genetic medicine Flashcards
CRISPR
allows scientists to change DNA at a precise location - can “knock out” a gene so that it is not expressed OR edit the gene to correct a mutation
gene therapy
allows researchers to provide functioning copies of genes to cells with disease-causing versions of those genes - using modified viruses to target cell and release genome with therapeutic gene
gene switches
regulates the expression of genes by binding to different proteins that affect the activity of RNA polymerase - one class targets noncoding, regulatory DNA sequences (gene switches) interfering with gene switches can alter gene expression and can be used to either precent genes linked to diseases to be turned on or keep beneficial genes from being switched off
RNA interference
siRNA cleaves the mRNA, reducing the expression of certain genes - double stranded siRNA is taken up by cells and recognized as foreign and cleaved into smaller pieces
. these pieces are then taken up into a cellular protein complex that cleaves mRNA and can potentially silence any gene
small molecule drug
use of drugs, like ASA, to prevent cancer - gleese binds to active site of mutated enzyme and prevents the enzyme from binding to its regular substrate and stops cancer from growing