Hooper Frances W, Morrow Jonathan, Rodriguez Jasmine, Webb Claire
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK KY16 9JP.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2022 Oct 1;20(3):R5-R8. doi: 10.59390/XZQL5300. eCollection 2022 Spring.
The development of genome editing technologies, including the novel CRISPR/Cas9 technique, has advanced scientific research concerning the contribution of genetics to disease through the creation of new model organisms. The subject of this review is a 2015 study done by Harel et al. from the journal . This study is a prime example of using CRISPR/Cas9 to create a new model organism to accurately model the effects of aging and age-related diseases on a short-lived vertebrate. This study found that the African turquoise killifish is a reliable model to study the physiological process of aging due to its compressed lifespan. In addition, it provides a genotype-to-phenotype platform to study genes related to the hallmarks of aging and age-related diseases. This paper demonstrates this by showing that killifish deficient in the protein subunit of telomerase display telomerase-related pathologies faster than other established vertebrate models. From a teaching perspective, this paper could be used as a resource for educators to teach students about new technologies emerging in the field of neuroscience and the importance of model organisms. Specifically, for upper-level undergraduate students, this paper could serve as a real-world example of how scientific techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 could be used to answer scientific questions. Further, it shows how these techniques could bring forward new model organisms better suited to answer the scientific questions being asked. Learning these techniques and being open minded to new approaches will be advantageous to students' future careers in science.
包括新型CRISPR/Cas9技术在内的基因组编辑技术的发展，通过创建新的模式生物，推动了有关遗传学对疾病贡献的科学研究。本综述的主题是哈雷尔等人于2015年发表在某期刊上的一项研究。这项研究是利用CRISPR/Cas9创建新的模式生物以准确模拟衰老及与年龄相关疾病对短命脊椎动物影响的一个典型例子。该研究发现，非洲青鳉因其短暂的寿命，是研究衰老生理过程的可靠模式生物。此外，它还提供了一个从基因型到表型的平台，用于研究与衰老特征及与年龄相关疾病相关的基因。本文通过表明端粒酶蛋白亚基缺陷的青鳉比其他已确立的脊椎动物模式生物更快出现端粒酶相关病理情况，证明了这一点。从教学角度来看，本文可作为教育工作者向学生传授神经科学领域新兴技术及模式生物重要性的资源。具体而言，对于本科高年级学生，本文可作为一个实际例子，展示诸如CRISPR/Cas9等科学技术如何用于回答科学问题。此外，它还展示了这些技术如何能带来更适合回答所提科学问题的新的模式生物。学习这些技术并对新方法持开放态度将对学生未来的科学事业有利。
