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A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

nature.com

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Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

#51

Post by FriendlyNormie »

meowface wrote: post #45
azernik wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

No post body was provided.

Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

#52

Post by FriendlyNormie »

verroq wrote: post #22
_f9cu wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They removed the dots in the eyes as well.

So it’s blind? Reminds me of the Invisible Man plot hole where the guy gets turned invisible and thus his retinas also become transparent and therefore he shouldn’t be able to see anything.

No post body was provided.

Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

#54

Post by dekhn »

watertom wrote: post #49

When 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, u…

Is there a specific disease you're targeting, or are you trying to give general humans abilities they don't already have? The latter is not being considered at this point.

Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

#55

Post by est31 »

dekhn wrote: post #54
watertom wrote: post #49

When 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, u…

Is there a specific disease you're targeting, or are you trying to give general humans abilities they don't already have? The latter is not being considered at this point.

It's both. No human has the ability to synthesize vitamin C in their own bodies, leading to scurvy, unless you supplement vitamin C in your diet. Most people eat enough vitamin C to not lead to scurvy. There is a disease that would be eliminated, but it's preventable by watching out what you eat. Also, usually it takes more than just the synthesis of the enzyme. It also needs to be regulated, which requires the systems that regulate it to be around as well (and work correctly). Neither producing too much of the enzyme, nor too little is a good outcome.

So yeah, I think it's better to focus on other diseases first, that are more serious and where a human carrier of the healthy variant of the gene already walks among us, here on earth.

Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

#56

Post by dekhn »

est31 wrote: post #55
dekhn wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a specific disease you're targeting, or are you trying to give general humans abilities they don't already have? The latter is not being considered at this point.

It's both. No human has the ability to synthesize vitamin C in their own bodies, leading to scurvy, unless you supplement vitamin C in your diet. Most people eat enough vitamin C to not lead to scurvy. There is a disease that would be eliminated, but it's preventable by watching out what you eat. Also, usually it takes more than just the synthesis of the enzyme. It also needs to be regulated, which requires the syste…

I don't think this makes sense since the risk of attempting to add a phenotype greatly outweighs the low cost of just taking vitamin C.

Even just producing the right amount of enzyme is a first-order approximation to what actually has to be done to add a phenotype without side effects.

Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

#57

Post by VRay »

meowface wrote: post #45
azernik wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

We're still chopping up likely-sentient animals and eating them, so it's probably a ways off..

Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

#58

Post by asmithmd1 »

stkdump wrote: post #40
DrAwdeOccarim wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as I appreciate the desire for governments to stem the tide, what you're saying is likely very difficult--if not impossible--for a government to effectively stop. Of course, people who don't want to break the law will comply but those who don't care will have no trouble doing as they please. Gene editing is quite simple now, and with only a few purchased parts one can edit whatever they please. Maybe you're t…

Is editing human embryos harder? Or how is it less difficult for a government to stop?

It has already been done - and the scientist is in jail:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Jiankui_affair

Re: A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass

#60

Post by war1025 »

VRay wrote: post #57
meowface wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

We're still chopping up likely-sentient animals and eating them, so it's probably a ways off..

I believe I read this in the book Grandfather by Tom Brown [1] (could have been somewhere else). The author was taught by an Apache elder about survival, etc.

Part of that was learning how to track and hunt.

The first time he killed a deer, he was required to sneak up on the deer and kill it with a knife. That way he would know the gravity of what he was doing.

He wrote that he cried for a good while afterwards.

I think that is a perspective more people should take with eating meat. To know you are taking the life of a living, breathing thing to sustain your own life.

I think it used to be a much more common view, but it's hard to view a chicken nugget or a hamburger as an animal that lost its life to continue yours.

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/434013.Grandfather

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