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Issue 07 is Coming on Monday

Codon

The event hosts will provide snacks and drinks, and the winning teams will get signed copies of our DNA books and free hats. A science fiction time travel novel in which a protagonist extracts traces of DNA from letters and engineers herself to be immune to poison. Please RSVP to join. A History of Fermentation.

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Topical Gene Therapy FDA-Approved for Severe Skin Disease, Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa

PLOS: DNA Science

My now decade-old book The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy who Saved It , told the stories of children who had received one-time deliveries of working copies of genes, to compensate for their mutations. This DNA Science post from 2018 traces the history of the efforts. DEB has been a candidate for a gene therapy since 2002.

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Michael Crichton and James Patterson’s “Eruption” is Riveting, but with a Shaky Genetic Foundation

PLOS: DNA Science

But the book has a glitch in a genetic explanation. He had the top book, film, and TV series within the same week – twice. See How Michael Crichton’s Widow Sherri Ushered in a Renaissance of His Work With New Book ‘Eruption’ in Variety.) ” I can’t wait for the film. He was too busy creating.

DNA 68
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What Limits a Genome’s Size?

Codon

billion bases of DNA which, if unfurled, would extend for more than 100 meters—taller than the Statue of Liberty. billion bases of DNA, the human genome measures just 2 meters in length when stretched end-to-end. Credit: Oriane Hidalgo Per the book Cell Biology by the Numbers , each base pair of DNA occupies 1 nm 3 of space.

DNA 63
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“Ordinary Soil” Revisits the Weedkiller and AgBiotech Story, While Feeding the Scientist-As-Nerd Stereotype

PLOS: DNA Science

The title Ordinary Soil alone would have drawn me to this book, for years ago, a dear botanist friend admonished me for using “dirt” and “soil” interchangeably, although dictionaries do so. Although the book is based on this very distinction, towards the end, “dirt” dominates.

Science 96
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Bioprospecting in Dental Tartar from Neanderthals for Novel Antibiotics and Revisiting the Discovery of Penicillin

PLOS: DNA Science

Over time, the mineralized microbes of tooth tartar come to comprise a mouthful of tiny fossils, including snippets of degraded bacterial DNA. ” But long DNA molecules fray as they’re copied as bacteria reproduce, from ancient times leaving pieces too small to match entries in DNA databases from modern species.

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Is Recent Gene Therapy Setback for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) Déjà vu All Over Again?

PLOS: DNA Science

In the final chapter of my 2012 book The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It , I predicted that the technology would soon expand well beyond the rare disease world. million DNA bases. The DMD gene therapy delivers a shortened version of the dystrophin gene, just 4,558 DNA bases. I was overoptimistic.