Today, I want to talk to you about the
future---the future which is not very far away
I want to talk to you about the
research in the lab that aims to
eradicate genetic disease---to give a
little background information. I want
to let you know that the genes DNA/RNA shape
our life---look at your neighbor's ear lobes
I know this is a little awkward
but look at the people's ears---they have
attached earlobes and detached earlobes, these are all recorded by genes.
The way the body is built is because of the genes so
when these genes go wrong
they cause diseases and cause problems.
Currently, the medical treatment can
be boiled into 6 words.--- Have a disease, take a pill, kill something.
But imagine, what if you
had an ability to switch off the bad
genes in a body like we turn on the
lights when we do not require it.
Doesn't it sound interesting? i think it does and we call this technology as gene therapy.
Gene therapy allow scientists to make
necessary changes to DNA and RNA present in cells
that could allow us to cure a
disease. It is a way where scientists can
insert or delete specific bits of DNA
and RNA into patient cells with incredible precision.
The inserter gene
inactivates or knocks down the improperly
functioning genes and helps the body to
fight against disease but this should
raise the question---how do we get this
genetic material into the patient's body?
because these genes are very sensitive
and can be easily destroyed by the
enzymes and body fluids. So a protective
carrier is needed----not to inject these
genes in the patient's body. One of the
protective carriers could be "nano place"
"NanoPlace" are small tiny mud like
particles. My Ph.D. research is
focused on studying and analyzing the
use of "NanoPlace" for gene therapy.
The two "NanoPlace" which
I've chosen for my study are halosite and
modmonnite.
Thhe reason for choosing these two "NanoPlace" over other nanomaterials are these
these "NanoPlace" occur naturally so they are
inexpensive---they are very small in size so
they can easily enter the body cells and
they are non-toxic so they can be easily
eliminated from the body. So in future, we
can have a gene therapy as a promising
treatment option for a number of
diseases without using drugs and surgery
but we got some time before these
possibilities turn into reality.
In the meantime, I have a question for you if you
are gene hacker what crazy gene mutation
would you give yourself. Stop by me and
share your idea
Thank you.
