New generation of CRISPR shows safer path to treating genetic diseases A new generation of CRISPR technology developed at UNSW Sydney offers a safer path to treating genetic diseases like Sickle Cell, while also proving beyond doubt that chemical tags on DNA - often thought to be little more than genetic cobwebs - actively silence genes. For decades, scientists have debated whether methyl groups - small chemical clusters that accumulate on DNA - are simply detritus that accumulates in the genome where genes are turned off, or the actual cause of gene repression. But now researchers at UNSW, working with colleagues in the US at the St Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis), have shown in a paper published recently in Nature Communications, that removing these tags can switch genes back on, confirming that methylation is not just correlated with silencing, but directly responsible for it. A brief history of CRISPR CRISPR – otherwise known as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Shor...
Cancer's Progress Detailed by 3D Genomic Maps Researchers have long known that cancer alters its genome as it evolves. What has been less clear is how, when, and why genomic structures change as cancer progresses. A new Yale study published Aug. 18 in Nature Genetics reveals critical insights and potential biomarkers of stage-specific cancer development. Using a technique called chromatin tracing, Yale researchers created detailed 3D maps of genome structures in individual cells in mouse models of lung and pancreatic cancers, driven by the cancer-causing gene KRAS. The maps reveal how chromosomes fold and genes are positioned in the cell nucleus. They also chart cancer’s route from pre-cancerous to advanced disease, even identifying different cancer cell states based solely on the 3D structure of their genomes. “Importantly, using the unprecedented 3D genome maps, we developed new ways to better nominate cancer-driving genes. These are potential new drug targets for lung cancer, th...