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WILD SCIENCE STORY OF THE DAY: SCIENTISTS MOVE CLOSER TO REPAIRING DNA:
At the heart of the breakthrough is the concept of “if it’s broke, break it some more.” Cells have a method of DNA repair called homologous recombination, which fixes breaks in the double helix of our chromosomes. But the process only repairs places where the DNA has been cut, not where genes have been miscoded.
Using a package of synthesized zinc fingers, cells can be tricked into doing nano-surgery on their own genes, Sangamo researchers found. The zinc fingers home in like a guided missile on the exact spot in the genome doctors are trying to target and then bind to it. DNA-devouring enzymes then cut through the double helix of DNA at the exact beginning and end of the targeted gene, and a template of donor DNA helps rebuild the deleted strand.
And this is a day after we flew that spacecraft into a comet 83 million miles from Earth. These impressive scientific advances appear to be arriving with increasing frequency.
