Genetic manipulation is not so simple

• April 26, 2024

Many diseases arise when certain anomalies at genome of the cell or the production of proteins is altered; therefore, if that damaged section could be removed and instead insert a correct one, many problems of Health , and for this purpose genetic manipulation, a field increasingly explored by the biology and the medicine , exposed Luis Polo Stop , an academic at the University of Missouri.

To do this, you must apply a method called transfection , which consists in the introduction of the material in eukaryotic cells by means of plasmids (structure constituted by DNA), vectors or other tools.

At the conference Nanotechnology and nanomedicine: the new frontier, given at the Center for Applied Sciences and Technological Development (CCADET) of the UNAM, indicated that, in general, in the methods that have been developed in the last 25 years , efficiency is between 2 to 40%, because it's not just about insert the material to the cells, but these survive the process .

"For this, systems such as those of direct injection , use of magnetic particles and ultrasound to open membranes , among others. All have advantages and disadvantages, different costs or work for one type, but not for others, "he explained.

What is sought, he added, is accelerate particles or DNA to penetrate, to make a kind of minibala that enters, but does not destroy or damage, and if it did, that the deterioration was small.

Many systems use nanoparticles of gold, to which genetic elements adhere on the outside by attracting electric charges; subsequently, any system that generates shock or pressure waves, such as gas or lasers, is used.

An effective method has been the use of nanotermites , explosive material whose initial development was intended for the army. This component causes high temperatures, but without the destructive effect; they produce three to six thousand degrees centigrade in four milliseconds when generating shock waves.

Thus, it was found that the crash frequency of this material could be used to open the membrane and introduce a genetic component in the cell, he concluded.

Video Medicine: Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything Forever – CRISPR (April 2024).