Tag : Synthetic

    Scientists Create Synthetic DNA In Order To Examine 'Architect' Genes

    Scientists Create Synthetic DNA
    Inam Ansari
    July5/ 2022

    Washington: Researchers have created artificial Hox genes which plan and direct where cells go to develop tissues or organs using new synthetic DNA technology and genomic engineering in stem cells. Their findings confirm how clusters of Hox genes help cells to learn and remember where they are in the body. Their findings, published in Science, confirm how clusters of Hox genes help cells to learn and remember where they are in the body. Hox genes as architects of the body Nearly all animals from humans to birds to fish have an anterior-posterior axis, or a line that runs from head to tail. During development, Hox genes act as architects, determining the plan for where cells go along the axis, as well as what body parts they make up. Hox genes ensure that organs and tissues develop in the right place, forming the thorax or placing wings in the correct anatomical positions. If Hox genes fail through misregulation or mutation, cells can get lost, playing a role in some cancers, birth defects, and miscarriages. "I don't think we can understand development or disease without understanding Hox genes," said Esteban Mazzoni, associate professor of biology at NYU and the study's co-senior author. Despite their importance in development, Hox genes are challenging to study. They are tightly organized in clusters, with only Hox genes in the piece of DNA where they are found and no other genes surrounding them (what scientists call a "gene desert"). And while many parts of the genome have repetitive elements, Hox clusters have no such repeats. These factors make them unique but difficult to study with conventional gene editing without affecting neighboring Hox genes. Starting anew with synthetic DNA Could scientists create artificial Hox ge ...

    Continue Reading