Correct Answer : Genome editing
According to a research published in the journal Nature, Scientists have, for the first time, used the CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology to insert genes that allow immune cells to attack cancer cells, potentially leaving normal cells unharmed and increasing the effectiveness of immunotherapy.
CRISPR is short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which is a reference to the clustered and repetitive sequences of DNA found in bacteria, whose natural mechanism to fight some viral diseases is replicated in this gene-editing tool.
Its mechanism is often compared to the ‘cut-copy-paste’, or ‘find-replace’ functionalities in common computer programmes.
A bad stretch in the DNA sequence, which is the cause of disease or disorder, is located, cut, and removed — and then replaced with a ‘correct’ sequence.
And the tools used to achieve this are not mechanical, but biochemical — specific protein and RNA molecules.
The technology replicates a natural defence mechanism in some bacteria that uses a similar method to protect itself from virus attacks.
Source : The Hindu
