Delivering A Knockout

The meaning of genetic engineering has been twisted and convaluted to a point where no one really understands what it means. when we think of it we think of scientists messing with DNA to make a superhuman. this is half right, scientists are messing with DNA but they are not helping anything. rats have succesfully been genetically changed, however the scientists removed something which in-turn changes how their immune system works. they do this so that they can collect data about cancer treatment and other cures.

The scientists genetically engineer these rats by "knocking out" a piece of genetic information. they usually get rid of the anticancer protein p53. the reason this has taken so long was that scientists had to make stem cells that can actually produce a living animal. this experiment has been so riddled with failure that people refuse to believe that it could work. removing the p53 gene allows scientists to study cancer and its treatments. now scientists are trying to produce a rat with a weaker immunne system, by removing two genes.

Since the scientists are just working on rats it seems kind of far-fetched that they could be studying cancer in humans. yet, rats have very similar DNA and immune systems to humans, this allows scientists to study unsafe things on a rat without putting a human in danger. these experiments could give birth to a breakthrough in cancer treatment, if only other scientists would get involved. since this theory has gone unproven for so long other people are skeptical that it could work. only time will tell if these expertiments are any help.