Genetically modified primates

Japanese researchers has created the first transgenic monkeys (marmoset) that can pass a foreign gene to the offspring. This major accomplishment is published in the May issue of Nature. This experiment has little immediate effect on the modification of human germ lines as the marmoset monkeys are evolutionarily distant from humans. However this advance will eventually lead to more sophisticated human disease models leading to inevitable attention from animal-rights activists. The transgenic marmoset do one thing different from normal monkeys, they glow as they harbor the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene. Already the animal-rights activists have pitched in some emotional campaign. They fear this advance will lead to engineering marmosets that are born and live with genetic defects that will also be passed on to their progeny.

The researchers may be justified by their values, but researchers must be ready to address ethical question. A broader debate involving researchers, public and political fraternity is essential to take on the bioethical issues and to promote research. Researchers could publicly demonstrate an acute awareness of the ethical aspects of research practices and of the potential applications, like UK scientists did last year during debates over human embryo research.

GM food in India

Are Indians consuming GM (genetically modified) food without their knowledge? Recently Indian newspapers reported that maybe GM food is being imported despite ban into the country. This is made possible because of weak regulations and calls for stricter regulatory mechanisms.

 

Read more at http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090605/1053/tnl-gm-food-slipping-into-india.html

Enzymatic Assembly of DNA in a Test Tube

Daniel Gibson and his colleagues at the J.Craig Venter Institute, USA have developed a method for assembling DNA molecules up to several hundred kilo-bases in  a test tube. Their study is published in Nature Methods 6, 343 - 345 (2009). According to the method described by them, DNA molecules are assembled in a isothermal, single-reaction process with the concerted action of a 5' -  exonuclease, a DNA polymerase and a DNA ligase. A single-step process makes it faster and fully controllable. This will further allow in vitro assembly of genes, entire genetic pathways, or even small genomes from natural or synthetic DNA.

 

 

P.S. : Daniel Gibson's group previously assembled the entire genome (583 kilo-base-pair) of Mycoplasma genitalium using synthetic DNA. The final steps of DNA assembling could be accomplished in a yeast cell and it is difficult as the foreign DNA maybe toxic to the yeast.