12th December 2023
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concrete-online.co.uk/category/science/ | @ConcreteUEA
This Month in Science : Unlocking the Quantum Realm
Photo: Wikicommons
Max Todd
Senior Science Writer
Quantum physics might seem like a topic approachable only by the academically elite and Marvel’s director teams, but the concept isn’t difficult to grasp at all. The term ‘Quantum’ is derived from ‘quantised’ meaning ‘fixed’. The theory, backed up by endless experimental evidence, states that particles at the smallest scale can only have fixed levels of energy. So,
what
does
that
mean?
Imagine you’ve bought a brand new, very unusual car, and want to take it onto the road. In your old runaround you would
expect to apply the accelerator and slowly move from stationary all the way up to 70mph. In other words, your speed would occupy every value between 0 until 70. Sounds obvious, right? Well in your new car, the speed is ‘quantised’. Imagine you’re stationary and applying the accelerator, but the car isn’t moving. In fact, it doesn’t even move until you’ve pressed the gas a third of the way down when suddenly you’re moving at 30mph. No, you haven’t accelerated quickly, you have actually moved instantaneously from 0 to 30mph. This is what particles at the subatomic level behave like. This mad phenomenon explains why substances are certain colours. In order to gain more
“...might seem like a topic approachable only by the academically elite and Marvel’s director teams...” energy, subatomic particles have to absorb the exact right amount, just like your new car needs the exact right amount of gas to move. When energy containing light reaches a substance, the amount of energy that is absorbed is equal to certain energies on the light spectrum. The colours that aren’t absorbed are then reflected back out and into your brain, which
interprets that information visually. Insane right, so who discovered all this?
The theory awkwardly matched the data, but Planck was hesitant to drop classical views on physics.
On December 14th 1900, Max Planck presented his findings to the German Physical Society, many of whom his respected colleagues. In it, he skeptically lays the foundation of what now has is known as the revolutionary field of quantum physics, essential to the transistors in all modern computers and fibre optic 2 cables.
It was actually Albert Einstein who corrected and expanded upon this body of work, however Planck will be forever immortalised for his contributions to this incredible field and studied by any dedicated student of the natural sciences worldwide.
Bizarre Science: First CRISPR Gene Therapy Approved in the UK for Blood Disorders
Photo: WikiCommons
Rana Dawood
Science Editor
Our genetic code is so innately personal to us, we may not understand much about it but the thought of someone digging their hands in there and meddling with your DNA sequence may seem a bit bizarre. But, for those with few options, it is revolutionary. The UK has now become the first country in the world to approve gene editing tools. The therapy, named Casgevy, is a collaboration between Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR therapeutics and was authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after two global clinical trials. It is intended as a treatment for Sickle Cell Anemia and Beta-thalassaemia which are two genetic blood disorders, both affecting haemoglobin, which is essential in the transport of oxygen around the body. With currently, the only permanent- treatment option being bone marrow transplants, which run a high risk of immune system rejection. Manipulating our DNA sounds a
bit scary, so how does it really work and what even is CRISPR? CRISPR/ Cas9 gene editing works like genetic scissors in a way, snipping a part of the genome sequence out and gently placing a different segment in. Like performing an insanely precise and intricate micro-surgery. Technology that, believe it or not, is actually an antiviral technique taken from bacteria! It’s a defence mechanism used by bacteria to fight back against viruses that invade them. They take these genetic scissors from the CRISPR region of their DNA in complex with the Cas9 protein, that together, gives us the remarkable ability of gene editing. Almost similar to the way that our lovely white blood cells can remember when we’ve been ill, and if the same pathogen tries to infect our bodies they immediately surround and shut it down. Bacteria act in the same way, remembering when a virus has infected them, and they have programmed this within their genetic code (in the CRISPR region!). When the first virus infects them, they sneakily take a snippet of this virus’s DNA, and store it in the CRISPR region for later. If the same virus attempts to hijack the bacterium again, the CRISPRCas9 complex is quick to act and
hunt for the same DNA sequence in the virus, completely snipping through the DNA double helix, and leaving the virus limp and inactive.
Professors Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna identified this mechanism and reprogrammed it to cut DNA, leading to the development of CRISPR/Cas9 which won them the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry (the first to go to two women!). This achievement, as you can image, absolutely blew up in the scientific world. The ability to alter DNA with such a unique precision was unheard of and its applications have numerous possibilities, spanning from medicine
“The ability to alter DNA with such a unique precison was unheard of.... ” to
agriculture
to
biotech,
etc.
Now we’ve covered our bases on the complexities of CRISPR/Cas9 tech, it’s important to take into consideration all of the ways it can be applied. Manipulating DNA in such a way as this comes with its own load
of ethical considerations/dilemmas. In fact, one of the most controversial genetical experiments utilised this exact tool. In China, November 2018, an uproar was fuelled when He Jiankui, a CRISPR scientist, experimented with the birth of the first genetically modified babies, in an attempt to make them HIV immune. Leading to many debating the ethics of this procedure and resulting in his imprisonment, whilst some of those working alongside him completely flipped their ethical stance when all eyes were on them. With further worries in the possibility of ‘designer babies’ and human enhancement approaches. The announcement of a treatment such as Casgevy is revolutionary for those suffering with sickle cell and beta-thalassemia, who currently have few other options available to
them. Yet, as you can imagine, it is quite costly, at an estimated US$2 million per patient, heavily limiting who is able to benefit from the discovery. Sickle cell anaemia is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where most patients reside in low-income countries. Unfortunately meaning that the majority of people suffering will not have access to this therapy. Future applications of this extraordinary treatment are exciting, but we need to tread lightly by taking the correct ethical approaches in our research direction and hope that we make the most of its potential. I’m certain that in the coming years we will sharpen our genetic scissors and cleanly snip our way into the next generation of gene-targeted therapies.