The Nobel Prize in Medicine has gone to Mario R. Capecchi, Oliver Smithies, and Sir Martin J. Evans for inventing a technique called Gene Targeting.
According to the NYTimes:
The three scientists were honored for a technique called gene targeting, which lets scientists inactivate or modify particular genes in mice. That in turn lets them study how those genes affect health and disease.To use this technique, researchers introduce a genetic change into mouse embryonic stem cells. These cells are then injected into mouse embryos. The mice born from these embryos are bred with others, to produce offspring with altered genes.
The first mice with genes manipulated in this way were announced in 1989. More than 10,000 different genes in mice have been studied with the technique, the Nobel committee said. That's about half the genes the rodents have.
''Gene targeting has pervaded all fields of biomedicine. Its impact on the understanding of gene function and its benefits to mankind will continue to increase over many years to come,'' said the citation for the $1.54 million prize.
So what may you ask are the real uses for gene targeting?! Yes! Making crazy freakin' animals that do stuff like glow in the dark and fly!
Ohh yeah.. this technique will lead to millions of lives being saved... but come on - glow in the dark mice! that has to be why they created this great technique, fully deserving of a Nobel Prize.
Ok... maybe there aren't flying mice yet.
Life Science
Medicine & Health
Comments
Flying mice, quite easy.
Take a geneticist, not any geneticist, one loving baseball, give him some mice (use anesthesia) and there your are. Geneticist modified mice locomotion.
Some variants, counter selected, used golf playing molecular biologists. That was a mess.
Posted by: oldcola | October 8, 2007 1:09 PM
you guys are sick
Posted by: Barbara e Reinard | January 31, 2008 5:01 PM
Where can I buy one?
Posted by: Brian | January 31, 2008 6:17 PM
look @ it this way... using this technique, it wiil be easier to enhance/treat human babies from diseas[AKA designer babies]
genitics is a very interesting field in sciece, and one day what we're doing to mice... we could do this to other humans
[sure itd be wired 4 a person to fly in the dark... but how about super smart people or people that can play bettter than mozart & behtoven & bach combined.. wouldnt u want ur kid to be a geniuos? just something 2 think about]
Posted by: xXJazzyXx | February 7, 2008 11:59 PM
srry i meant glow in the dark...
Posted by: xXJazzyXx | February 8, 2008 12:00 AM