Word: dna
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...elite, there are mavericks who think they have a better idea. They want to move one step closer to the gene by targeting the RNA molecules that transfer information from genes to proteins. And they have the perfect molecular tool with which to do it. By synthesizing strands of DNA that are the mirror image of the RNA they wish to block, researchers can produce a drug that is more specific than anything else on the market. Because it interrupts the "sense" that the cell is trying to make of the RNA molecule, the new technology is called, appropriately enough...
There are still some kinks to work out. For one thing, the body's own immune system often attacks the anti-sense DNA, mistaking it as a potentially harmful virus. For another, many cells in the body don't allow the anti-sense molecules to cross their membranes. "Nine years ago, everyone thought, wow, this is dynamite," says Dr. Art Krieg, editor of the journal Anti-Sense and Nucleic Acid Drug Development. "Then they ran into technical hurdles, and the pendulum swung the other way." Now, says Krieg, a few anti-sense compounds are starting to show promise. Among them...
...AIDS virus begins its attack on the body. First you download the sequences of perhaps 10,000 genes--every A, C, G and T of the hereditary alphabet--into a computer. Then, still using the computer, you figure out what the mirror image of each sequence would be. (DNA can mirror itself as well as RNA.) The aim is to transform the mirror-sequence data into actual strands of DNA that are planted like rows of corn on the glass bed of a chip. Each strand is built up, letter by letter, in much the same way the layers...
...churning out millions of RNA molecules that will assemble the proteins needed to combat the infection. You extract the RNA and break it into pieces, tag each piece with a fluorescent chemical and pour the whole mess over the gene chip. The RNA tightly binds only to its exact DNA complement on the chip. The fluorescent tag tells you where on the chip you have a match. Then you look up the sequence of each matched spot on the chip and read out a precise catalog of which genes are being expressed. By comparing the results from several patients--some...
Pitchforks? Nowadays we use guns. A so-called gene gun using gold bullets has become one of the standard methods for rewriting nature's codes. Pellets coated with DNA are fired into the chromosomes of a plant that biotech engineers wish to alter in some amazing way. Then, after patient cultivation to bring out the inserted trait, a prodigy is born. The transformed crop may be corn or cotton with a built-in insecticide, tomatoes that retain their fresh-picked texture on the shelf, or wheat with extra gluten, making for lighter, bouncier bread. The new crop of doctors...