Genetics

Mom's smoking alters fetal DNA

A study of over 6,000 mothers and their newborn children—one of the largest studies of its kind—solidifies the evidence that smoking cigarettes while pregnant chemically modifies a fetus' DNA, mirroring patterns seen ...

Surgery

Repairing tendons with silk proteins

Just mentioning a ruptured Achilles tendon would make anyone wince. Tendon injuries are well known for their lengthy, difficult and often incomplete healing processes. Sudden or repetitive motion, experienced by athletes ...

Genetics

Mysterious DNA modification seen in stress response

With advances in genomics, scientists are discovering additional components of the DNA alphabet in animals. Do these unusual chemical modifications of DNA have a special meaning, or are they just signs that cellular machines ...

Ophthalmology

Improved retinal transplant technique ready for clinical trials

Researchers led by Michiko Mandai at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have used a genetic modification to improve human-derived retina transplants grown in the lab. After transplant into damaged ...

Genetics

Exercise changes your DNA

You might think that the DNA you inherited is one thing that you absolutely can't do anything about, but in one sense you'd be wrong. Researchers reporting in the March issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, ...

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Genetic engineering

Genetic engineering, recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation (GM) and gene splicing are terms that apply to the direct manipulation of an organism's genes. Genetic engineering is different from traditional breeding, where the organism's genes are manipulated indirectly. Genetic engineering uses the techniques of molecular cloning and transformation to alter the structure and characteristics of genes directly. Genetic engineering techniques have found some successes in numerous applications. Some examples are in improving crop technology, the manufacture of synthetic human insulin through the use of modified bacteria, the manufacture of erythropoietin in hamster ovary cells, and the production of new types of experimental mice such as the oncomouse (cancer mouse) for research.

The term "genetic engineering" was coined in Jack Williamson's science fiction novel Dragon's Island, published in 1951, two years before James Watson and Francis Crick showed that DNA could be the medium of transmission of genetic information.

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