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The Quest to Make CRISPR Even More Precise

More than ever, we can view the genomes of humans and other organisms as drafts—not final and canonical texts, but rough copies to be tweaked and refined. Although scientists have been able to edit genomes for many decades, their tools were often cumbersome to work...
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10 ways CRISPR can fight poverty

Have you heard of CRISPR? Maybe you’ve heard the full term: clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats–or maybe not. If you haven’t, I’m sure you’ll start hearing the snack-sounding acronym soon. It’s some revolutionary stuff. Equal parts thrilling and terrifying, it’s the most powerful genome...
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Never heard of CRISPR? You will.

Few sectors of the global economy are more hooked on gene modification technology than agriculture. Food powerhouses like the U.S., Brazil and Argentina now grow genetically modified (GM) crops on 40, 23 and 13 percent, respectively, of their arable land, and one in five farmable...
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CRISPR-mania in China

The new CRISPR as a technology only really came into the public spotlight last year. But already dozens, if not hundreds, of Chinese research hubs are using the technique on a range of animals. CRISPR research is being supported in China via grants from the...
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Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ makes a $2.6 Billion Bet on CRISPR

SOURCE: JOHN GOODE/FLICKR You may have noticed Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) just inked a $105 million deal with gene editing pioneer CRISPR Therapeutics with a potential value of $2.6 billion. Since its humble beginnings in 1989 Vertex has posted an annual loss in all but one year...
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CRISPR May Redefine What it Means To Be GMO

The genome editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9 has taken the biology world by storm. Initially it was primarily used to knock-out (literally, to make inoperative) specific genes, however, scientists have now figured out how to use the system to knock-in genes as well as edit the...
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CRISPR Brings Precise Control to Gene Expression

Controlling genes using CRISPR shows high degree of specificity By Ken Kingery Researchers have demonstrated the exceptional specificity of a new way to switch sequences of the human genome on or off without editing the underlying genetic code. Originally discovered as an antiviral system in...
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First Gene-Edited Dogs Reported in China

WHY IT MATTERS Genetic engineering of animals will open up remarkable possibilities in medicine and agriculture but also could lead to new ethical dilemmas. Beagles named Hercules, at left, and Tiangou are the world’s first gene-edited dogs. Man’s best friend is now his newest genetic...
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