Wave Life Sciences Ltd and GSK plc announced a collaborative research arrangement to advance oligonucleotide therapeutics. This partnership includes Wave’s preclinical RNA editing program for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), WVE-006, as well as other projects using its proprietary PRISM platform.
WAVE family proteins localize to the leading edges of lamellipodia – flat protrusions created during cell movement – at their leading edges. Their amino termini feature the WH domain followed by a basic region.
Humans
After years of hard work, scientists celebrated the completion of “a working draft” of the human genome in 2000 (Cohn 2000). There was much fanfare at its announcement; scientists likened sequencing the genome to Apollo moon landing or splitting an atom; genomics would revolutionize science and medicine as a result.
Many concerns were immediately voiced against the HGP, chief among them the potential impact of genes on racial and ethnic differences which could be used to profile people and discriminate against certain groups. Another worry was that allocating too much funding towards genome projects might divert focus away from worthy research projects, while sequencing machines might become overwhelmed with “junk DNA.” Additionally, knowledge of gene sequence alone does not always translate to understanding its function.
These issues prevented Watson from initiating sequencers earlier than planned. By 1989, he had taken on leadership of the National Center for Human Genome Research at NIH as well as expanding an extramural grant program for universities that engaged in genome mapping projects; increasing from four genome centers (Washington University in St Louis was leading this charge) to seven by 1995 – when sequencing of first chromosomes had almost come to completion.
Researchers believed that understanding the human genome would bring new therapies for diseases like cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. They anticipated a revolution in personalized medicine would occur when genetic variations associated with individual traits and disorders were identified and pharmaceutical companies made use of such information to produce medications tailored specifically to each person’s genotype.
But despite an enormous investment in genomics, scientists have not fully delivered on their promises. Numerous complex diseases remain undiagnosed despite an impressive array of genome wide association studies (GWASs). Most diseases result from interactions among multiple genes and environmental factors rather than from single mutations alone.
Genetic variation among individuals has exceeded expectations of researchers. Today, scientists can easily compare human genome sequences with reference sequences from close relatives like Neandertals, chimpanzees and bonobos; this aiding evolutionary studies but also raising questions regarding species essentialism.
Plants
Researchers have recently discovered that DNA waves can be created by altering the topology and coiling, winding and packing of chromosomes within cells. These DNA wave frequencies may then determine gender in chick embryos.
Wave genetics research is still relatively young and its precise application to treating genetic diseases or increasing crop yields remains unclear. It’s thought, though, that one day this theory could open up entirely new forms of genetic engineering as wave genetics holds that DNA molecules function both chemically and electromagnetically, transmitting and receiving signals through electromagnetic frequencies.
Animals
Researchers have recently demonstrated how DNA can be affected and controlled by specific frequencies of electromagnetic waves, according to wave genetics theory. Their research could lead to new ways of manipulating genes and passing those changes down through future generations. Scientists used light and sound frequencies to manipulate chick embryo behavior; light frequencies enabled faster development and brain structure enhancement when exposed to certain sound frequencies; as this shows how DNA was being affected by electromagnetic fields surrounding chick embryos.
Other studies have focused on mammals. One research project explored genes that might contribute to unique animal traits; it discovered some mammals showed rapid change over short time periods. Other research examined animal genomes alongside their ancestor’s genomes to see how evolution had occurred – finding that tiny changes can make an enormous impactful difference on animal behavior.
Studies conducted elsewhere have focused on genes which might contribute to certain diseases and on using gene editing in mice to reduce cancerous cell counts – with promising results suggesting these methods might also prove useful in treating human illnesses. Other research has looked for quantum effects within biological systems; one such phenomenon being proton tunneling which allows some chemical reactions to take place faster than they would under similar laboratory conditions.
Microorganisms
Microorganism identification and characterization is vitally important to various biotechnological processes as well as diagnosis, treatment and epidemiological investigation. Accurate identification determines its taxonomic classification and systematics (hierarchical arrangement of organisms into homogenous groups). Traditionally, identification was accomplished using conventional techniques including morphology, physiology, chemistry requiring considerable time before producing unambiguous results.
For faster characterization times, traditional methods were combined with analytical tools such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and rapid molecular methods to accelerate analysis time. Unfortunately, however, these still required significant time and resources for sample preparation, while most phenotypic identification techniques cannot identify individual microbial strains at either species or strain levels.
Vibrational spectroscopy is an innovative and versatile approach for the detection of structural fingerprints of microorganisms, providing a powerful tool for their identification and characterization [125]. This technique employs monochromatic light to illuminate matter and interact with its molecules; this interaction triggers vibration of atomic and molecular groups which promote emission of inelastic electromagnetic radiation at high intensities resulting in luminosity shifts characteristic to vibrational spectroscopy [127-129].
RAPD or ribotype profiling provides an effective alternative to more conventional techniques like PCR for characterizing bacteria. These techniques detect polymorphisms in 16S rRNA gene polymorphisms which indicate genetic background of a particular bacterium; using universal random primers provides an easier method of comparison between strains.
Ribotype profiling is a molecular phylogenetic technique that uses polymorphisms found in the ribosomal RNA of bacteria to provide valuable information on identification, taxonomy, epidemiological investigation and population biology. The technique has proven both easy and accurate over other molecular methods – for instance in an outbreak study of cholera disease in Brazil for seven years in which four pulsotypes matched published types while 11 additional V. cholerae strains emerged to replace old types [201].
