Why do we still have mitochondrial DNA?

The mitochondrion isn't the bacterium it was in its prime, say two billion years ago. Since getting consumed by our common single-celled ancestor the "energy powerhouse" organelle has lost most of its 2,000+ genes, likely ...

Can CRISPR help edit out female mosquitos?

The recent discovery of the first male-determining factor in mosquitoes, combined with the gene-editing capabilities of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, could be used to bias mosquito populations from deadly, blood-sucking females ...

True love: How transcription factors interact to create a heart

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered that three transcription factors—proteins that direct gene expression—interact with each other and the genome to influence how a heart forms in an embryo. Without ...

Curing disease by repairing faulty genes

The genome-editing technique known as CRISPR allows scientists to clip a specific DNA sequence and replace it with a new one, offering the potential to cure diseases caused by defective genes. For this potential to be realized, ...

Scientists debate boundaries, ethics of human gene editing

Rewriting your DNA is getting closer to reality: A revolutionary technology is opening new frontiers for genetic engineering—a promise of cures for intractable diseases along with anxiety about designer babies.

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