Genetics: Key to Survival

Anneliese MollBY ANNELIESE MOLL
For the UAS Whalesong

In 2011 a study involving several groups of researchers from the United States, Canada, Germany, and Mexico who had been working on a study replicating ecological speciation the Atlantic molly (Poecilia Mexicana) and in P. sulphuraria (Poeciliidae) was published in the journal of Molecular Biology and Evolution.

These fish usually live within freshwater or brackish waters, but they have also been colonized several sulfidic springs in southern Mexico. These springs are particularly relevant because they are not just slightly sulfidic. They are extremely hypoxic (lacking oxygen) and have high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, enough to be lethal to most organisms. Continue reading “Genetics: Key to Survival”

CRISPR – Cas9

BY ANNELIESE MOLL
For the UAS Whalesong
Earlier this semester, I wrote a brief article about GMOs. Within it, I mentioned that humans have been slowly modifying organisms for thousands of years. Since the discovery of DNA, the technology and methods used to understand and edit DNA have changed and improved. CRISPR, or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, are segments of prokaryotic DNA that have short repetitions of base sequences. Cas9 is an associated enzyme.
In December of 1987, CRISPR sequences were found, but not characterized, in E. coli. Eight years later these sequences are found in other microbes. Jump to 2007: a Danish food company called Danisco found that these sequences are part of a bacterial defense against viruses. In 2011 several biotech companies started to utilize this new technology, focusing on agriculture, therapeutics, and more research. The following year it is reported that scientists are able to use CRISPR to edit genomes. More energy is placed on researching therapeutics in several locations worldwide, and CRISPR has begun to be heavily used with mouse and human cells. During March of 2015 the first report of the CRISPR gene drive that is able to spread a modified gene rapidly. Earlier this year a group of researchers edited human embryos. Continue reading “CRISPR – Cas9”

GMOs: Food for Thought

BY ANNELIESE MOLL
For the UAS Whalesong
A GMO is a genetically modified organism. These have been in the news quite a bit in the last few years, and there is always a high level of controversy that accompanies the topic. However, while many people believe genetically modifying an organism is a relatively new ability the concept is actually thousands of years old.
It really all started as humans began to domesticate animals and with the start of a more agriculture based existence. They started breeding animals to fit their needs, and the same can be said for their crops. By selectively choosing individuals with specific traits, such as larger kernels for their grain producing plants or higher amounts of milk production within goat offspring, humans were able to modify the world around them.
Fast-forward to present day: most of us would not recognize an ancient corn plant, and the same can be said for many other plants like cotton or soybeans. Currently, all of the food and all of the animals that we come into contact with daily are a result of the selective breeding that our ancestors started. The main differences have to do with the technology involved. Today we are able to create GMOs by inserting a specific gene into an organism. Continue reading “GMOs: Food for Thought”