wow he died here

an impartial advisor

surprised to see australia in red, bc people dont inhabit most of the land

the brooklyn museum website did a good job of this by giving a list of umbrella categories like "egyptian" and then you could fin artifacts you were not looking for initially

i like this website-- it is uniform, modern, navigable, and extremely informative

dont want a site that looks unreliable, old, or simply has too much going on (ads etc)

if u cant make it to the actual place, you can acces them online

bc it lowers environmental impacts

lacks smell, touch, taste etc. beyond the obvious diff in sight

How much has changed since this was published?

As we know, biology is full of questions that have not yet been answered. I think this technology could help biologists answer many of these questions. That could lead to huge improvements in the field and even in the technology itself!

This is another issue that is often raised in the debate over ethics. Is it ethical to experiment with this technology on living creatures such as these? Do the benefits outweigh the downfalls?

Mutating mice "the old-fashioned way" often means breading generations of mice and trying to breed the perfect homozygous mouse. This is much more straight forward and effective.

This is commonly cited in the dispute over ethics. If a mistake is made or something goes wrong, it is irreversible.

This shows the advantage over- for example- knock out mice. It takes much less time and can have very similar results with more consistency.

This is when neurons in the brain rapidly deteriorate.

Highlights the enormous difference in required resources and accessibility of CRISPR-Cas9.

This is a perfect example of why many parts of the world could not previously use this technology. Because it simply required a lot of resources.

So, while CRIPSR needs to be improved in the field of accuracy, it also needs to be made more efficient?

Doxycycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotics of the tetracycline group. It lasts an unusually long time in the human body.

This is cancer of the colon or rectum.

This strengthens the "stoplight" analogy, in which turning on and off or even pausing gene expression is like a traffic light.

This means something that is quickly passed over.

One of many possible applications of the technology.

What is it that makes the other tested enzymes less effective?

So, despite being very accurate and effective compared to other gene editing technology, CRISPR-Cas9 is still not perfect.

"dark matter": was that intentional, or is it just a common phrase?

That experiment likely took a long time, requiring precision and resources that are hard to come across.

A regulatory sequence is a segment of a nucleic acid molecule which is capable of increasing or decreasing the expression of specific genes.

In this case, that is a very significant distance...

This is important because it shows the significance of going into an experiment with an open mind, willing to accept that a hypothesis may be refuted.

Why is this? What purpose does it serve?

The diagram to the right is interesting because it shows that despite the accessibility of this technology, of course, some areas of the world simply do not have the proper resources.

This is suggesting that other variables could be the reason for the "broken scissor" technique?

Capable of being acted upon in a particular way. (To the scissor approach.)

CRISPR technology is far from perfect and must be tested further and improved upon before it can reach its full potential.

A great example of researchers sharing their findings and information through Addgene.

Really, it just provides strong evidence that the system worked.

This refers to a previous portion of the article, in which they describe the possibility of "breaking" the scissors to simply make a gene impossible to express.

This compound is C(O)CH3, derived from acetic acid.

This is a problem that is currently being tackled by Addgene! By providing tools and free information about CRISPR, Addgene allows more researchers to have access to the tools they need.

While it is possible (and even unavoidable) for the DNA to be opened or closed off, we lack the ability to determine where the DNA is changed... at least, without CRISPR-Cas9

A relevant example of a changing environment is when tadpoles mature and develop, allowing them (as frogs) to walk on land.

Any group of basic proteins found in chromatin.

Epigenomes are groups of chemical compounds that can tell the genome what to do; By adjusting the epigenome, you can (according to this theory) indirectly adjust the genome itself.

This means she changed her approach.

This analogy is saying that by editing a cell's genetic material at multiple cites (in one cell), biologists can rewrite its function to change its behavior?

I believe this is referring to the ability of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology to target multiple genes in one experiment.

To rephrase this (I found it unclear), Lim is saying that CRISPR can target a maximum of (an estimated) 5 genes to edit. This is simply because we cannot yet fit the Cas9 enzymes into enough guide RNA's to edit more than 5 sites in one cell.

motifs are short, recurring patterns in DNA that are presumed to have a biological function.

While the above diagram cannot be annotated, it provides a simplistic explanation of CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Each step is shown. It is important to note the example that shows how "hacking" allows genes to be turned off, not cut out.

This section does a good job of comparing the two techniques. Put differently, it highlights the unpredictability and inaccuracy of RNAi compared to the exact precision of CRISPR (which consistently can be used to target any given gene).

these are a variety of conditions which mostly affect the neurons in the human brain. They are often results of affected neurons in the spinal cord (key to the central nervous system).

"toxic protein aggregates" refers to a biological phenomenon in which mis-folded proteins clump together, often resulting in severe disease (for example, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's).

RNAs that guide the insertion or deletion of uridine residues into mitochondrial mRNAs. They are used in CRISPR-Cas9 technology to take the Cas9 enzyme to the desired gene, so that it slices a specific portion of the DNA, rather than targeting genes at random.

Cell lines are cell cultures that developed from a single cell. They therefore are made of cells with a uniform genetic makeup.

The term "hacking" has been used multiple times so far. In this context, it means tweaking the CRIPR techniques to have different results (such as turning on and off genes).

This is groundbreaking because it is a comparatively simple, efficient, and cost-effective method of editing gene expression.

This is another way of saying it stopped the expression of the gene. This is important because it allows biologists to turn off genes without the risk of causing accidental mutations (like previously described).

This metaphor means that the team altered the Cas9 enzyme so that it could only stop the target gene from being expressed; it does NOT cut it out (similar to Knock Out versus Knock Down).

In this case, "hobbled" means that the protein of gene is having its function hampered or impeded.

One small mistake can result in a genetic mutation, but could also make no significant change in the genetic code/DNA. It is almost impossible to predict, and therefore "mistakes" in DNA repair can be helpful in displaying the role of various genes (what exactly they do).

Cas9 enzymes are RNA-guided DNA endonuclease enzymes, which are used in CRIPR to locate and cut-out the desired gene.

This metaphor highlights how biologists can target genes and simply cut them out and (if they desire) replace them.

This word stands out to me because it seems playful and even unprofessional. It comes back to the idea that this new gene editing technology is truly fun and exciting.

Nature is an extremely respected scientific journal (the most cited scientific journal in the world). Nature has been focusing largely on CRISPR-Cas9 technology and is a common platform for information and updates about the subject, targeting research scientists as their audience.

This is an attitude that many scientists working with CRISPR share; the possibilities and applications of the technology are groundbreaking and "fun" to experiment with!

Haematologists study the blood and blood-forming tissues, often focusing on the diagnosis of blood-born disease and disease in the bone marrow.

In the past decade, dozens of experiments have tested the possibility of accurately slicing pre-determined genes for the purpose of removing them and even replacing them with more desirable genes.

A surprising amount of controversy surrounds this potential, because of the argument of ethics. One of the linked articles discusses the argument that editing human genes to reduce the chances of birth defects or genetic disorders is immoral and has the potential to become discriminatory.

While Addgene primarily ships plasmids to international buyers, their website explains exactly how CRISPR technology works, and how people who are new to the field can get involved.

https://www.addgene.org/

Feng Zhang, a leading gene-editor at MIT and Harvard, successfully adapted CRISPR-Cas9 for genome editing in eukaryotic cells for the first time in January of 2013.

This shows the importance of Addgene in the CRISPR field; Addgene is dedicated to informing the public about updates with CRISPR technology, as well as assisting in the progress of the gene editing practices.

reagents are substances that are used in chemical analysis or other reactions. A common example of a reagent is sulfur.

Addgene is a non-profit organization that offers cloning data and plasmids to laboratories across the globe. Founded in 2004, Addgene also runs a free online database for information about plasmid cloning.