DNA: New and Bigger

Natural DNA is expressed by four different letters, referred to as bases – A, C, G, and T; where C and only bonds to G and A only bonds to T. These bases form bonds with their hydrogen atoms. The four natural bases of DNA are all anchored to molecular backbones. A pair of backbones can join into a double helix because their bases are attracted to each other. However, now DNA is new and bigger. 

Steven A. Benner, a chemist and now distinguished fellow at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Florida, and some of his colleagues reported that they have doubled the genetic alphabet. Dr. Benner and his colleagues have built DNA with eight bases – four natural, and four unnatural. They named their new system Hachioji DNA; hachi is Japanese for eight and moji is for letter. 

At first, they only created one new pair of bases. The six-base DNA became the basis of a new, sensitive test for viruses in blood samples. Although, they then moved forward and created another pair of bases. From there, with the eight bases, the researchers started building DNA molecules with a variety of different sequences. The researchers found that no matter which sequence they created, the molecules still formed the standard double helix. Additionally, Dr. Floyd E. Romesberg, of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, attempted to create his own bases. He chose to established a pair of oily compounds that repelled water. This brought the unnatural pair of bases together because “oil doesn’t like to mix with water, but it does like to mix with oil”. Dr. Romesberg and his colleagues also established enzymes that could copy DNA made from both the natural bases and unnatural, oily ones. The scientists continued by engineering bacteria that could make new copies of these hybrid genes. Dr. Romesberg’s team also began making unnatural proteins from these unnatural genes. Andrew Ellington, an evolutionary engineer at the University of Texas, led the effort to find an enzyme that could read Hachimoji DNA. He and his colleagues found one made by a virus, and they manipulated to easily read the eight bases.  

In the future, Hachimoji DNA may store information of a different types. This could mean expanding the capacity to store digital dat (encoding a movie or a spreadsheet). Since DNA has the capability to remain intact for centuries, researchers at Microsoft and the University of Washington managed to encode 35 songs, videos, documents, and other files, totaling 200 megabytes, in a batch of DNA molecules. 

The fact that there have been bases added to the known four DNA bases is remarkable. This could be an indicator that there is possibility of life outside what we know now. It just goes to show that even something we think to be factual, known, and proven can be altered. It presents change as inevitable. 

Fruit fly wing research reshapes understanding of how organs form

Scientists at Rutgers University discovered that when they would manipulate cells in order for them to divide differently the fruit flies wing shape remained the same. This finding could potentially change how we understand organ formation. It is possible with further research we will have the ability to diagnose and treat human genetic diseases that affect organ development even before the disease becomes evident. It was previously believed that the shape of fruit flies wings were from how the cell was organized while dividing, however, that is not the case. Studies will continue in hopes to pinpoint where exactly organ shape is controlled.

developing fruit fly wing the colors are marked clones and the shape of the clones

It's interesting to see how much the common fruit fly has assisted in human genetics, their small size and convenience has led to groundbreaking findings. The fact that we can use these insects to observe how human organs form and how we can manipulate the cells to avoid genetic diseases.

Blood Test for Pain

According to Science Daily, an article called "Breakthrough toward developing blood test for pain" introduces a test which can measure pain biomarkers in blood. This study was influenced by the opioid crisis in Indiana. This blood test, would allow more accuracy for doctors to treat the patient in pain. Since pain is only sensed by the patient, it is hard for physicians to measure the level of pain the patient has, they can only go by what the patient says.

Opioid epidemics occur because addictive medications were overprescribed due to the fact that there was no objective measure whether someone was in pain or how severe the pain was. The biomarkers are like fingerprints, the doctors will match it against a database and see which compound would normalize the signature.

This blood test will allow the patient to be matched to the right drug, without overprescribing medication. Doctors and researchers believe that this will end the opioid epidemic and will allow future monitoring of the patients health. Doctor and researcher Niculescu of this blood test is hoping to raise some money in order to further this study and allow it to be put into action.

I think that this is a good invention, a lot of doctors would much rather prescribe medication to treat pain, not fully knowing the severity of pain and if there are signs of pain. I actually had a personal experience where I had horrible knee pain and in order to rid of the pain, a doctor prescribed opioids. I was later diagnosed by another doctor with a torn meniscus. I, personally, never took the opioids and stuck to over-the-counter medication for pain. But it is the idea that, I never asked for opioids, nor did I wish to take them, however the doctor thought it was best for pain.  Hence why the opioid epidemic is a serious issue, not only in United States but all over the world.

Europe: An Unexpectedly Close-Knit Continent

In research conducted by scientists in California, it was found that Europeans

are more genetically similar to one another than was previously thought. Using

genetic information obtained from 2,257 people across Europe, scientists Peter

Ralph and Graham Coop were able to ascertain that even people as far apart as

UK and Turkey share genetic similarities. This can be traced back to a group of

ancestors that many Europeans share. These ancestors came to the continent 6,500

years ago, which is earlier than previously thought. It is through these shared

ancestors in the not-so-distant past that Europeans across the continent are connected,

and considered “one big family.” This finding, however, is said by researchers to

not mean much in terms of peace between groups. For example, if anti semitic white

supremacists from one country find that they are related to Ashkenazi Jewish people,

it is unlikely that these Anti Semitic people will change their ways just because they

discover that they are related to Ashkenazi Jewish people.



















Although the findings of this research would prove to be surprising to some,

I personally am not surprised by these findings. I’ve heard the theory before

that everyone on Earth is related to everyone through five points of connection,

whether it’s through a friend’s family member, or a friend’s friend’s friend. I have

also heard that many people are the descendents of the Islamic prophet, Muhammed,

including the current queen of England. I have a friend who is a descendent of the

prophet Muhammed, and this would mean that he is related to the queen of England.

If my friend and the queen of England are so close in relation, I find it easy to believe

that the people of Europe are related to one another, and I find it understandable that

although these people are related, bad blood will likely not disappear. Bad relations

between family are easy to come by, after all.

Gene Therapy Reverses Congential Deafness in Mice

Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, Inserm, CNRS, and many other universities have collaborated to restore hearing in adult mice of DFNB9 deafness. Someone who has DFNB9 deafness are deficient in the gene coding for otoferlin, which is a protein that transmits sound information. The scientists restored the auditory synapase threshold, which receives the sound information, to a near-normal level. DFNB9 deafness is the same for humans and mice, that is why mice are used as models to test the efficiency of gene therapy.  Scientists came up with a Adeno-associated virus (AAV) approach, known as the dual AAV strategy becuase it uses two different recombinant vecotrs. An intracochlear injection of the vector pair was injected in adult mice to reconstruct the otoferlin coding region, resulting to a long-term restoration of otoferlin. With these findings, scientists can help individuals with DFNB9 deafness, to restore their hearing and also discover other types of deafness and hopefully be able to cure the other types of deafness.

 

I found this article to be interesting because a small percentage of individuals suffer with DFNB9 deafness since the prenatal stages, so they are born with it. It is interesting how scientists were able to use mice as a model for DFNB9 deafness since humans and mice express the mutation the same way. The scientists were able to restore deafness in the mice models for log-term and hopefully, it will restore hearing for humans long-term as well. Also, with these findings, scientists can also discover other types of deafnesses associated with humans and mice and hopefully find a cure for those other types of deafnesses.

Longevity Clues Tucked in Great White Shark Genome

In a recent article on "TheScientist," the great white shark is discussed, as new discoveries have suggested its DNA being linked to wound healing, cancer protection, and a long life. The great white shark has almost double the amount of chromosome pairs as humans do with a total of 41 pairs. A research team analyzed and sequenced the entire genome and came across very interesting results. They found specific genetic changes/adaptations that have contributed to the species' success on Earth for such a long time. These genetic changes include DNA repair, damage response and tolerance, and wound healing including, blood clotting agents and proteins to produce new flesh. Due to sharks being so large in size and having a long lifespan, they should theoretically, have more time and cells for oncogenic mutations to develop. With this new data, researchers were able to conclude that the organim's genetic adaptations have helped put them at a lower rate of developing cancer. The researchers hope that fully understanding these genes that protect the sharks from cancer, could be used to benefit humans. 

 

I found this article to be extremely interesting as it discusses that more research could lead to human benefits. If the great white shark's DNA can be used to cure cancer or prevent it in humans, that would be a major breakthrough discovery that would really change the world. 

Can exercise combat Alzheimers?

Over the years numerous studies have shown that exercise not only improves our overall health, but also our memory and cognitive skills as a whole. How is this exactly?
Neuroscientists have figured out that the strength of our synapses is dependent on how we live our lives. Between sleep, diet, stress, and more, the stronger the connections, the stronger our memories and cognitive function. Not surprisingly, dementia/Alzheimers is a product from changes of energy usage in our brain cells. A study published by Nature Medicine explained how exercise protects our brains on a molecular level through the hormone irisin. Irisin is a hormone secreted in our muscles to the brain during exercise that starts biochemical reactions related to energy metabolism. Analyses of diseased and normal brain tissues taken from brain banks showed low to nonexistent concentrations of irisin in those who died with dementia and vice versa. However, scientists looked to mice for more information.

Mice bred with dementia were injected with irisin and performed better on memory tests than healthy mice injected with a beta amyloid inhibitor (creating dementia). Their synapses functions were mirror images to their performance during the tests. A more important test involving direct exercise: mice worked out for 5 weeks (running and swimming) with some mice injected with the inhibitor before hand. The healthy mice performed well on memory tests even after being exposed to the inhibitor post workout. However, the previously effected mice performed just as badly on the tests as the dementia effected mice from the experiment before.
Researchers are not 100% sure how much irisin effects humans, but know enough based off of their experience with lab mice, that exercise plays a prominent role is fighting or postponing dementia/Alzheimers.

Opinion: I find it amazing that irisin was not found until 2012 and we are just figuring out that maybe around 30 minutes of daily exercise is not just good for loosing weight, but cognitive function. Hopefully more research on humans is done soon, so we can all stay active for better reasons. This might even push the middle school kids harder during gym class.

Cancer Clues

Genetic clue's can now be used to predict whether early-stage cancer will form an invasive tumor. One type of non-invasive tumors, Carcinoma In Situ or (CIS), that occurs within the lungs can either remain noninvasive or progress into an invasive form known as Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma (LUSC). Until recently scientists were unable to predict which CIS growths would persist. But now a a set of genomic alterations from a lung tissue sample can readily anticipate which tumors will become invasive. 129 lung tissue biopsy's were studied through a range of genomic anaylses including whole-genome DNA sequencing, analysis of RNA expression, and profiling of a DNA modification called methylation that can influence gene expression. Within the whole-genome sequencing 29 samples progressed to LUSC while 10 regressed to CIS. Almost all of the progressive samples had mutations in the tumor suppressor gene, TP53. The progressive samples also acquired a distinct pattern of chromosomal amplifications and deletions of sequences that are commonly found in squamous cell carcinomas. The regressive CIS generally lacked these chromosomal aberrations. A statistical method of analysis was further used to demonstrate that DNA methylation patterns in the regressive CIS samples were more similar to those of normal lungs in comparison to the patterns within a progressive tumor. While scientists were able to target the differences in mutations between CIS and LUSC, the reason for progression is still unknown. We can pin point which CIS growths will persist, yet we do not know which changes are essential for the invasive cancer to form. The evolution of CIS to form invasive carcinomas have also been studied in Breast cancer and continue to make remarkable advanced in early detection. I find this discovery very exciting and possesses a ton of potential to help treat patients before the non-invasive tumors become invasive and life-threatening. 

Harvesting Wild Genes Gives Crops Renewed Resistance To Disease

In a recent article on "ScienceDaily," a new technique was discussed that has the potential to change disease-resistant genes in our crops. This new method, named "AgRenSeq",  involves the extraction of the disease-resistant genes from wild plants and transfers them over into our domesticated crops. Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Britain, developed this gene technology when working together with other scientists from Australia and the United States. Their collaborative research has allowed the creation of a search library for resistant genes in wild plants. Scientists can quickly scan through the library and identify the disease fighting sequences. They can also clone these genes and use them to protect crops against pathogens and pests. This research is so advanced and detailed that the disease-resistant genes can be cloned in just a few months for a couple thousand dollars. This new method can drastically benefit our environment as it speeds up the fight against pathogens in crops such as wheat, soybean, maize, rice, and potato. The breeding of more resilient crops is a very time consuming process however, it will in the long run create crops of higher yield that have more desirable agronomic traits.

 

I found this article very interesting because this research has the potential to really change our agricultural economy for the better. This new method can increase the crop yield and make them disease resistant at the same time. With the population size of humans increasing so much every year, the increased amount of crop yield will be very beneficial.

A Cardinal with a Split Personality

In the New York Times, there is an article discussing the sighting of a very rare phenomenon in animals known as gynanromorphy in Erie, Pennsylvania.  This cardinal was noticed due to the difference in color between the male and female.  The male cardinal is the scarlet color most identify this bird as while the female is a taupe, but this bird is split in color right down the middle!

Daniel Hooper from Cornell University Lab of Ornithology speculates that during the fertilization period two separate embryos, that were fertilized separately, fuse together causing gynandromorphy.  A second theory is that the female egg contains both Z and W sex chromosomes (bird chromosomes are ZW for female and ZZ for male unlike humans which are XX and YY).  

The bird develops down the center of the vertebrae because the vertebrates develop in a “bilaterally symmetrical way” but one side usually bears a little heavier than the other.  Daniel would really like the chance to get his hands on this bird for studies.

If the bird is truly gynandromorphic then it would most like be infertile, but the couple have been keeping an eye on the bird and they are curious to see as to how it will react come to mating season.

Genetic Technology used to exterminate disease-carrying animals succeeds in mammals for first time

Research is currently being done to test "gene drive" that could hopefully in the future wipe out pests and invasive alien species. So far this technique is only being practiced in the labs with female mice because it has raised concerns about possible side effects. Scientist have successfully edited female mice with a copy cat gene which allows them to change their fur coat color. They want to continue testing in order to reduce rodent infestations instead of using common pesticides which can be harmful to the environment. However, research still needs to be done in order to perfect the technique. 

Gene Editing has received a lot of mixed reactions in the scientific community but, I think this could really improve our quality of life. Of course, after more research is done to ensure no uncontrollable mutations occur.

Rabbits Evolved Resistance to Myxoma Virus

In the 1950's scientists released the myxoma virus to rabbits in order to reduce the rapidly growing population size. This worked until rabbits became genetically resistant to the virus over time, and sparked interest amongst researchers at Arizona State University who partnered together with University of Cambridge. In Science Direct's article entitled, "Hop to it: Researchers evaluate rabbits' evolved resistance to myxoma virus", it discusses the findings found at the Grant Mcfaddens Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy that validate the gene held responsible for the resistance and possible replication for potential use of treating cancer.

As said by a scientist at the center, "The idea was to sequence examples of many rabbit genomes of all three places (Australia, France, and the UK)…..and came up with a half dozen gene variations in common--our job was to determine whether these variants of genes affected that virus in a lab setting." It was then discovered that the trend seen in the three geographically distinct locations served as an example of co-evolution operating between viruses and their host.

Researchers in the UK used modern sequencing technology to sequence rabbit genomes to past populations and the population now for comparison. At this time McFadden and the center determined whether the genes found correlated with antiviral effects by testing the virus in cell culture. By doing this as a group the scientists validated the role of genes in viral replication, and still serves as a great example of co-evolution.

-picture credit to google images

New Virus Detecter Helps Identify Any Virus

An article by Science Daily describes a new disease surveillance tool that can help detect any human-infecting virus. One of the problems during the Zika outbreak in 2015 was that there weren't many Zika virus particles in the blood of an infected patient. This made it difficult to obtain clinical samples and to study the genetics of the virus. Broad Institute developed CATCH, a new computational method that can be used to design molecular baits for any human-infecting virus. This approach enables small sequencing centers to conduct disease surveillance more efficiently and without spending as much money. Instead of metagenomic sequencing, which loses viral material among the other patient's DNA, scientists "enrich" clinical samples for a particular virus. This uses genetic bait to immobilize the virus's genetic material. The baits are "short strands of DNA or RNA that pair with bits of viral DNA", Susanna Hamilton writes. CATCH (Compact Aggregation of Targets for Comprehensive Hybridization) allows users to design custom sets of bait probes to capture genetic material of any combination of viruses. Previously, scientists could only target a few viruses at a time. Users easily input genomes from forms of human viruses that are on the National Center for Biotechnology's database. The program produces the best set of probes based on what the user is targeting. The CATCH software is publicly accessible on GitHub.

I think the CATCH software is very adaptive because it can pull any information from the Biotechnology database, which is always being updated. So when new virus strains are discovered, CATCH will already be able to access the genetic information of the strain and produce the best genetic probes for the job. This is a good thing because it makes obtaining clinical samples of the virus much easier, it will take less time, and it will save money. Hopefully this allows for more studying of the virus and better treatments for the illness.

Come On Get Happy

There is an article that is a bit older, but still very interesting, from Science Magazine. Scientists have been working finding the genetic variants that are associated with mental illness. A GWAS (genome-wide association studies) was conducted on a group of African Americans to try and find the loci that may be responsible for an inheritable trait of happiness. They were able to identify a specific loci that was strongly associated with an individual with more positive emotional experiences.

Genetics is incredible in the fact that every day that passes we learn a little more. I find it fascinating that so many traits, which are not limited to physical traits, are determined by an individual's genetic coding. I am eager to see how the identification of these genes in conjunction with advances in gene therapies; changes how much of the inherited self can be modified.

Insulin Pill?

According to Science Daily, an MIT-led research team developed a drug capsule, that can deliver oral insulin instead of injecting insulin to treat patients with type II diabetes. The capsule is said to be the size of a blueberry, which contains a small needle, made of compressed insulin, which is injected after the capsule reached the stomach. Tested on animals, researchers showed that the pill could deliver enough insulin to lower blood sugar as much as the injections given through skin.

Having been developed before, the pill has been modified to contain one needle, which is made of nearly 100% compressed, freeze dried insulin. The way it works is; when the capsule is swallowed, water in the stomach would dissolve the sugar disk, releasing the spring and injecting the needle into the stomach wall. The stomach wall has no pain receptors, therefore patients would not feel the injection. The needle orients itself, where no matter the position, it will target the stomach wall. Once the top of the needle is injected into the stomach wall, insulin dissolves at a controlled rate and is then released into the bloodstream.

This is a very important topic, many people suffer from diabetes. However type II diabetes is often hereditary and non-preventable, and surviving with injections everyday is tough. With this new insulin pill, we can help many people battle type II diabetes and make it easier to manage. I hope that they will do further research and allow this "pill form" insulin to be promoted for pharmaceutical use. 

Web Meets Genomics

According to Science Daily, a DNA search engine has been made to identify microbes. Researches have combined their knowledge of bacterial genetics and web search algorithms to build a DNA search engine called BIGSI. This search engine could help researchers monitor the spread of antibiotic resistance genes and understand how viruses and bacteria adapt and evolve. The way this works is BIGSI would be able to detect any new microbial genome in the history of microbial DNA. This program is developed with a HUGE memory capacity and simply needs internet to store and search information.

The BIGSI program allows researchers to compare DNA of multiple bacterial species, and by doing so, we can understand how they are related. One of the main focuses of this project was to study the dynamics of antibiotic resistance. Most bacteria and viruses are responsible for many infectious diseases, and over the years, they have been able to evolve and "survive" the antibiotic treatment, thus becoming extremely dangerous to humans.

I believe that anything that is created in order to help us, especially preventing viruses and infections, is for a good cause. This program has been long in demand, many illnesses have taken place and most people have lost lives due to bacterial and viral infections. Being able to compare and analyze microbial DNA can lead us in preventing such outbreaks. For example, the outbreak of food poisoning, where the cause (which was found later) was a Salmonella strain, could have been evaluated earlier with a new and faster system as the BIGSI.

Gene Mutation Associated with Autism

Austism spectrum disorder and autism patients' are getting treaments done on the study of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).  A research team from The Hospital for Sick Children, Uniersity of Toronto and McMaster University are making a iPSC line to help research for autism. These research teams are making a iPSC line because there are only a few iPSC derived neuronal lines used for study, but they are costly.  The research temas developed 53 different iPSC lines founded by 25 autism individuals who carry rare genetic variants. CRISPR editing was used to explore the impacts of mutations with autisim characteristics. Scientists' found out there was spontaneous hyperactivity in neurons that lacked CNTN5 genes, which can cause austistic characterisitcs. Hyperactive networks are being used to view autism and used for future investigation.

I found this article to be interesting because researchers are discovering more impacts of neuronal mutations associated with austism characteristics. It is always interesting to read about how scientists are making new discoveries on gene mutations for people who have autism. There are always new discoveries happening and autism is always a research of topic.

Scientist find genetic causes of Loneliness

A geneticist by the name of John Perry from the University of Cambridge has been researching genetic roots to loneliness, The research studied genetic variations in 487,000 participants in the UK. Participants were asked about their perception of loneliness, how frequent their social activities are, and the quality of their interactions with others. This long-term studied identified 15 genetic variations linked to some parts in the brain region where emotion is controlled and metabolism. It is believed that individuals with a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) are more susceptible to loneliness and depression. Perry supported this claim by saying that it's either because, they are self-conscious about their weight or that being lonely/depressed could change the way they ate or exercised. He also states if we would be able to pinpoint these pathways then maybe we could improve these individuals cardio-metabolic health.

I found this article interesting to read and I like the fact that at the end of the article John Perry does mention that just because, we might be able to identify these specific traits in individuals does not mean that people with these traits will have a higher likelihood of developing loneliness/depression. There are so many factors, genetically and non-genetically that can contribute to how someone is socially and mentally. I just personally think that this would be hard to study considering those factors.

First Genetic Locus for Anorexia Nervosa

UNC School of Medicine researchers have identified the first genetic locus for anorexia nervosa. These researchers conducted the study on about 4,000 affected individuals and about 11,000 unaffected individuals. Researchers have identified this locus on chromosome 12. This region is associated with type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. While researchers were trying to identify the location of this locus, they also calculated genetic correlations. Anorexia nervosa was genetically correlated to neuroticism and schizophrenia. These findings verify that anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric illness. However, there were also genetic correlations with metabolic issues such as BMI and insulin-glucose metabolism. Researchers are now in the process of studying how metabolic factors can affect anorexia nervosa as well.

I believe that this new information will serve as a catalyst in the treatments of other illnesses. Usually people assume that anorexia nervosa is just a psychiatric illness. While the results of this study do prove that it is a psychiatric illness, researchers have also found that this illness is related to metabolic issues. I understand that the past treatment of eating disorders includes eating under a doctor’s care while also talking to a psychologist. However, now that scientists know that metabolism could be a contributing factor, more treatment options can be offered. I hope that this research can be done with other psychiatric illnesses because researchers may find that they have genetic correlations to non-psychiatric illnesses. If scientists can find more genetic correlations between different diseases, there may be an increase in treatment options.

Long Lived Lonesome George Clues to Longevity

Charles Darwin developed the idea of natural selection using the tortoises he found on the Galapagos island back in 1835. He preached the idea that these amazing animals adapted there shell to help them survive the lifestyle they endured. In 2012, Lonesome George- the longest living original turtle from the islands- passed away. However he was still giving hints to scientists about longevity and good health. Dr. Aldagisa Caccone,  sequenced the entire genome of Lonesome George and then compared it to other genomes of living animals. She found that there was a gene mutation, IGF1R, that is also found in humans that could be key to longevity in the turtle AND humans.  This gene has one copy in the human genome however the tortoise carried 12. This makes it much more effeceint to carry out these processes to help the turtle live a century.

The amazing part about these tortoises is that they offer so much information to humans. If we can study them more and learn about there genome, we could have solutions to regeneration of body parts. They could survive temperatures that humans could not possible survive. And much like in 1835, were the tortoises were helping the world understand evolution, Lonesome George is once again teaching the world about adaptation and longevity.

Splitting Chromosomes- The Z and W to the Gynandromorph Cardinal

An unusual site came about when a gynandromorph cardinal- a rare cardinal that shows characteristics between mother and father at the same time. This event has occurred among other species such as the butterfly, reptiles and other birds however it is so rare that there is much left unknown about what is actually causing this phenomenon. Theories seem to arise from the idea that the mother carries two sets of her genes in which both become fertilized by two separate male sex chromosomes. When the birds develop bilaterally, they then become half female and male with minimal cells mixing. The only true way to know what is going on though is by running a blood test. As mentioned above, there is still a lot to learn about the gynandromorph process.

In the NYtimes.com article, Dr. Hooper states that not only is the physical coloration  of the bird is split down the middle but the bird even splits organs such as the brain. This fact alone brings many questions in the forms of how the birds brain functions, how does it process information and what other things inside the bird may be out of place or organized differently. This seems to be an amazing phenomenon that needs to be researched and studied for time to come so that we learn for all types of animals.

CRISPR controlling genes in mice

Biologists in UC San Diego have created the first CRISPR/CAS9 approach to control the genetic inheritance in mammals—specifically mice. 

This proved difficult and a new advancement than performing this procedure with insects because the lifespan difference/development between the two. By first genetically controlling the inheritance of a specific genotypes in animal models, this could lead to further alteration of inherited human diseases. 

An engineered "Copycat" DNA is a self-replicating DNA that by copying and pasting the gene code to different chromosomes can lead to the target gene being inherited. 

Success was declared when Copycat DNA presented white fur instead of black on the mice. Due to the success in converting one genotype from heterozygous to homozygous, biologists in Cooper lab are aiming to see if they are able to control three genes in mice. This new feat—controlling multiple genes—can further develop in not just animal models but human diseases as well.  

 

From the way I see it, the success of the experiment through mice serves a great step in genetics since the copycat DNA was able to continue through the offsprings. Like what the researchers and scientists have mentioned, by genetically controlling these specific genotype this could eventually lead to the deletion of mutations of diseases that prove to be deadly. While there is a lot of opinions on consequences of gene-editing, I still believe that this could be an alternative solution for painful medications.

Genes Responsible for Marriage Quality

In an article posted by Science Daily, it focuses on a research team led by Binghamton University Associate Professor of Psychology Richard Mattson who have been looking at how whether different genotypes of the OXTR gene are responsible for how people support one another. This gene was chosen because it includes the hormone oxytocin which is associated with love, attachment, and relevance to social cognition. From past research, results have shown that marital quality can indeed be impacted by genetic factors.

 This experiment was done with 79 couples who were individually asked to discuss for 10 minutes a problem they identify as personal and next to explain how support was provided to each partner. The couples were also asked to respond to several questions including the quality of support they receive from their partners followed by a saliva test for genotyping.

The results showed a variation of OXTR locations that differed both from husbands and wives with differences in behavior amongst couples, having small effects on evaluations of support and marital quality. What the team found interesting was overall marital quality for both partners was based off the genotypic variation of husbands; those who had a particular genotypic variation on OXTR had signs of social deficits and were less satisfied with support they were provided from their wives, also being less satisfied with their marriage.

As for future studies, the researchers hope they have provided a foundation for replication and more studies on OXTR to endure marital functions, as well as to evaluate the role of genetics that could be important to overall marital quality.