full transcript

From the Ted Talk by David R. Liu: Can we cure genetic diseases by rewriting DNA?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


And biologists have used base etiodrs to probe the role of individual lreetts in genes associated with diseases such as cancer. Two companies I cofounded, Beam Therapeutics and Pairwise Plants, are using base editing to taert human genetic diseases and to improve agriculture. All of these applications of base editing have taken place in less than the past three years: on the historical timescale of science, the blink of an eye.

Additional work lies ahead before base editing can realize its full potential to imvproe the lives of patients with genetic diseases. While many of these dassiees are thought to be taelbtare by correcting the underlying mutation in even a modest fraction of cells in an organ, delivering molecular mahneics like base editors into cells in a human being can be challenging. Co-opting nature's viruses to deliver base editors instead of the molecules that give you a cold is one of several pimsrnoig delivery strategies that's been sseufcluclsy used. Continuing to develop new molecular machines that can make all of the riianenmg ways to convert one base pair to another base pair and that minimize unwanted editing at off-target locations in cells is very imraptnot. And engaging with other scientists, doctors, ethicists and governments to maximize the likelihood that base edintig is aeilppd thoughtfully, safely and elchtilay, remains a critical ogtibialon.

Open Cloze


And biologists have used base _______ to probe the role of individual _______ in genes associated with diseases such as cancer. Two companies I cofounded, Beam Therapeutics and Pairwise Plants, are using base editing to _____ human genetic diseases and to improve agriculture. All of these applications of base editing have taken place in less than the past three years: on the historical timescale of science, the blink of an eye.

Additional work lies ahead before base editing can realize its full potential to _______ the lives of patients with genetic diseases. While many of these ________ are thought to be _________ by correcting the underlying mutation in even a modest fraction of cells in an organ, delivering molecular ________ like base editors into cells in a human being can be challenging. Co-opting nature's viruses to deliver base editors instead of the molecules that give you a cold is one of several _________ delivery strategies that's been ____________ used. Continuing to develop new molecular machines that can make all of the _________ ways to convert one base pair to another base pair and that minimize unwanted editing at off-target locations in cells is very _________. And engaging with other scientists, doctors, ethicists and governments to maximize the likelihood that base _______ is _______ thoughtfully, safely and _________, remains a critical __________.

Solution


  1. machines
  2. editing
  3. letters
  4. remaining
  5. applied
  6. ethically
  7. treat
  8. successfully
  9. important
  10. obligation
  11. improve
  12. treatable
  13. editors
  14. diseases
  15. promising

Original Text


And biologists have used base editors to probe the role of individual letters in genes associated with diseases such as cancer. Two companies I cofounded, Beam Therapeutics and Pairwise Plants, are using base editing to treat human genetic diseases and to improve agriculture. All of these applications of base editing have taken place in less than the past three years: on the historical timescale of science, the blink of an eye.

Additional work lies ahead before base editing can realize its full potential to improve the lives of patients with genetic diseases. While many of these diseases are thought to be treatable by correcting the underlying mutation in even a modest fraction of cells in an organ, delivering molecular machines like base editors into cells in a human being can be challenging. Co-opting nature's viruses to deliver base editors instead of the molecules that give you a cold is one of several promising delivery strategies that's been successfully used. Continuing to develop new molecular machines that can make all of the remaining ways to convert one base pair to another base pair and that minimize unwanted editing at off-target locations in cells is very important. And engaging with other scientists, doctors, ethicists and governments to maximize the likelihood that base editing is applied thoughtfully, safely and ethically, remains a critical obligation.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
base editors 13
point mutations 8
base pair 8
base editing 7
genetic diseases 6
dna sequence 4
crispr scissors 4
dna sequences 4
human genetic 4
molecular machines 4
base editor 4
sickle cell 3
cell anemia 3
important gift 2
billion letters 2
point mutation 2
hemoglobin gene 2
correct point 2
billion years 2
defense mechanism 2
double helix 2
viral dna 2
cut dna 2
naturally occurring 2
dna letter 2
dna base 2
disabled crispr 2
protein shown 2
post doc 2
pathogenic point 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
sickle cell anemia 3
human genetic diseases 3
correct point mutations 2

Important Words


  1. additional
  2. agriculture
  3. applications
  4. applied
  5. base
  6. beam
  7. biologists
  8. blink
  9. cancer
  10. cells
  11. challenging
  12. cofounded
  13. cold
  14. companies
  15. continuing
  16. convert
  17. correcting
  18. critical
  19. deliver
  20. delivering
  21. delivery
  22. develop
  23. diseases
  24. doctors
  25. editing
  26. editors
  27. engaging
  28. ethically
  29. ethicists
  30. eye
  31. fraction
  32. full
  33. genes
  34. genetic
  35. give
  36. governments
  37. historical
  38. human
  39. important
  40. improve
  41. individual
  42. letters
  43. lies
  44. likelihood
  45. lives
  46. locations
  47. machines
  48. maximize
  49. minimize
  50. modest
  51. molecular
  52. molecules
  53. mutation
  54. obligation
  55. organ
  56. pair
  57. pairwise
  58. patients
  59. place
  60. plants
  61. potential
  62. probe
  63. promising
  64. realize
  65. remaining
  66. remains
  67. role
  68. safely
  69. science
  70. scientists
  71. strategies
  72. successfully
  73. therapeutics
  74. thought
  75. thoughtfully
  76. timescale
  77. treat
  78. treatable
  79. underlying
  80. unwanted
  81. viruses
  82. ways
  83. work