Laura Moro, Ph.D. As you all know, this year Nobel Prize in Chemistry was recently awarded to Prof. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Prof. Jennifer A. Doudna who discovered one of gene technology’s sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors. We spoke with Lorena de Oñate, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher from Barcelona currently […]
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Alexandre Bretel In the common imaginary, genetic modifications belong above all to the field of science fiction. But some techniques have already been in use for several decades, and new ones raise unprecedented ethical questions. The CRISPR-Cas9 technique thus allows very precise modifications to be made to the genome, which […]
Traditional or conventional vaccines exploit two approaches: either the introduction of live attenuated infectious agents that replicate within the host without causing disease or the introduction of specific antigens that trigger an immune response. Recently, a revolutionary strategy based on gene-based vaccines −either DNA- or RNA-based− has been proposed. This strategy involves the direct introduction of a DNA or RNA sequence encoding the antigen or antigens against which an immune response is sought, and relies on the in situ production of the target antigen (1). This means that the cell’s machinery uses the instructions contained in the introduced genetic material to make virus antigens that the immune system reacts to.
Vaccines are considered one of the greatest successes of public health, as they have guarded many people of deadly or crippling diseases throughout the years. They have a very long history, with old methods describing the inoculation of smallpox as early as 1000 CE.
Dear community, Here it comes, the 2nd Newsletter of 2020 and… Yes! We are glad to announce to you that our new European Executive Board (EB) 2020/2021 has again the maximum size of 7 team members, integrating three new talents and covering 6 nations – France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain […]