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Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

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Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#41

Post by i000 »

new299 wrote: post #28
nvusuvu wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How fast can we sequence now? What are the error rates?

About 6 Gigabases per hour, somewhere in that ballpark. Probably something like the equivalent of the human genome project (which took >10 years and 3 billion USD in the 90s) every few days. Error rates are in the region of 1 to 0.1% generally. I've never really worked directly with capillary data but understand it's error rate in early bases is limited by the amplification step. Which would be ~0.0001% (1 in 10000).…

The absolute error-rate is not really a problem if the errors are random and you have the budget to sequence enough independent fragments. Sequencing becomes tricky (both Sanger and next-gen) because of non-random recurrent artifacts associated with the sequencing method or molecular manipulations done to the DNA or RNA.

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#42

Post by zxcvcxz »

baldfat wrote: post #34
rs232 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason I believe that cosmetic gene modifications will be more readily accepted than GMOs.

^ This is it. I can be GMO as a human and have acme free skin? Thank you and here is your $25,000. This will be seen as medical benefit since it cures disease and I can have Green/Hazel eyes. Seriously I refuse to eat Chipotle with their fear mongering Anti-GMO stance on the front window.

So is genetically modifying your body pretty safe?

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#43

Post by brockers »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #7

I'd say that in terms of what we are able to do next, Graphene wins by a long way. Graphene is remarkable stuff, literally. I'd say in terms of impact on philosophy, religion and way of life, the large number of planets we're discovering.

I fear the graphene will fall by the wayside due to legal and social pressure. News sources have already pointed out that it is significantly more dangerous, if inhaled, than asbestos; another material this is insanely useful for a number of applications but is effectively blackballed as a engineer-able material.

Another example is nuclear energy. Clean, abundant, and extremely safe. The fear of radiation exposer has turned it into a pariah in the world community; totally ignoring the fact the radioactive elements in coal emissions have kill more people in the last 30 years than 100 Three Mile Island incidences would.

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#44

Post by chriswarbo »

jbrooksuk wrote: post #39
PaulRobinson wrote: post #7

I'd say that in terms of what we are able to do next, Graphene wins by a long way. Graphene is remarkable stuff, literally. I'd say in terms of impact on philosophy, religion and way of life, the large number of planets we're discovering.

How is it literally remarkable stuff?

Graphene is a single layer of graphite. Graphite is used in pencils. Pencils can make marks, which are erasable, and hence re-markable.

;)

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#45

Post by maxerickson »

zt wrote: post #16

CRISPR for gene editing: "Since 2013, the CRISPR/Cas system has been used for gene editing (adding, disrupting or changing the sequence of specific genes) and gene regulation in species throughout the tree of life. By delivering the Cas9 protein and appropriate guide RNAs into a cell, the organism's genome can be cut at any desired location." (From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR ) Edit: Hear a recent…

That's the first I've come across gene drives and gene drive escape. It's every bad movie about genetic engineering come to life, and just as scary.

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#46

Post by dragonwriter »

baldfat wrote: post #35
dragonwriter wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More likely, the first profitable applications will not have anything to do with editing the human genome, as bad been the case for every other technique useful for genetic engineering.

Curing Genetic Defects will be the first use starting with Children. OR they will have a gene that cures Diabetes which will cause a major change in millions of lives. I still think of CRISPER as the new graphine though. Awesome discovery with promise around the corner for years and years.

Curing genetic defects in humans is sexy, but, aside from any issues of difficulty, human therapeutic applications have a longer pathway to commercial implementation than other applications. The first profitable commercial applications are more likely to involve industrially useful bacteria and new engineered crops long before any human therapies.

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#47

Post by blumkvist »

brockers wrote: post #43
PaulRobinson wrote: post #7

I'd say that in terms of what we are able to do next, Graphene wins by a long way. Graphene is remarkable stuff, literally. I'd say in terms of impact on philosophy, religion and way of life, the large number of planets we're discovering.

I fear the graphene will fall by the wayside due to legal and social pressure. News sources have already pointed out that it is significantly more dangerous, if inhaled, than asbestos; another material this is insanely useful for a number of applications but is effectively blackballed as a engineer-able material. Another example is nuclear energy. Clean, abundant, and extremely safe. The fear of radiation exposer has…

Nuclear energy is very expensive. Not in the sense that your bills are high. Cost are hidden and paid by the government, largely. The initial project's cost is astronomical, but it always goes over budgets and deadlines. Those are provisioned for in the initial contract, so the additional cost is rarely talked about.

Nuclear companies are in bad shape nowadays, because governments around the world caught up with the way they conduct business.

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#48

Post by astazangasta »

zxcvcxz wrote: post #42
baldfat wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^ This is it. I can be GMO as a human and have acme free skin? Thank you and here is your $25,000. This will be seen as medical benefit since it cures disease and I can have Green/Hazel eyes. Seriously I refuse to eat Chipotle with their fear mongering Anti-GMO stance on the front window.

So is genetically modifying your body pretty safe?

Hell, no. CRISPR has the benefit of specificity, but the kit must be delivered to the cell by live virus, which can cause problems (heavy immune response), especially if you are infecting with a high enough titer to affect a majority of cells.

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#49

Post by astazangasta »

maxerickson wrote: post #45
zt wrote: post #16

CRISPR for gene editing: "Since 2013, the CRISPR/Cas system has been used for gene editing (adding, disrupting or changing the sequence of specific genes) and gene regulation in species throughout the tree of life. By delivering the Cas9 protein and appropriate guide RNAs into a cell, the organism's genome can be cut at any desired location." (From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR ) Edit: Hear a recent…

That's the first I've come across gene drives and gene drive escape. It's every bad movie about genetic engineering come to life, and just as scary.

It's not so bad if you know some evolutionary biology. Most of these things have huge fitness costs (e.g. genes that render a mosquito sterile have a fitness of zero), so the possibility of escape is less than the chance of the sun turning into a pumpkin.

Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

#50

Post by maxerickson »

astazangasta wrote: post #49
maxerickson wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the first I've come across gene drives and gene drive escape. It's every bad movie about genetic engineering come to life, and just as scary.

It's not so bad if you know some evolutionary biology. Most of these things have huge fitness costs (e.g. genes that render a mosquito sterile have a fitness of zero), so the possibility of escape is less than the chance of the sun turning into a pumpkin.

What does "most of these things" mean in this context? Most of the ones that have been designed to date? The possible design space?
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