A synthetic
biologist and his colleagues created a genetically modified yeast that can’t
bread successfully with their wild counterparts. They used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene
editing tool to alter gene expression in the brewers yeast. This lead to two modifications made in the
yeast cells: the first was called a poison (over-activated the actin gene) and
the other was the antidote (stops the gene from being over activated). When the yeast strain that has both the poison
and the antidote mates with a different lab strain that doesn’t have the
antidote, all of their offspring will explode and die. This is what allows the synthetic yeast to
only mate and produce offspring with other synthetic yeast that has been
genetically modified. The purpose of this is to help combat pests and invasive
species by replacing wild crops with their genetically modified counterparts.
But at what price? There are some concerns that by replacing wild organisms
with their synthetic counterpart it will incur an evolutionary fitness costs
with unknown consequences. Will this modification and implementation help solve
or create problems?
Find the article here
-Sam Lubrano
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