The creation of new DNA molecules using fragments of DNA from different sources, which can be used to make genetically modified organisms.
A US federal safety board is set to review an application for the first in-human use of CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing technology to treat cancer...
The UNESCO International Bioethics Committee has released a statement reaffirming an earlier moratorium called by a group of US scientists on the use of CRISPR/Cas9 in human embryos. We argue that the current framing of the debate in terms of dystopic or imagined futures is too narrow and constrains the boundaries of the debate to germline applications...
It took 50 years for the Nobel committee to acknowledge one of the key developments in biology...
With the term 'Frankenstein' having become synonymous with 'mad scientists' who 'play God', and its status as the go-to criticism against any new technology that threatens to interfere with what is deemed 'natural', Shelley's story is as relevant today as ever it was. Indeed, what was once considered so morally abhorrent that it formed the fabric of horror has, with recombinant DNA, IVF, organ donation and embryonic stem cells to name but a few, been realised today several times over...
The quest to sequence the first human genome has all the ingredients of a good thriller. Privately funded maverick scientist Dr Craig Venter raced the government-sponsored Human Genome Project (HGP) to be the first to sequence the human genetic code. When the draft code was finally published in 2001, it became one of the landmark scientific advances of the last decade...
Gene therapy trials for a rare inherited immune disease might be allowed to proceed, but only for patients with no other treatment options, a US advisory panel concluded at an emergency meeting last week. The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) also said that resuming trials for other diseases 'may be...
US gene therapy trials for a rare immune disorder, suspended after a patient in a similar French trial developed a leukaemia-like disease, should now go ahead, says the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC). In October, gene therapy trials for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) were halted in several countries, after scientists...
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