Genome Editing - Problems and Possibilities

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Genome Editing - Problems and Possibilities

ঞ্চ Panchanan Mandal 05102020

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Most of the hereditary or genetic diseases have a hand in our DNA. If these problems could be cured by editing DNA !! Then the disease could be eradicated from the beginning! But this is no longer a myth, it can be a reality. And it can be possible by genome editing.

This is a new technology by which DNA code can be controlled. There is new hope in the future for the discovery of a cure for the disease in the fields of genetics and cell biology. Some people think that the concept of "designer baby" can be confused with this and various dangerous situations may arise. For this reason, there is a temporary ban on this technology so that there is no problem in this case.

Due to mutations in DNA, most diseases have some hand behind them. At present, although the level of various symptoms can be reduced with the help of therapy, it was not possible to reach the root of the problem.

This is because it is difficult to make subtle changes in the three billion liters of DNA code. And it is unthinkable to bring about such a change in living people. But since 2012, researchers have been known to change DNA with the help of CRISPR / Cas technology.

When the DNA is cut in this way, it begins to heal itself, and using this method, one of the genes responsible for the disease can be repaired or rendered ineffective.

With the advent of this technology, genetic modification in human embryos seems to be much easier now. However, many are worried about this because now it is no longer impossible to create a designer baby. But while accurate DNA surgery is possible, we are not yet sure what effect DNA changes will have on the human body.

And like the general surgery, there is a risk in this surgery. The protein that will perform the surgery in the DNA structure will be in danger if the DNA is cut in the wrong place. Maybe a useful gene would be cut off and the risk would be further increased rather than resisted.

For all these reasons, there has been considerable concern among researchers.

Now let us know in detail what this genome editing technology is.

The topic of genome editing is often discussed these days. That being said, many complex diseases can be solved by genome editing. Human life expectancy can be multiplied. Another green revolution in agriculture is not impossible. It seems that genome editing technology will cause biological miracles in the near future. But what is this technology? Why talk so much about it.

To understand this, we first need to know the structure of the DNA molecule. The deoxyribo nucleic acid or DNA molecule is the carrier of the genetic makeup of the organism. DNA molecules are quite large in size. They are intertwined like two long threads. Scientists have named this intertwined structure DNA double helix. This double helix structure is made of deoxy ribose, phosphate and four types of nitrogen base.

The function of DNA is to contain the genetic code of the living world. The alphabet of the genetic code contains four nitrogen bases of DNA, which are expressed in four letters (ATGC). The genomes of all plants and animals, including unicellular bacteria, are composed of these four "letters" as a whole. Genome refers to the overall DNA of an organism. The size of the genome depends on the number of nitrogen bases. The human genome has about three billion nitrogen base pairs.

The DNA of the genome is entirely but not a gene. A gene is a part of the genome that contains the code that makes up a specific protein. Most of the genome is codeless DNA. Genes have to be found inside the genome. And the task of finding this out is quite difficult. About 20,000 genes have been found in the human genome. These genes collectively contain all the characteristics of a human being.

Scientists have found that it is possible to change the characteristics of life by changing genes. It's a lot like editing text in a word processor. Just as we can change any word or letter in our text at will, scientists have discovered some technology that allows us to change the genes at will within the genome. This technology is called genome editing.

There are currently three main technologies for genome editing. Two of the technologies are a little older (ZFN and TALEN). Another technology is new. The name of this new technology is CRISPR / Cas9. Scientists are very optimistic about this new technology after it was discovered. Scientists say that they can now easily bring about the desired changes in the genome by editing the gene effectively. Many call it "the greatest discovery of the century in biotechnology".

Now let's see how the CRISPR / Cas9‌ technology works.

Scientists have found that the bacterial genome has some sequences, many of which are repetitive. These are called CRISPR (CRISPR's full name is Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat). It actually acts as a defense against bacteria in nature. Some proteins are produced from this crisper sequence when the bacteria is infected by the virus. These proteins can destroy the virus. One of these crisper proteins is Cas9. Although the job of the Cas9 protein is to attack the virus, scientists are now using it in a completely different way. And this job is to do genome editing.

They attach a small guide RNA molecule to the Cas9 protein. This molecule contains only twenty base pairs. Its job is to identify the target gene for genome editing. This guide molecule is designed in such a way that it can only be attached to the target gene. And as soon as the target gene is found, the Cas9 protein cuts the DNA of the genome in two. Then the DNA tries to reconnect itself in a natural way. And with this opportunity, scientists can add a gene of their choice or deactivate a harmful gene.

Genome editing of various animals and plants is currently being done using CRISPR / Cas9‌ technology in various laboratories around the world. However, there are still many restrictions on the use of this technology in Europe, America and Australia.

There is a huge potential for using this technology in plant breeding. Scientists want to increase the yield of rice and reduce the amount of amylose

Have used this technology. This technology is also being used to increase the immunity of plants.

The bottom line is that this technology has huge potential. সবচেয়েThe biggest advantage of this technology is that it can easily identify the target gene in the genome and make the desired changes in it. That is why scientists are very optimistic about its far-reaching potential.

Source:

1. https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/genomicresearch/genomeediting/

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5131771/

3.

https://www.sciencemag.org/features/2019/09/beyond-crispr-what-s-current-and-upcoming-genome-editing

4.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome_editing

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