Why do we Edit Genes?
If you’re ‘kinda fuzzy’ on why we edit genes or need a refresher, keep on reading!
(This article is a short refresher as apart of my experiment editing the genetic code of E. Coli to glow. Please check that out after you’re done reading if you haven’t already!)
So your genes are essentially the instructions for your body and the cells that make up your body! Your genes, like for example your dislike for the taste of cilantro, is written in the language of DNA. It looks like a twirly ladder, made up of two long strings connected by a series of rungs.
These genes also encode protein molecules, which are super important workers in your cells that help repair, metabolize nutrients or copy DNA.
Therefore, you make the proteins that your DNA will code for! If you change the genetic code, you also change the proteins made.
How?
Let’s talk about how this is possible.
There are two steps to understand in the process, known as transcription and translation.
Transcription refers to the process of the DNA’s information being transferred to a messenger RNA, which is simply called an mRNA.
The genetic code of the RNA is read by a ribosome and is used to order the amino acids to comprise the protein, in the second step called Translation.
Now we want to join amino acids together in order to form a protein — the way in which these amino acids are pieces together determines the function and abilities of a protein.
This image above really helped me when I was learning about it too!
Now you have proteins that do what the genetic information coded for them. And, you may have already guessed it, but this is a very imiportant process in gene editing and synthetic biology — if you can change the information that codes for the proteins that make up the cell and it’s functions, you change the cell and the organism’s capabilities!
Cool right?
Here’s the article this short refresher is for:
Thanks for reading as always. Let me know if you have any feedback — I’d love to hear it! Have a great day :)
