Genetics - Lecture 23: Genetic Engineering

CCR5-delta 32

loss of function mutation that blocks HIV from entering human cells in some people

Leukemia patients with HIV who recieved stem cell donations from CCR5-delta32 donors

cured of both their luekemia and their HIV

Problem with editing genes in humans

even if the allele is "bad" it might have unknown effects that are neccessary and will have even more negative effects if removed

CCR5-delta 32 mutants are more likely to...

get infected by the West Nile virus

Preimplantation genetic testing

genotyping multiple fertilized embryos for the best fit for parents and then implanting into the mother

Decent with modification

principle that each living species has descended, with changes, from other species over time

Directed evolution

powerful tool for finding/improving molecules that perform a task

Phage display

Technique used to study protein-protein or protein-DNA interactions that uses bacteriophages to display the protein partner.

Phage used in phage display

M13

Why is phage display unique?

it provides a direct linkage between a protein and your gene of interest, so you can select for that gene

Phage gene library

one specific gene of interest that has been mutated in multiple different ways to make many different versions of the same gene

Where does an implanted gene of interest go in a phage display?

it gets clonded into the phage genome and fused to the pIII gene

What is phage display useful for?

finding proteins that are able to bind to a particular target

- this is ultimately used for engineering protein drugs

DNA shuffling

two or more related genes are fragmented and then reassembled to make a library of recombinants to look for better versions of the gene

iPS cells

induced pluripotent stem cells

Use for iPS cells

human brain organoids that can be studied to develop medications for individuals with certain conditions