CRISPR-Cas9 has made genetic engineering easier, faster, and cheaper than ever before. A scientist interested in manipulating a particular gene only needs to search the gene’s sequence for a suitable PAM. Once a PAM is found, the corresponding Cas9 can be ordered or harvested from its bacterial strain (and as I mentioned last week, even if a PAM isn’t found, it is possible to engineer a Cas9 to recognize a new PAM sequence). An appropriate sgRNA (the crRNA:tracrRNA fusion molecule) can be designed by identifying the target sequence 20 nucleotides upstream of the chosen PAM. These sgRNA’s can be engineered…
Comments closedTag: Coronavirus
The last couple weeks we have discussed the importance of vaccines and anti-viral drugs—our arsenal of weapons against viral infection. This week, I want to zoom in a bit and specifically investigate what researchers are doing to develop tools to fight Covid-19. Currently, most people who are able to do so are staying home, in order to curb the spread of Covid-19. A vaccine, if it can get past clinical trials and be distributed to the general public, could allow for enough herd immunity for us to return to normalcy. But it takes a long time to verify that a…
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Last week, we discussed the immune system and vaccines—our armor and shield against viral invasion. But what happens when those defenses aren’t enough? As our immune system begins taking arms against an enemy horde, we must pivot from girding our defenses to looking for ways we can help our immune system achieve victory quickly with minimal cellular casualties. Just like Gandalf bringing the Riders of Rohan to aid at the battle of Helms Deep moments before the heroes’ glorious defeat (yes, I did use this metaphor to make a LOTR reference), anti-viral drugs can mean the difference between victory and…
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I’ve seen a ton of posts online comparing Covid-19 to H1N1 and claiming that the media has over-hyped this pandemic. Certainly, the media has been known to blow things out of proportion. Are quarantining and social distancing “over-reactions”? While it may be tempting to compare the two pandemics on surface level statistics like death counts or case numbers, it is important to realize the ways in which they are not comparable. One of the most obvious differences is in their transmissibility. Last week, I threw out some numbers comparing the transmissibility of Covid-19 to that of the flu; every person…
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I’m sure you’ve heard about Covid-19 by now. If you haven’t, you’ve obviously been living under a rock — great job self-isolating! There has been a lot of misinformation and miscommunication going around about Covid-19 (also known as coronavirus). Just like the flu, there is the myth that taking antibiotics will cure/prevent coronavirus (it will not, please stop). There are various myths concerning how to protect yourself from coronavirus ranging from the asinine and ill-advised (spray yourself with disinfectant or take a really hot bath) to the downright dangerous (drinking bleach — a tactic that does kill coronavirus with the unfortunate side effect of killing…
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