finally
A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
41–50 of 71 posts
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#42I feel creeped out/put off about this. These are intelligent beings, apparently limited only by their short lifespan. They communicate by modulating the pigments into patterns. Now that has been taken away. Imagine toasting some genes in a human embryo to the effect of lock in syndrome. Crispy! edit: I think this is a case for PETA to look into.
What would PETA look into? They have no authority, and a huge bias wrt moral judgements.
If shortening the lifespan of a squid is inhumane, then what is catching and eating squid by the tonne?
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#43Please do this to great White Sharks.
invisible, glass-like sharks? no thanks.
Though at least if you got a limb bitten off, you could see in which shark it resides.
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#44As a learner, is it possible to self learn more about Gene Editing and these things, and can these things can be learned in a hacker way without going through a formal academic route ?
Youtube is fantastic for this. What you'll find out is that once you understand how DNA works (codons map to amino acids), and that amino acids fold into specific 4D shapes that trap molecule A and mush it into molecule B to make molecule C, the rest kind of falls into place.
4D shapes as in changing over time?
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#45For anyone coming to the comments before reading the article: the squid is already clear, they just removed some spots of pigment.
And the advantage here is that it's the start of development of a genetic-modification toolkit (similar to that we already have for fruit flies and c elegans and zebrafish) for using them as animal models. Much more complex of a brain than any of the other animal models we usually use.
Isn't this a bit of a slippery slope? The better a model of a human brain you experiment on, the closer you approach the ethics of performing the same experiment on human embryos, infants, children, and adults (as they age). I think this is already pretty close to the case for mice, but when you start doing it to cephalopods, primates, and dolphins/orcas, you're really skirting the line.
I wonder if there'll ever be a time where if we aren't comfortable with doing something to human embryos (or other stages) in experiments, we also won't be comfortable doing it to the animals closest to us on the intelligence and awareness totem pole, and eventually perhaps any sentient animals at all (so nearly all of them besides jellyfish, sponges, anemomes, and some other ocean dwellers). This day feels inevitable to me, but I don't know whether it's 20 years or 200 years away.
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#46There is a third squid in there, on the top right.
It is actually clear as glass! Wow
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#47As a learner, is it possible to self learn more about Gene Editing and these things, and can these things can be learned in a hacker way without going through a formal academic route ?
Youtube is fantastic for this. What you'll find out is that once you understand how DNA works (codons map to amino acids), and that amino acids fold into specific 4D shapes that trap molecule A and mush it into molecule B to make molecule C, the rest kind of falls into place.
Haha, as a Biochemistry PhD student, this is almost exactly how I will often break down biology to a layperson: DNA corresponds to proteins that are essentially just shapes bumping into other shapes, sometimes making new shapes and sometimes destroying them in the process.
Of course, provided 4 billion years of evolution, this has yielded staggering complexities, but at the heart of it is just globs.
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#48For anyone coming to the comments before reading the article: the squid is already clear, they just removed some spots of pigment.
Still impressive, but definitely not as complicated as taking an opaque squid and making it clear.
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#49When can we use CRISPR to address the mutation with the L-gulono-γ-lactone oxidase gene (GLO; EC number 1.1.3.8) which controls the synthesize l-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in humans?
Is it possible with CRISPR? Can it be introduced in a person and have it reverse the mutation?
Fixing this mutation might have the biggest impact on global human health, in humans the GLO mutation only impact the synthesis of vitamin C, unlike in other animals like primates, bats, guinea pigs and fish the mutation can't be reversed because it impacts other systems.
Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
#50As a learner, is it possible to self learn more about Gene Editing and these things, and can these things can be learned in a hacker way without going through a formal academic route ?
I cannot recommend the YouTube Channel "The Thought Emporium" highly enough, for this topic or many others. Self taught tinkerer/chemist/biohacker, his latest videos are primarily about gene editing.