Word: dna
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...same day that police drew blood from suspects in the Atlanta rapes for DNA tests, news emerged of a similar gang rape in Berkeley, Calif., involving a mentally disabled 12-year-old girl and boys age 11 to 16. The girl was held down by the boys, who raped her in eleven different locations over the course of an afternoon...
Finally, Schatten and his team were ready to try a DNA transfer (see diagram). This first effort was meant only to test the technique, so they decided to use a gene that occurs naturally in jellyfish, where it directs the production of a harmless protein that glows with a greenish light under the right illumination. Mice, rabbits and other creatures who have had the same gene inserted actually do shine dimly; while ANDi (his name is a backward acronym for "inserted DNA") does not, the scientists have detected traces of the gene in his muscle, hair, cheek and blood cells...
...animal-rights activists, the leap from mouse to monkey will be a red flag. More broadly troubling, ANDi's success also raises the specter of human-germline gene engineering--that is, altering people's basic DNA so that any changes are passed on to their offspring. This sort of genetic tinkering, which could ultimately lead to "designer babies," artificially enhanced to be healthier, smarter or even more attractive, is currently far beyond our expertise. Nobody is likely to try to play God with humans in this way for decades...
...biggest payoff may come from understanding the genetics of mental illness. Using gene-chip technology, a team at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine recently spotted the same mutation in the DNA of 10 schizophrenic patients. The flaw was in a gene on chromosome 1 called RGS4, which controls the duration of signals in a nerve cell. Intriguingly, the mutation showed up in the brain's visual, motor and cognitive centers. That could account for schizophrenics' hallucinations and attention problems, says team leader Pat Levitt...
...perhaps the most novel vaccine, drugmakers at Progenics Pharmaceuticals and Cytogen are using viruses to deliver "naked" DNA directly into the body to fight prostate cancer. Containing the genetic instructions for making a common tumor protein called prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), the DNA triggers a wholesale immune attack on all cells containing the antigen. Having succeeded in animal studies, the vaccine will soon move into human trials...