An overview of genetic engineering

Genetic engineering is a set of molecular biology techniques that aim at manipulating an organism’s DNA to achieve a particular aim. Genetic engineering can be applied to a number of fields for a number of outcomes, including laboratory techniques, agriculture, and medicine. The process can be broken down into common basic tasks used in all applications: recombinant DNA, cloning, and transformation. Read more about how genetic engineering works.

Image: United States Dept. of Agriculture, engineering wheat resistant to a root-destroying fungus

The history of Drosophila melanogaster in science

Source: Wikimedia, Andre Karwath

Drosophila, the fruit fly common in university genetics labs, were, and still are, used by researchers and educators for a number of reasons. In recent years, the structure of the Drosophila chromosome and its embryonic development outside the body has maintained this species’ attractiveness as a current model in research, keeping the fly from being just a teaching tool. 

Monkey model of Huntington's

Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Institute have developed a monkey model of Huntington's disease using genetic engineering (lentivirus targeting with GFP to be exact). Two monkeys from a successful breeding of monkeys with the characteristic CAG repeats exhibit symptoms of the disease. The group hopes next to develop monkeys with late-onset disease to better mimic the human condition, though it is yet unknown how closely the monkeys will approximate the human disease.