases in our children or grandchildren just by infusing genes into our embryos we can save many lives. But, I do agree without extensive research and many years of experimenting it is very risky to perform on humans.

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  2. This article was very interesting to read. I just wrote about an article that was similar to this, but was using elephant genes instead. This topic definitely needs more research and trials, but if it proves successful to getting rid of diseases it would drastically affect our futures. I am very interested in seeing how this plays out.

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  3. This is an extremely interesting article and although there's always been gene modification or something like that, the fact that scientist may actually be able to insert monkey genes into human genes as if it were a vaccination is very fascinating, almost like in the movies. I hope it works but at the same time I'm very uncertain about how the results might play out.

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  4. This article is very interesting, and brings another view in on how to prevent diseases. I believe that this topic needs to be researched more, and I agree with what you said on how we should not do this to human offspring since all the affects are unknown, and could cause harm.

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  5. This article is very interesting, and brings another view in on how to prevent diseases. I believe that this topic needs to be researched more, and I agree with what you said on how we should not do this to human offspring since all the affects are unknown, and could cause harm.

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  6. This is a super cool article, I'm sure a lot of people would love to become green! If they could make someone green and cure diseases then why not do more research? It defiantly could cause problems in humans though so human testing should be held off for now for sure.

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