Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe to Eat? (Science of Genetic Engineering)
Presented by Anastasia Bodnar PhD. In a recent Pew poll, 88% of AAAS scientists said that genetically engineered crops were safe to eat. In contrast, only 37% of non-scientists surveyed said...

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Planet Bizzaro Ep Seventeen Genetic Gas
Zoomer and his pals find out Zargon has plagued their food supply with genetically engineered bugs, so Zoomer uses his own genetic engineering to create a super fruit that ends up creating...

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Planet Bizzaro Ep Seventeen Genetic Gas - Video

What is Genetic Engineering? - Definition, Benefits Issues
Chapter 11: Food and Agricultural Resources.

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What is Genetic Engineering? - Definition, Benefits & Issues - Video

International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
ICGEB: A brief overview and introduction by Mauro Giacca, Director-General, and Researchers in Trieste, Italy.

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International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology - Video

BERKELEY

A group of 18 scientists and ethicists today warned that a revolutionary new tool to cut and splice DNA should be used cautiously when attempting to fix human genetic disease, and strongly discouraged any attempts at making changes to the human genome that could be passed on to offspring.

Among the authors of this warning is Jennifer Doudna, the co-inventor of the technology, called CRISPR-Cas9, which is driving a new interest in gene therapy, or genome engineering. She and colleagues co-authored a perspective piece that appears in the March 20 issue of Science, based on discussions at a meeting that took place in Napa on Jan. 24. The same issue ofSciencefeatures a collection of recent research papers, commentary and news articles on CRISPR and its implications.

Given the speed with which the genome engineering field is evolving, our group concluded that there is an urgent need for open discussion of the merits and risks of human genome modification by a broad cohort of scientists, clinicians, social scientists, the general public and relevant public entities and interest groups, the authors wrote.

Doudna, director of UC Berkeleys Innovative Genomics Initiative, was joined by five current and two former UC Berkeley scientists, plus David Baltimore, a Nobel laureate and president emeritus of the California Institute of Technology, Stanford Nobelist Paul Berg and eminent scientists from UC San Francisco, Stanford, Harvard and the universities of Wisconsin and Utah. Several of these scientists are currently involved in gene therapy to cure inherited diseases.

Such warnings have been issued numerous times since the dawn of genetic engineering in 1975, but until now the technology to actually fix genetic defects was hard to use.

However, this limitation has been upended recently by the rapid development and widespread adoption of a simple, inexpensive and remarkably effective genome engineering method known as CRISPR-Cas9, the scientists wrote. The simplicity of the CRISPR-Cas9 system enables any researcher with knowledge of molecular biology to modify genomes, making feasible many experiments that were previously difficult or impossible to conduct.

Correcting genetic defects

Scientists today are changing DNA sequences to correct genetic defects in animals as well as cultured tissues generated from stem cells, strategies that could eventually be used to treat human disease. The technology can also be used to engineer animals with genetic diseases mimicking human disease, which could lead to new insights into previously enigmatic disorders.

The CRISPR-Cas9 tool is still being refined to ensure that genetic changes are precisely targeted, Doudna said. Nevertheless, the authors met to initiate an informed discussion of the uses of genome engineering technology, and to identify proactively those areas where current action is essential to prepare for future developments. We recommend taking immediate steps toward ensuring that the application of genome engineering technology is performed safely and ethically.

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Scientists urge caution in using new CRISPR technology to treat human genetic disease

While it holds promise for eradicating genetic diseases, the technology also has big implications for the human genome: A person whose DNA is edited would pass the altered genes on to his or her future children.

There's also a fear the technology could be used in unethical ways, such as "engineering" a baby to look a certain way, or to be athletic or intelligent.

"One of the concerns is that some people may want to use the technology to make trivial or cosmetic changes, rather than using it to prevent devastating diseases," said Carroll, distinguished professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

The paper Carroll co-signed is expected to amplify discussion in the scientific community, which last week heard from another group of researchers who recommend that the new technology never be used on human embryos.

Changing the genome could have unpredictable effects on future humans, and that's unacceptable, the group says.

Instead, that group, led by Edward Lanphier, chief executive of the biotechnology company Sangamo Biosciences, suggests research focus on somatic, or non-reproductive cells.

CRISPR-Cas9, was developed in the lab of Jennifer Doudna, the University of California-Berkeley scientist who organized the Napa meeting.

Hundreds of papers in the past two years have proven the usefulness of the new tool in research involving mammals.

"The applications to humans are potentially just around the corner," Carroll said.

CRISPR-Cas9 allows more subtle, precise changes in DNA than was possible with technologies used in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), he added. Such genetic engineering typically involves introducing new genes into an organism.

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Engineering humans: Utah professor joins group urging caution

Here's the classic, if overly simplistic, example: Children inherit sets of chromosomes from each of their parents, with each chromosome containing the genes for various traits. A blue-eyed child has to inherit the blue-eyed gene from both the mother and the father. Otherwise, the dominant brown-eyed gene trumps the recessive blue-eyed gene.

In reality, eye color is determined by more than one gene. But the same principle applies to genetic defects such as muscular dystrophy: Even if you inherit the mutated gene for muscular dystrophy from one parent, the normal gene from the other parent can compensate and keep you from getting the disease.

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The downside for genetic engineers is that the mechanism makes it harder to introduce desired mutations. Mutagenic chain reaction, or MCR, makes the job easier. The researchers behind the Science study tweaked the CRISPR genome-editing procedure in fruit flies to make a mutation that's generated on one copy of a chromosome spread automatically to the other copy. Thus, both copies of the gene carry the mutation.

"MCR is remarkably active in all cells of the body, with one result being that such mutations are transmitted to offspring via the germline with 95 percent efficiency," study lead author Valentino Gantz, a graduate student at the University of California at San Diego, said in a news release.

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New procedure for reliable gene editing

Tosen Classic #4: The Test-Tube People
In classic form, Paris talks about genetic engineering with an interstellar twist. Subscribe to our channel.

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Tosen Classic #4: The Test-Tube People - Video

IMAGE:Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, March 18, 2015--Job recruiters may review hundreds of online resumes for a position, often screening them quickly and discarding those that are not appropriate. An applicant's email address can greatly impact first impressions and affect one's chances of getting hired according to a new study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers . The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website until April 18, 2015.

Marlies van Toorenburg, Janneke Oostrom, and Thomas Pollet, VU University, Amsterdam, designed a study to determine whether the use of an informal rather than a more formal email address by a job applicant when sending an online resume affects how hirable the person would seem to a professional recruiter. An informal email address includes slang, cute, or made-up names instead of the applicant's real name.

In the article "What a Difference Your Email Makes: Effects of Informal Email Addresses in Online Rsum Screening," the authors describe how the formal or informal nature of an applicant's email address impacts a recruiter's hirability perceptions. The researchers also compare the importance of the email address to spelling errors and the typeface used in the email in passing judgment on an online resume.

"We all have unconscious biases, and first impressions, as we know, are often difficult to change," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. "This study may assist recruiters in becoming more conscious of their biases, as well as aiding job applicants in understanding the importance of their electronic identities."

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About the Journal

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies, plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

About the Publisher

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Could your email address keep job recruiters from reading your online resume?

IMAGE:Violence and Gender is the only peer-reviewed journal focusing on the understanding, prediction, and prevention of acts of violence. Through research papers, roundtable discussions, case studies, and other... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, March 18, 2015-Who intentionally seeks to kill a policeman and why? In 2014 the rate of policemen purposely killed in the line of duty in the U.S. was nearly 1.5 times greater than in 2013. These incidents and what may have motivated the killers is the focus of an in-depth article in the peer-reviewed journal Violence and Gender, from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Violence and Gender website until April 18, 2015.

In the article "Men Who Kill Policemen," Michael Stone, MD, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York, NY) and Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Hospital (Goshen, NY), reviews details of the intentional killings of police in the line of duty in 2013-2014. All the killers were male, and most used a gun. Dr. Stone describes whether the perpetrators were killed or committed suicide during the incidents, or were actively involved in a crime at the time of the killing. He examines a variety of possible motivations for intentional killing of a policeman, including belonging to a "cop-hating" group, mental illness, or intoxication. He also discusses societal factors that may lead to higher or lower rates of policemen killing in different social or minority groups.

"This unique study by Dr. Michael Stone, an Associate Editor of Violence and Gender, could not be more timely and relevant," says Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, Director, Forensic Science Program, George Mason University; Forensic Behavioral Consultant; and Senior FBI Profiler/Criminal Investigative Analyst (ret.).

"Dr. Stone looked at all the police officers intentionally killed in the line of duty in the United States between 2013 and 2014," Dr. O'Toole continues. "He found that all of the 66 cop-killers were males, and their choice of weapon was a firearm. Dr. Stone identifies factors that led up to and contributed to these murders, and based on his experience and expertise as a world-renowned psychiatrist he offers the opinion that only a minority of these men likely suffered from a mental illness at the time of these murders. In the study of violence it is quite rare that research is so quickly available on contemporary issues, and this study exemplifies Dr. Stone's and the Journal's commitment to bring headline topics to our readers in scholarly and insightful ways."

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About the Journal

Violence and Gender is the only peer-reviewed journal focusing on the understanding, prediction, and prevention of acts of violence. Through research papers, roundtable discussions, case studies, and other original content, the Journal critically examines biological, genetic, behavioral, psychological, racial, ethnic, and cultural factors as they relate to the gender of perpetrators of violence. Led by Editor-in-Chief Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, Forensic Behavioral Consultant and Senior FBI Profiler/Criminal Investigative Analyst (ret.), Violence and Gender explores the difficult issues that are vital to threat assessment and prevention of the epidemic of violence. Violence and Gender is published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, and is the official journal of The Avielle Foundation. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Violence and Gender website.

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What motivates men who kill police?