Genetic engineering is the process of removing a gene from one organism and putting it into another. Often, the removed genes are put into bacteria or yeast cells so that scientists can study the gene or the protein it produces more easily. Sometimes, genes are put into a plant or an animal.

One of the first genetic engineering advances involved the hormone insulin. Diabetes, a medical condition that affects millions of people, prevents the body from producing enough insulin necessary for cells to properly absorb sugar. Diabetics used to be treated with supplementary insulin isolated from pigs or cows. Although this insulin is very similar to human insulin, it is not identical. Bovine insulin is antigenic in humans. Antibodies produced against it would gradually destroy its efficacy.

Scientists got around the problem by putting the gene for human insulin into bacteria. The bacteria's cellular machinery, which is identical to the cellular machinery of all living things, "reads" the gene, and turns it into a protein-human insulin-through a process called translation.

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Interactives . DNA . Genetic Engineering

genetic engineering,the artificial manipulation, modification, and recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to modify an organism or population of organisms.

The term genetic engineering initially meant any of a wide range of techniques for the modification or manipulation of organisms through the processes of heredity and reproduction. As such, the term embraced both artificial selection and all the interventions of biomedical techniques, among them artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (e.g., test-tube babies), sperm banks, cloning, and gene manipulation. But the term now denotes the narrower field of recombinant DNA technology, or gene cloning (see Figure), in which DNA molecules from two or more sources are combined either within cells or in vitro and are then inserted into host organisms in which they are able to propagate. Gene cloning is used to produce new genetic combinations that are of value to science, medicine, agriculture, or industry.

DNA is the carrier of genetic information; it achieves its effects by directing the synthesis of proteins. Most recombinant DNA technology involves the insertion of foreign genes into the plasmids of common laboratory strains of bacteria. Plasmids are small rings of DNA; they are not part of the bacteriums chromosome (the main repository of the organisms genetic information). Nonetheless, they are capable of directing protein synthesis, and, like chromosomal DNA, they are reproduced and passed on to the bacteriums progeny. Thus, by incorporating foreign DNA (for example, a mammalian gene) into a bacterium, researchers can obtain an almost limitless number of copies of the inserted gene. Furthermore, if the inserted gene is operative (i.e., if it directs protein synthesis), the modified bacterium will produce the protein specified by the foreign DNA.

A key step in the development of genetic engineering was the discovery of restriction enzymes in 1968 by the Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber. However, type II restriction enzymes, which are essential to genetic engineering for their ability to cleave a specific site within the DNA (as opposed to type I restriction enzymes, which cleave DNA at random sites), were not identified until 1969, when the American molecular biologist Hamilton O. Smith purified this enzyme. Drawing on Smiths work, the American molecular biologist Daniel Nathans helped advance the technique of DNA recombination in 197071 and demonstrated that type II enzymes could be useful in genetic studies. Genetic engineering itself was pioneered in 1973 by the American biochemists Stanley N. Cohen and Herbert W. Boyer, who were among the first to cut DNA into fragments, rejoin different fragments, and insert the new genes into E. coli bacteria, which then reproduced.

Genetic engineering has advanced the understanding of many theoretical and practical aspects of gene function and organization. Through recombinant DNA techniques, bacteria have been created that are capable of synthesizing human insulin, human growth hormone, alpha interferon, a hepatitis B vaccine, and other medically useful substances. Plants may be genetically adjusted to enable them to fix nitrogen, and genetic diseases can possibly be corrected by replacing bad genes with normal ones. Nevertheless, special concern has been focused on such achievements for fear that they might result in the introduction of unfavourable and possibly dangerous traits into microorganisms that were previously free of theme.g., resistance to antibiotics, production of toxins, or a tendency to cause disease.

The new microorganisms created by recombinant DNA research were deemed patentable in 1980, and in 1986 the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the sale of the first living genetically altered organisma virus, used as a pseudorabies vaccine, from which a single gene had been cut. Since then several hundred patents have been awarded for genetically altered bacteria and plants.

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genetic engineering | Britannica.com

Genetic Engineering, the process of extracting DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, which makes up the genes of all living things) from one organism and combining it with the DNA of another organism, thus introducing new hereditary traits into the recipient organism. The nature and characteristics of every living creature is determined by the special combinations of genes carried by its cells. The slightest alteration in these combinations can bring about significant changes in an organism and also its progeny. The science of devising techniques of modifying or controlling genes and genetic combinations is referred to as genetic engineering. It was practiced in one form or another in the past by farmers and agriculturists trying to create economically viable species of plants and animals through various breeding techniques Genetic engineering, as a science, was developed in the mid-1970's primarily to create new strains of microorganisms that produce certain chemicals useful in manufacturing or as drugs. Genetic engineering is now also applied to improving plants and creating transgenic animals (animals containing foreign genetic material).

Some persons oppose genetic engineering on religious, ethical, or social grounds. Among the religious questions is whether humans have the right to transfer traits from one organism to another. A social concern is the possibility of creating harmful organisms that, if accidentally released into the environment, could cause epidemics.The creation of human clones, for example, is facing serious opposition especially on moral grounds. Organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are seeking to control the harmful effects of genetic engineering by imposing guidelines and safety measures for genetic experimentation. Treatment of hereditary defects through gene transplantation and controlled interchange of genes between specified species was approved in 1985 and 1987 respectively by the NIH and the National Academy of Sciences. The USDA has framed regulations for the genetic alteration of plants by plant breeders.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that genetically engineered microorganisms could be patented. In 1988 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued its first patent for a higher form of life, a transgenic mouse that is highly susceptible to certain cancers that appear frequently in humans. This mouse is used in cancer research.

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Genetic Engineering - HowStuffWorks

By Edd Gent

Supercomputers and genetic engineering could help boost crops' ability to convert sunlight into energy and tackle looming food shortages, according to a team of researchers.

Photosynthesis is far from its theoretical maximum efficiency, say the authors of a paper in Cell, published on 26 March. They say that supercomputing advances could allow scientists to model every stage in the process and identify bottlenecks in improving plant growth.

But the authors add that far more science spending is needed to increase yields through these sophisticated genetic manipulations, which include refining the photosynthesis process.

"Anything we discover in the lab now won't be in a farmer's field for 20 to 30 years," says lead author Stephen Long, a plant biologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in the United States. "If we discover we have a crisis then, it's already too late."

The paper says that, by 2050, the world is predicted to require 85 per cent more staple food crops than were produced in 2013. It warns that yield gains from last century's Green Revolution are stagnating as traditional approaches to genetic improvement reach biological limits.

Instead, the group says crops such as rice and wheat, which evolved the more common C3 method of photosynthesis, could be upgraded to the more efficient C4 process found in crops such as maize, sorghum and sugar cane.

This could be done by transplanting genes from C4 plants to widen the spectrum of light the receiving plants can process and improve their growth, the scientists say.

Long's lab has demonstrated in a soon-to-be-published paper that inserting genes from cyanobacteria, a type of photosynthetic bacteria, into crop plants can make photosynthesis 30 per cent more efficient. A project backed by the philanthropic Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is now attempting to convert rice from C3 to C4

The paper identifies two steps necessary to achieve these gains. First, techniques that allow researchers to insert genes into targeted parts of the genome must be translated from microbe biotechnology into plant biotechnology. Second, existing partial computer models of crop plants must be combined into a complete simulation.

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Africa: Photosynthesis Upgrade Proposed to Raise Crop Yields

IMAGE:Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, is an authoritative, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published 10 times per year in print and online. The Journal publishes original... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, April 14, 2015--Obstetricians and gynecologists have a unique opportunity to educate and encourage minority women to nurse their infants to help reduce persistent racial and ethnic disparities in breastfeeding. As part of prenatal care, ob/gyns should promote the known health benefits of breastfeeding and help identify potential barriers their minority patients may face, according to an article in Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Breastfeeding Medicine website until May 14, 2015.

Coauthors Katherine Jones, Michael Power, PhD, John Queenan, and Jay Schulkin, PhD, from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American University, and Georgetown University, Washington, DC, present data from a comprehensive literature review demonstrating lower rates of breastfeeding initiation and continuation for some racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. compared to White women. By understanding the cultural and social factors and the inadequacies of the healthcare system that may affect a minority woman's decision to breastfeed and her attitudes toward nursing, ob/gyns may be better able to help their patients overcome obstacles to nursing.

In the article "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Breastfeeding," the authors provide information such as what programs and techniques can positively impact these rates and they urge ob/gyns to use these data to support breastfeeding in their clinical practices and in public policy.

"The persistent disparities cast shame on our healthcare system, a system that continues to short change that part of our population that is most in need of the benefits of breastfeeding," says Arthur I. Eidelman, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine. "Hopefully clinicians will incorporate the information in this article into their daily activities and reverse this negative situation."

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About the Journal

Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, is an authoritative, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published 10 times per year in print and online. The Journal publishes original scientific papers, reviews, and case studies on a broad spectrum of topics in lactation medicine. It presents evidence-based research advances and explores the immediate and long-term outcomes of breastfeeding, including the epidemiologic, physiologic, and psychological benefits of breastfeeding. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Breastfeeding Medicine website.

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Too few minority women breastfeed -- can ob/gyns change their minds?

IMAGE:The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine is a monthly peer-reviewed journal published online with Open Access options and in print. The Journal provides observational, clinical, and scientific... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, April 14, 2015--Malaria is a critical health problem in West Africa, where traditional medicine is commonly used alongside modern healthcare practices. An herbal remedy derived from the roots of a weed, which was traditionally used to alleviate malarial symptoms, was combined with leaves and aerial portions from two other plants with antimalarial activity, formulated as a tea, and eventually licensed and sold as an antimalarial phytomedicine. The fascinating story and challenges behind the development of this plant-based treatment are presented in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine website until May 14, 2015.

Dr. Merlin Willcox (University of Oxford, U.K.), Dr. Zphirin Dakuyo (Phytofla, Banfora, Burkina Faso), and coauthors discuss the antimalarial and pharmacological properties of the herbal medication derived from Cochlospermum planchonii (a shrubby weed known as N'Dribala), Phyllanthus amarus, and Cassia alata. The authors provide a unique historical perspective in describing the early evaluation, development, and production of this phytomedicine. They present the ongoing research and challenges in scaling up cultivation and harvesting of the plants and in production of the final product. The article also describes other traditional uses of the medication, such as to treat hepatitis.

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About the Journal

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine is a monthly peer-reviewed journal published online with Open Access options and in print. The Journal provides observational, clinical, and scientific reports and commentary intended to help healthcare professionals and scientists evaluate and integrate therapies into patient care protocols and research strategies. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Alternative and Complementary Therapies, Medical Acupuncture, and Journal of Medicinal Food. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Antimalarial tea -- from herbal remedy to licensed phytomedicine

B1 Genetic Engineering (AQA)
1:39 What is a GMO? 4:43 How to create a GMO 8:34 Gene Technology Uses 10:52 Evaluating Genetic Engineering.

By: StudySmart: Science

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B1 Genetic Engineering (AQA) - Video

COBIS 2015 Science Film (Genetic Engineering)
COBIS 2015 Science Film (Genetic Engineering) Vivek Narendra Kevin Abraham.

By: Vivekanand Narendra

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COBIS 2015 Science Film (Genetic Engineering) - Video

Genetic engineering and biotecnology
http://gebri.usc.edu.eg.

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Genetic engineering and biotecnology - Video

Genetic Engineering Enlightenment
For Biology-- Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/join -- Create animated videos and animated presentations for free. PowToon is a free tool that allows you to...

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Genetic Engineering Enlightenment - Video

Supercomputers and genetic engineering could help boost crops ability to convert sunlight into energy and tackle looming food shortages, according to a team of researchers.

Photosynthesis is far from its theoretical maximum efficiency, say the authors of a paper in Cell, published on 26 March. They say that supercomputing advances could allow scientists to model every stage in the process and identify bottlenecks in improving plant growth.

But the authors add that far more science spending is needed to increase yields through these sophisticated genetic manipulations, which include refining the photosynthesis process.

Anything we discover in the lab now wont be in a farmers field for 20 to 30 years, says lead author Stephen Long, a plant biologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in the United States. If we discover we have a crisis then, its already too late.

The paper says that, by 2050, the world is predicted to require 85 per cent more staple food crops than were produced in 2013. It warns that yield gains from last centurys Green Revolution are stagnating as traditional approaches to genetic improvement reach biological limits.

Instead, the group says crops such as rice and wheat, which evolved the more common C3 method of photosynthesis, could be upgraded to the more efficient C4 process found in crops such as maize, sorghum and sugar cane.

This could be done by transplanting genes from C4 plants to widen the spectrum of light the receiving plants can process and improve their growth, the scientists say.

Longs lab has demonstrated in a soon-to-be-published paper that inserting genes from cyanobacteria, a type of photosynthetic bacteria, into crop plants can make photosynthesis 30 per cent more efficient. A project backed by the philanthropic Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is now attempting to convert rice from C3 to C4

The paper identifies two steps necessary to achieve these gains. First, techniques that allow researchers to insert genes into targeted parts of the genome must be translated from microbe biotechnology into plant biotechnology. Second, existing partial computer models of crop plants must be combined into a complete simulation.

Genetic improvements will also have to work alongside improved farming practices, the authors say. Long says that only half of the yield gains from the Green Revolution were the result of improving crops genetic potential. Another large chunk was getting the agronomy right for those genetic improvements, he says.

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How can we improve plant growth?

Genetic engineering of blood cells could help cure widespread and crippling diseases such as sickle cell anaemia. Above, blood samples collected during a conference on sickle cell anaemia in Senegal. Photograph: Pierre Holtz/EPA

The last time thoughtful and well-informed scientists demanded a moratorium on the use of genetic engineering techniques was in 1975, when it had just become obvious that DNA from one species could be spliced into entirely different organisms and still function there. This is now so commonplace that we take it for granted but at the time it seemed to open up terrible risks. So a conference, convened at Asilomar in California by the man who had come furthest in the world at the technique, drew up very clear safeguards and made them public.

The next stage could be to apply the technique to make modifications in the human genome that can be passed on

The transplantation of genes from one organism to another is now widespread in science and often extremely beneficial. No one doubts that it could be used in wicked and dangerous ways, but with the right safeguards it has an immense power for good. This does not mean that the fears expressed, and acted on, at Asilomar were ridiculous.

Now there are calls for a fresh moratorium on some techniques of genetic engineering. They are worth taking seriously. The demand has been prompted by the spread and incipient commercialisation of a new technique for editing single genes, called Crispr-Cas. This may not be more effective than some of its predecessors, but it is very much simpler to use, which means that far more labs can use it, and for many more purposes. They will be operating in very different political, ethical and regulatory frameworks. We can no longer assume that the exploitation of scientific discoveries will be controlled and directed from the US and Europe. But that does not relieve us of the responsibility of keeping our own housesinorder.

The democratic control of science was an idea much more alive in the 1970s than it is today, when we are numbed by the assumption that all knowledge will be appropriated by the people who paid for its discovery. Shameless attempts to privatise knowledge essential to a technological civilisation, from software patents to the human genome, have flourished in ways thatwere almost unimaginable at the time ofthe Asilomar conference.

Crispr has already been shown capable of some astonishing feats when used on animals. It will undoubtedly lead to more precise genetic engineering in plants. There are clear therapeutic prospects for humans. Aspects of this future are exhilarating. To be able to re-engineer blood cells and cure the widespread and crippling diseases such as thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia, is an exciting prospect. But pause, and consider the long-term implications. The next stage could be to apply the technique to make modifications in the human genome that can be passed on. It could wipe out some inherited disease. It could also be used to create a world in which the rich were different from you and me not because they have more money but because theyd spent some of it on better genes. It poses grave ethical questions that risk a public backlash against a technique that, properly directed, offers great potential. It is time for another Asilomar, and a global conversation about theproper limits ofscience.

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The Guardian view on the latest genetic engineering techniques: we need to talk about this, Professor

I have loved a lot of Craigslist ads in my time, but I truly love this one the most. It sounds like a plot ripped from The Avengers or Fantastic Four, crossed with VC-funded biotech startup madness.

Heres what the ad says:

I am a billionaire who needs help creating a mouth wash.solution.gum with CRISPR-Cas9 containing viruses that will change specific genetic loci in my cheek epithelial cells to prevent a positive match against DNA found at the scene of a crime (my DNA was planted by a Doctor who is Doomed).

Skills Required

*CRISPR-Cas9 engineering of mammalian epithelial cells

*Experience in DNA forensics

*Experience with Robotics

*Between 59 and 60 in height and medium build in case I need you to wear a custom built suit

*Must code in Python, Haha, joking, we will write everything in C and Assembly

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This Craigslist Ad for a Genetic Engineer Is Pure Wonderful Madness

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The Science

The conventional strategy for producing ethanol from plant biomass requires costly pretreatment and enzyme-driven reactions. Refining another strategy known as consolidated bioprocessing (CPB) could reduce costs. In second-generation CPB, a microorganism splits of water and ferments the products to ethanol, reducing the cost. Now, scientists engineered a strain of a CBP bacterium called Caldicellulosiruptor bescii that efficiently breaks down biomass without pretreatment. The microbe produces ethanol, demonstrating the successful conversion of switchgrass cellulosic biomass.

The Impact

Direct conversion of biomass to ethanol without pretreatment represents a new paradigm for CPB, offering the potential for carbon-neutral, cost-effective, and sustainable biofuel production.

Summary

Producing ethanol from plant biomass typically requires three major steps: physicochemical pretreatment, enzymatic breakdown of biomass into its constituent sugars, and fermentation. Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis are costly steps in the process. CBP could reduce costs. In CBP, unpretreated cellulosic biomass is converted to a biofuel in a single process by a microbe that breaks down the biomass and ferments the resulting sugars. Caldicellulosiruptor bescii had been shown to ferment untreated switchgrass, but it lacked the genes to make ethanol. Because C. bescii is a thermophile (heat loving) and CBP is carried out at elevated temperatures, a gene for a heat-stable enzyme enabling ethanol synthesis was needed. Researchers identified a candidate gene in Clostridium thermocellum and cloned it into C. bescii. The engineered strain of C. bescii was then able to produce ethanol from cellobiose, Avicel, and switchgrass. To optimize ethanol fermentation, two genes were deleted that would otherwise divert fermentation products. In this new C. bescii strain, roughly 30% of biomass was fermented, and 1.7 moles of ethanol were produced for each mole of glucose, an amount close to the theoretical 2.0 moles of ethanol per mole of glucose. Although efficiencies can be further improved, this study is an important step in realizing the potential of CBP and provides a platform for engineering the production of advanced biofuels and other bioproducts directly from cellulosic biomass without harsh and expensive pretreatment.

Funding

This research was conducted by the BioEnergy Science Center, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within DOE's Office of Science.

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Microbe Produces Ethanol From Switchgrass Without Pretreatment

IMAGE:Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online that focuses on cutting-edge basic research, therapeutic applications, and drug development using nucleic acids or related... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, April 7, 2015--An experimental single-stranded oligonucleotide-based drug, MGN1703, comprised only of natural DNA components, stimulates the human immune system to fight infections and attack cancer cells without causing the harmful side effects associated with similar compounds that also contain non-natural DNA components. The design and structural characteristics of MGN1703, which is in clinical testing to treat a variety of cancers, affect its potency and toxicity, as described in an article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers . The article is available free on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website until April 24th, 2015.

"Design and Structural Requirements of the Potent and Safe TLR-9 Agonistic Immunomodulator MGN1703" presents a detailed look at this DNA molecule, which contains non-methylated cytosine nucleotides in cytosine-guanine pairs, a signature often found in bacteria and viruses that sends a danger signal to human immune cells. These compounds bind to and activate toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), triggering a cascade of signaling pathways in the immune system that enable recognition and destruction of foreign cells.

Manuel Schmidt and Matthias Schroff, Mologen AG (Berlin, Germany), Nicole Hagner and Burghardt Wittig, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Alberto Marco, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain), and Sven Knig-Merediz, Vivotecnia (Madrid, Spain) describe their approach to the molecular design of MGN1703. They avoided the need to incorporate non-natural components into the DNA backbone to enhance its potency and stability by instead manipulating its size and shape.

"Moving forward to solve the concerns and disappointment of clinical implementation of cytosine-phosphodiester-guanine oligodeoxynucleotides, this work is an important step towards the application of a new class of safe and efficacious immunomodulators in humans," says Executive Editor Graham C. Parker, PhD, The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI.

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About the Journal

Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online that focuses on cutting-edge basic research, therapeutic applications, and drug development using nucleic acids or related compounds to alter gene expression. The Journal is under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief Bruce A. Sullenger, PhD, Duke Translational Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, and Executive Editor Graham C. Parker, PhD. Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is the official journal of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics website.

About the Society

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New, natural DNA-based drugs are safe, potent activators of immune system

Genetic Engineering Legality
This video is about Genetic Engineering Legality.

By: Mira Rajani

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Genetic Engineering Legality - Video

IMAGE:Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals, published 10 times per online with open access options and in print, is under the editorial leadership of Co-Editors-in-Chief Donald J. Buchsbaum, PhD, Department of Radiation... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

ew Rochelle, NY, April 6, 2015--Therapeutic anti-cancer vaccines developed to treat metastatic disease such as advanced prostate cancer or melanoma rarely have a noticeable effect on the tumor but have been associated with a statistically significant increase in patient survival. Robert O. Dillman, MD, NeoStem, Inc., asserts that "overall survival" rather than "progression-free survival" should be the gold standard for evaluating the efficacy of cancer vaccines in clinical trials, in a provocative new article published in Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals website until May 6, 2015.

In the article "Cancer Vaccines: Can They Improve Survival?" Dr. Dillman differentiates between the two key endpoints typically used to assess therapeutic cancer vaccines in clinical studies. As cancer vaccines are designed to stimulate an immune response to cancer cells and induce long-term memory recognition of a tumor, they may improve overall survival even if they do not appear to slow the progression of disease. Although measuring overall survival compared to progression-free survival would usually require longer clinical trials, overall survival may be the only relevant efficacy endpoint, the author concludes.

"This is a timely article considering the number of vaccine and antibody immunotherapy trials ongoing or planned," says Co-Editor-in-Chief Donald J. Buchsbaum, PhD, Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham. "The conclusion that overall survival is the best clinical endpoint for efficacy in therapeutic vaccine and antibody immunotherapy trials in patients with metastatic cancer is based on an analysis of four completed trials."

About the Journal

Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals , published 10 times per online with open access options and in print, is under the editorial leadership of Co-Editors-in-Chief Donald J. Buchsbaum, PhD, Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Robert K. Oldham, MD, CAMC-Teay's Valley Cancer Center. Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals, celebrating 30 years in 2015, is the only journal with a specific focus on cancer biotherapy, including monoclonal antibodies, cytokine therapy, cancer gene therapy, cell-based therapies, and other forms of immunotherapy. The Journal includes extensive reporting on advancements in radioimmunotherapy and the use of radiopharmaceuticals and radiolabeled peptides for the development of new cancer treatments. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, Human Gene Therapy, and Stem Cells and Development. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) (http://www.genengnews.com), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

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Can cancer vaccines prolong survival?

IMAGE:This is Charles Gersbach, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University. view more

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke researchers have developed a new method to precisely control when genes are turned on and active.

The new technology allows researchers to turn on specific gene promoters and enhancers -- pieces of the genome that control gene activity -- by chemically manipulating proteins that package DNA. This web of biomolecules that supports and controls gene activity is known as the epigenome.

The researchers say having the ability to steer the epigenome will help them explore the roles that particular promoters and enhancers play in cell fate or the risk for genetic disease and it could provide a new avenue for gene therapies and guiding stem cell differentiation.

The study appears online April 6 in Nature Biotechnology.

"The epigenome is everything associated with the genome other than the actual genetic sequence, and is just as important as our DNA in determining cell function in healthy and diseased conditions," said Charles Gersbach, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Duke. "That becomes immediately obvious when you consider that we have over 200 cell types, and yet the DNA in each is virtually the same. The epigenome determines which genes each cell activates and to what degree."

This genetic puppetmaster consists of DNA packaging proteins called histones and a host of chemical modifications -- either to these histones or the DNA itself -- that help determine whether a gene is on or off.

But Gersbach's team didn't have to modify the genes themselves to gain some control.

"Next to every gene is a DNA sequence called a promoter that controls its activity," explained Gersbach. "But there's also many other pieces of the genome called enhancers that aren't next to any genes at all, and yet they play a critical role in influencing gene activity too."

Timothy Reddy, assistant professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at Duke, has spent the better part of a decade mapping millions of these enhancers across the human genome. There has not, however, been a good way to find out exactly what each one does. An enhancer might affect a gene next door or several genes across the genome -- or maybe none at all.

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Pulling the strings of our genetic puppetmasters

Dark Agenda ~ Bio Genetic Engineering with Nanotechnology
Changing you and your world from within and without.

By: MrPurpleTie

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Dark Agenda ~ Bio Genetic Engineering with Nanotechnology - Video

Genetic Engineering Technology
Discussion on my research topic for ENG 2010.

By: Guintah212

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Genetic Engineering Technology - Video