The power of thought is capable of changing the genetic code of an organism. Human genetic engineering What changes DNA

With the help of CRISPR, a huge breakthrough in genetic engineering is happening right now: scientists plan to soon learn how to save us forever from any disease, with the prospect of any controlled mutations and eternal life.

We were inspired to publish this post by the video “CRISPR: Gene Editing Will Change Everything Forever”, which talks about the cutting edge of science in terms of human genetic modification: it’s not just about getting rid of diseases like AIDS, cancer and many others, but also about creating a flawless new kind of people, people with superpowers and immortality. And it is happening right now before our very eyes.

All these perspectives are opened up by the recent revolutionary discovery of the protein CRISPR-Cas9, but first things first.

It used to be thought that the DNA in each of our cells is absolutely identical and contains our exact and unchanged copy - no matter which cell we take, but it turned out that this is not the case: the DNA in different cells is slightly different and they change depending on different circumstances.

The discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 protein was aided by observations of bacterial survivors of viral attacks.

The oldest war on earth

Bacteria and viruses have been competing since the beginning of life: bacteriophage viruses prey on bacteria. In the ocean, they kill 40% of the total number of bacteria every day. A virus does this by inserting its genetic code into a bacterium and using it as a factory.

Bacteria try unsuccessfully to resist, but in most cases their defense mechanisms are too weak. But sometimes bacteria survive. Then they can activate their most effective antiviral system. They store part of the DNA of the virus in their genetic code, the "CRISPR" DNA archive.Here it is stored until the required moment.

When the virus attacks again, the bacterium creates an RNA copy from the DNA archive and
charges the secret weapon - Cas9 protein. This protein scans the bacterium for virus interference, comparing each piece of DNA it finds to the archive. When a 100% match is found, it activates and cuts off the DNA of the virus, rendering it useless, thus protecting the bacterium.

The Cas9 protein scans the DNA of the cell for the introduction of the virus and replaces the damaged part with a healthy fragment.

Tellingly, Cas9 is very precise, like a DNA surgeon. The revolution came when scientists realized that the CRISPR system is programmable—you can just give a copy of the DNA you want to change and put the system in a living cell.

In addition to being accurate, cheap, and easy to use, CRISPR allows you to turn genes on and off in living cells and study specific DNA sequences.
This method also works with any cells, microorganisms, plants, animals or people.

Scientists have found that Cas9 can be programmed for any substitution in any part of the DNA - and this opens up almost limitless possibilities for humanity.

End of sickness?

In 2015, scientists used CRISPR to remove the HIV virus from patients' cells,
and proved that it is possible. A year later, they conducted a more ambitious experiment with rats with the HIV virus in virtually all of their cells.

The scientists simply injected CRISPR into their tails, and they were able to remove over 50% of the virus from cells throughout their bodies. Perhaps in a few decades, CRISPR will help get rid of HIV and other retroviruses - viruses that hide inside human DNA, like herpes. Maybe CRISPR can defeat our worst enemy, cancer.

Cancer is the result of cells that refuse to die and continue to divide while hiding from the immune system along the way. CRISPR gives us the means to edit our immune cells and make them better cancer hunters.

Maybe after a while the cure for cancer will be just a couple of injections with a few thousand of your own cells created in the laboratory to cure you forever.

Perhaps after some time the question of cancer treatment is the question of a couple of injections of modified cells.

The first clinical trial of such therapy in human patients was approved in early 2016 in the United States. Less than a month later, Chinese scientists announced they would be treating lung cancer patients with immune cells modified with the same technology in August 2016. The case is rapidly gaining momentum.

And then there are genetic diseases, thousands of them. They range from mildly annoying to extremely deadly or bring years of suffering. With powerful tools like CRISPR, one day we will be able to do away with this.

Over 3,000 genetic diseases are caused by a single change in DNA.
We are already creating a modified version of Cas9 that corrects such errors and rids the cell of the disease. In a couple of decades, we may be able to eradicate thousands of diseases forever. However, all these medical applications have one drawback - they are limited to one patient and will die with him if we do not use them on reproductive cells or at an early stage of fetal development.

CRISPR is likely to be used much more widely. For example, to create a modified human, an engineered child. This will bring smooth but irreversible changes in the human gene pool.

Engineered kids

Means of altering the DNA of a human fetus already exist,
but the technology is at an early stage of development. However, it has already been used twice. In 2015 and 2016, Chinese scientists' experiments with human embryos achieved partial success on their second attempt.

They have identified enormous difficulties in gene editing in embryos, but many scientists are already working on solving these problems. It's the same as the computers of the 70s: they will get better in the future.

Regardless of your views on genetic engineering, it will affect everyone. Modified humans can change the genome of our entire species because their grafted traits will be passed on to their children and slowly spread through the generations, slowly changing the human gene pool. It will start gradually.

The first designed children will not be very different from us. Most likely, their genes will be changed to get rid of deadly hereditary diseases.
As technology advances, more people will start to think that not using genetic modification is unethical because it dooms children.
to preventable suffering and death.

As soon as the first such child is born, a door will open that cannot be closed. At first, some traits will be left untouched, but as the technology's acceptance and our knowledge of the genetic code grows, so will the temptation.
If you make your offspring immune to Alzheimer's, why not not give them an improved metabolism? Why not reward them with excellent eyesight to the heap? How about height or muscle? Lush hair? What about the gift of exceptional intelligence for your child?

Enormous changes will come as a result of the accumulation of personal decisions of millions of people.
It's a slippery slope and modified people could be the new normal. As genetic engineering becomes more commonplace and our knowledge improves, we can move towards eradicating the main cause of death, aging.

2/3 of the approximately 150,000 people who have died today have died of aging-related causes.

Today it is believed that aging is caused by the accumulation of damage in our cells.
like DNA breaks or wear and tear on the systems responsible for repairing those damages.
But there are also genes that directly affect our aging.

Genetic engineering and other therapies could stop or slow down aging. Maybe even reverse it.

A typical reaction to the possibility of eternal life (like any other technology that is now familiar, but revolutionary a few hundred years ago).

Eternal Life and the X-Men

We know that there are animals in nature that do not age. Maybe we could borrow a couple of genes from them. Some scientists believe that one day aging will be eradicated. We will still die, but not in a hospital at 90, but after a couple of thousand years, lived surrounded by our loved ones.

The challenge is huge and perhaps the goal is unattainable, but it can be assumed that people living today may be the first to taste the fruits of anti-aging therapy. Perhaps all it takes is convincing a smart billionaire of the need to help solve this big problem.

Looking at it more broadly, we could solve a lot of problems with specially modified people, for example, who could better cope with high-calorie foods, and get rid of such diseases of civilization as obesity.

Owning a modified immune system with a list of potential threats,
we could become immune to most of the diseases that plague us today. Even later, we would be able to create people for long space flights and to adapt to various conditions on other planets, which would be extremely useful for maintaining our life in a hostile universe.

A few pinches of salt

There are several major obstacles, technological and ethical. Many will feel fear of a world where we weed out imperfect people and select offspring based on what is considered healthy.

But we already live in such a world. Testing for dozens of genetic diseases or complications has become the norm for pregnant women in many countries. Often, a single suspicion of a genetic defect can lead to termination of pregnancy.
Take, for example, Down's syndrome, one of the most common genetic defects: in Europe, about 90% of pregnancies diagnosed with this disorder are terminated.

Genetic selection in action: Down syndrome is already diagnosed at an early stage of embryo development and 90% of pregnancies with this diagnosis are terminated.

The decision to terminate a pregnancy is a very personal one, but it's important to understand that we are already selecting people today based on health conditions. It makes no sense to pretend that this will change, so we need to act carefully and ethically, despite the growing freedom of choice thanks to further advances in technology.

However, all these are perspectives of the distant future. Despite the power of CRISPR, the method is not without drawbacks. Editing errors can happen, unknown errors can occur in any part of the DNA and go unnoticed.

Changing the gene can achieve the desired result and cure the disease, but at the same time provoke unwanted changes. We simply do not know enough about the complex relationships of our genes to avoid unpredictable consequences.

Work on accuracy and methods of observation is very important in the upcoming clinical trials. And while we've discussed a possible bright future, a darker vision is also worth mentioning. Imagine what a country like North Korea can do with this level of technology?

It is important that genetic modification technology does not fall into the hands of totalitarian regimes that could hypothetically use it to harm humanity - for example, to create an army of genetically modified soldiers.

Can she extend her reign forever through forced engineering?What will stop a totalitarian regime from creating an army of modified super soldiers?

After all, this is theoretically possible. Scenarios like this are in the distant future, if they are possible at all, but the proof of concept for such engineering already exists. Technology really is that powerful.

This could be a reason to ban engineering and related research, but that would definitely be a mistake. A ban on human genetic engineering will only bring science into a field with rules and laws that we would be uncomfortable with. Only by participating in the process can we be sure that research is conducted with care, reason, control and transparency.

We can research and introduce any genetic modifications into a person.

Conclusion

Feeling anxious? Almost all of us have some kind of imperfection. Would we be allowed to exist in such a new world? The technology is a bit intimidating, but we have a lot to gain, and genetic engineering could be the next step in the evolution of intelligent life.

Perhaps we will end disease, increase life expectancy by centuries, and go to the stars. Do not think small when talking about such a topic. Whatever your opinion about genetic engineering, the future is coming no matter what.

What used to be science fiction will soon become our new reality.
A reality full of possibilities and obstacles.

You can also watch the video itself:

It may seem that DNA is the main center of the molecule, without which its life is impossible. In fact, DNA is a rather sensitive complex molecule, which itself is capable of rapidly changing and exhibiting special properties. It is influenced by both our thoughts and intentions, as well as physical and chemical influences.

Complex chains of genetic codes, each link of which can stop working or become active at any moment - this is what constitutes the concentration of human genetic material. In addition, gene helixes can exhibit incredible properties and help store energy for an incredibly long time. But how is this possible and how can you tune your body to heal by influencing DNA?

light trap

Photons of light are not delayed, but are constantly scattered. In plants, light energy is converted into nutrient molecules, and in the human body, a helical DNA molecule can serve to capture photons of light. This was proven in an experiment with placing DNA in a quartz container and irradiating it with light. Interestingly, the light itself also acquired a spiral structure and could be stored for a month even after the DNA molecule was removed from the container. Such transformation and storage of light energy is available only to helical molecules, which are responsible for the transmission of genetic information.

Self Healing

Many people believe that heredity plays a major role in health. In fact, experimental data on the importance of positive thinking in managing DNA suggests that genes determine us only in part, while the rest of the person is responsible for his own diseases and tendencies. With stress, irritation, constant experiences, genes stop working normally, prerequisites for the development of diseases arise. Pathologies can affect absolutely any organs and tissues, but it all starts with thinking and self-destructive mechanisms of the impact of consciousness on spiral molecules.

The source of energy for the healing of cellular molecules is love. This is a method of targeted healing rejuvenation of cells, preventing their aging and destruction. Love allows you to increase positive energy and make thoughts stronger. Without love, the body cannot develop normally. This is proved by experimental observations, when children cannot fully develop if they lack parental affection and love. It has been proven, for example, that children from shelters are more likely to suffer from autism than babies who are cared for by their parents.

mental transformations

Structural changes in DNA can be influenced at a distance through intention.
If a person consciously concentrates on good thoughts, and his brain begins to radiate harmonious waves, but the DNA helix begins to transform. Moreover, if a person influences with positive thoughts and intentions, then the changes lead to healing transformations, and if there is directed anger, anger, irritation in the thoughts, then the DNA is tuned to the wave of dying. The thing is that the brain begins to transform thoughts into energy flows that are perceived and interpreted by DNA as signals for the restoration of the body, or, conversely, for self-destruction.

According to the experimental data, changes in the structure of DNA placed in an isolated test tube with a neutral medium, in the absence of mental influence, practically did not take place. But when thoughts were focused on the test tube with DNA, changes began in 10% of the sections of the molecule, which carries genetic information. That's how healers work. They are able to convert positive thoughts and attitudes into brain wave energy. It is these waves that give the cells of the body signals about the need to heal organs and systems.

Can good or bad habits, diets and sports be reflected in children or grandchildren? Will our lack of sleep or extra glasses of champagne come back to haunt our descendants - suddenly, due to our unwise decisions, children will show a tendency to alcoholism, diabetes, or carpal tunnel syndrome? Look At Me provides the main arguments of genetic scientists, doctors and other specialists who answered this question in the "Ask Science" section on Reddit.

Does lifestyle affect DNA?

While lifestyle does not affect the structure of DNA, it can affect factors that regulate gene activity. This phenomenon is called epigenetic inheritance: depending on what factors influenced the organism during its life, its offspring may or, conversely, not manifest some of the properties that were originally embedded in the genetic code.

The structure of the genome itself, transmitted to the offspring, can only be changed during pregnancy: poor nutrition, stress or diseases suffered by the mother during this period can cause mutations at the gene level and damage to the DNA structure - for example, children can be born due to such mutations with an extra chromosome. But these changes are rather random, do not always occur and are often not associated with the mother's lifestyle. This is a genetic anomaly that is difficult to predict before conception, but today, future parents can be warned with the help of prenatal diagnostics - the research program includes a special test that allows you to check the fetus for 6,000 possible developmental disorders.

However, not all properties passed from parents to offspring are embedded in DNA. The mechanism of inheritance outside the structure of the genetic code is studied by a special branch of science - epigenetics. The term itself was coined by the Englishman Conrad Waddington in the 50s. The scientist did not yet know how the human genome is arranged, but he suspected the existence of a certain mechanism that controls the hereditary material of living beings. In the 1990s, when human DNA was deciphered, researchers remembered epigenetics and found support for Waddington's hypotheses. Now epigenetic (literally - "overgene") inheritance refers to all changes associated with the phenotype or gene expression that appear in descendants in the first generation in living beings and in several generations in cellular organisms.

scientists do not know exactly how inheritance occurs in living beings. To trace the causes of the manifestation of similar signs, it is necessary to take into account an infinite number of factors: the conditions in which the growth and development of the animal took place, environmental factors, ecology, cosmic radiation, and so on. Researchers can't say for sure what influences gene expression, and if you exhibit the same traits as your parents, it doesn't mean they've been passed down to you genetically. Perhaps your phenotype is influenced by the climate, the pace of life in your hometown, or the consumption of foods familiar to your family.

It is especially difficult to describe the mechanism of inheritance of certain traits and character traits in humans.- unlike most animals, people in their development are highly dependent on society, and the child in the process of growing up is influenced by his relatives, peers, teachers, movie characters, norms and orders accepted in society. Roughly speaking, if a family goes in for sports for three generations, this does not mean that children genetically inherit relief muscles: first of all, they are influenced by upbringing and the family tradition of spending evenings in the gym.

But what if not only physiological characteristics, but also patterns of behavior can be transmitted from generation to generation? Thanks to this question, a new direction has recently appeared - behavioral epigenetics. Scientists working in this field suggest that the lifestyle of the parent organism can affect the character and behavioral scenarios of the offspring.

In 2013, the authoritative journal Neuroscience published the results of experiments on laboratory mice: the researchers taught the animal to be afraid of the smell of cherries (they seem to explain nothing about the choice of aroma), and then observed the manifestation of the same fear in the offspring of this mouse and even subsequent generations .

We cannot know exactly what caused this: perhaps the mechanism of genetic transmission of behavioral scenarios is much more complex and manifests itself in mice in a completely different way than in humans. But biologists say that the ability to transfer acquired skills through genetics would be a good accelerator of evolution, because in this way, more advanced creatures would appear much faster than due to random gene mutations. If you believe that nature is arranged logically, the transmission of patterns of behavior would be very useful for the development of living beings.

but are all behavioral scenarios passed on to offspring, or only those that were beneficial to the parent being? Fear is a manifestation of the instinct of self-preservation, which helps the mouse protect itself and the future of the population, and the habit of drinking alcohol, for example, has the exact opposite effect. Geneticists say that the presence of several relatives suffering from alcoholism in the family tree does not increase the chances of a child to become addicted to alcohol: most likely, there will be a predisposition to alcoholism in his DNA, but without the stimulating influence of the social environment, this gene will not manifest itself.

It turns out that the experience gained by the parents can still affect the offspring, but cannot change the DNA. Since epigenetic inheritance was discovered quite recently, researchers did not have the opportunity to track it in several generations of people: now the phenomenon is being studied in mice, whose DNA structure is close to human, and the reproduction rate allows you to track gene expression in parents, children and grandchildren. But the question of projecting the results of experiments on people remains open.

Going in for sports or observing the right diet, you do not change your genetic code, but use the opportunities inherent in nature. You can compare this to game consoles: inserting different cartridges will give you different results, but without the console itself with certain technical characteristics, the cartridges mean nothing. In any case, taking care of yourself and your health is not a bad idea, even if the good habits you develop with such hard work are not passed on epigenetically to your children.

Certain chemical markers in the human genome change throughout a person's life. This conclusion was made by an international team of researchers after analyzing DNA samples of the same people obtained at intervals of several years. The scientists published their work in the journal Journal of the American Medical Association.

Human DNA molecules carry information about all the features of his body. The information contained in the genome can be roughly divided into two types. The first is the information encoded in the building blocks of DNA - nitrogenous bases. It is inherited and remains unchanged throughout a person's life (if random changes - mutations - do not appear in the DNA). Information of the second type is determined by the so-called epigenetic markers - chemical "superstructures" of nitrogenous bases. The inheritance of epigenetic markers does not follow the classical laws of genetics, but they have a significant impact on the functioning of the genome.

Until now, scientists have not had a consensus on the changes in epigenetic DNA markers during a person's life. Researchers led by Andrew Feinberg of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore studied this issue using one type of epigenetic marking, methylation, as an example. The scientists analyzed DNA samples from 111 people from Iceland taken in the early 1990s and 2000s. Volunteers were 69 years of age or older at the time of the second series of samples. To study the methylation pattern, the scientists used a special enzyme that cuts a certain DNA sequence only if it is methylated. By evaluating the number of cuts in the "old" and "new" DNA samples, the researchers determined the difference in the level of methylation.

It turned out that in two-thirds of the volunteers, the level of methylation changed by at least five percent. Approximately one third of the people studied "accumulated" about ten percent of the changes. Interestingly, the increase and decrease in the number of methyl groups in the genome was observed equally often. To understand whether the change in the methylation profile is hereditary, the scientists compared the DNA of 126 people from 21 American families. DNA samples were taken at intervals of 16 years.

The results of these tests were about the same as the results of the previous experiment: in two-fifths of the volunteers, the level of methylation changed by five percent and the frequency of "increases" and "subtractions" of methyl groups was approximately the same. However, in members of one family, either a decrease or an increase in the number of methyl groups in the genome was predominantly observed.

The authors of the work admit that despite the importance of the obtained results, it is not possible to assess their significance today. Epigenetic changes have a significant impact on the functioning of the genome as a whole, but the mechanisms of action of these changes are still very poorly understood.

DNA is a chemical substance that is subject to external influences. These influences can be physical (temperature, ultraviolet and radiation) or chemical (free radicals, carcinogens, etc.).

## Temperature

For every 10 degrees increase in temperature, the rate of a chemical reaction doubles. Of course, in the cell nucleus (where DNA is stored) there are no such temperature drops. But there are small changes that can cause the DNA to react with some substance dissolved nearby.

## ULTRAVIOLET

Ultraviolet affects us almost always. In winter, these are negligible doses. In the summer - significant. If an ultraviolet photon hits a DNA molecule, its energy is enough to form a new chemical bond. Neighboring DNA links (nucleotides) can form an additional bond with each other, which will lead to disruption of DNA reading and replication. Or the UV photon can cause the DNA strand to break due to its high energy.

## RADIATION

radiation radiation. Do you think it is only on the reactor? There is a so-called normal radiation background, that is, several particles fly around and through us every second, and this does not always happen without a trace for our DNA. To understand the magnitude of background radiation, look here.

But don't be afraid. The background is called normal for a reason. Not all particles pass through the skin, not all of those that have penetrated penetrate deeply, and those that have penetrated often crash into other molecules and atoms in the cell, of which there are a lot. Only a few get to DNA, and that may not have any effect on it.

By the way, the higher above the ground, the brighter the background radiation. This is due to cosmic radiation, from which the earth's magnetic field and atmosphere protect us to a greater extent. The farther from the earth, the weaker the magnetic field and the thinner the atmosphere, and more high-energy particles bombard our body.

## FREE RADICALS

Among chemicals, a greater role is given to free radicals, which are constantly formed in the cell. It is a by-product of redox processes, without which life is impossible. Of course, over millions of years of evolution, only those organisms have survived that have developed a system for neutralizing free radicals. We have it too. But nothing is 100% effective, and no, no, a few radicals manage to damage DNA.

Speaking of radiation. It is also responsible for the formation of free radicals. Those high-energy particles that have reacted with substances surrounding DNA often result in the formation of radicals.

## CARCINOGENES

With regard to carcinogens, a good example is benzpyrene, a substance formed during the combustion of coal and hydrocarbons such as gasoline. It is found in exhaust gases and smoke from a fire. Bezpyrene has a high affinity for DNA and is integrated into the DNA structure, thereby disrupting the nucleotide sequence. There are other mechanisms of DNA damage.

Causes are not limited to external influences. The interior kitchen is also not without flaws. DNA is a dynamic molecule that often doubles, constantly unraveling and tangling, changing its position in space. Not all of these processes go smoothly, and DNA strand breaks, rearrangement and even loss of chain sections, and the fusion of several molecules into one can occur. When a cell divides, not all chromosomes can keep up with the newly formed cells, and one of the daughter cells may have fewer chromosomes, and the other more. This is also a mutation.

DNA duplication also occurs not exactly, but with errors. Moreover, each copy is slightly shorter than the original because the edges (telomeres) are difficult to copy. Sooner or later (when we are already old) telomeres shorten so much that the coding sections of DNA fall into the "under the knife".

All this sounds scary, but firstly, mutations are often indifferent and rarely have negative consequences, secondly, in the course of evolution, a DNA damage repair mechanism has arisen that does its job well, and thirdly, the mutation process is a necessary component for evolution and allows the birth of something that has not yet been in nature.