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Following on the achievements of Chinese researchers, scientists in the United States have used CRISPR to manipulate the genomes of viable human embryos, MIT Technology Review reported yesterday (July 26). The work, not yet published, reportedly corrected defective genes from sperm donors in dozens of embryos, which were allowed to grow for several days.

This directed case study was developed to introduce students to the CRISPR-Cas9 system for genome editing. CRISPR-Cas9 has made numerous headlines in both the scientific and popular press, and thus serves as an excellent model for learning current biotechnology and applying concepts from biology courses. After providing a general overview of CRISPR-Cas9, the majority of the case focuses on the clinical applications of the system as experienced by a carrier for the X-linked recessive allele underlying Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The case is structured so that students use a variety of popular and scientific sources (some of which may require a subscription to access-check with your institution), increasing in difficulty as they move through each part of the case. The goals are for students to learn the molecular mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas9, the benefits and limitations of the system, and the clinical applications of the technology. Open-ended questions are included to spark discussion of ethical considerations, societal impacts, and the overall implications of the technology.

Gene editing in embryos

Adam Ruben's tongue-in-cheek column about the common difficulties and frustrations of reading a scientific paper broadly resonated among Science Careers readers. Many of you have come to us asking for more (and more serious) advice on how to make sense of the scientific literature, so we've asked a dozen scientists at different career stages and in a broad range of fields to tell us how they do it. Although it is clear that reading scientific papers becomes easier with experience, the stumbling blocks are real, and it is up to each scientist to identify and apply the techniques that work best for them. The responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

In our first animation of this series we learned how point mutations can edit genetic information. Here we see how duplication events can dramatically lengthen the genetic code of an individual. As point mutations add up in the duplicated region across generations, entirely new genes with new functions can evolve. In the video we see three examples of gene duplications resulting in new traits for the creatures who inherit them: the evolution of a venom gene in snakes, the evolution of leaf digestion genes in monkeys, and the evolution of burrowing legs in hunting dogs.

Peer review is one collaborative writing strategy that can assist students in achieving a number of the Common Core Standards, including the one stating that students will improve their writing by "revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach." Research has shown that peer review, done well, results in improved student writing and learning about writing.

An environmentally dependent method to excise particular genes and eliminate genetically modified organisms (GMOs) if they leave the lab, published this week (May 19) in Nature Communications, uses an inducible CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing system to snip out vital pieces of the E. coli genome.

In the Oct. 30 edition of Science, scientists describe strains of laboratory mice bred to test the role of an individual's genetic makeup in the course of Ebola disease. Systems biologists and virologists Angela Rasmussen and Michael Katze from the Katze Laboratory at the University of Washington Department of Microbiology led the study in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health's Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

EPA is working with many other organizations to collect and communicate data about climate change. With help from these partners, EPA has compiled the third edition of this report, presenting 30 indicators to help readers understand observed long-term trends related to the causes and effects of climate change. In a manner accessible to all audiences, the report describes the significance of these trends and their possible consequences for people, the environment, and society.

detailed fact sheet on transport in the kidney

If we learned anything from the David and Goliath legend, it's that underdogs can win, right? On this edition of Up To Date, journalist, author and critical thinker Malcolm Gladwell speaks with Steve Kraske about the traditional understandings of the weak and the powerful. Plus, the advantages of thinking outside the box. 

Over the last decade, as DNA-sequencing technology has grown ever faster and cheaper, our understanding of the human genome has increased accordingly. Yet scientists have until recently remained largely ham-fisted when they've tried to directly modify genes in a living cell. Take sickle-cell anemia, for example. A debilitating and often deadly disease, it is caused by a mutation in just one of a patient's three billion DNA base pairs. Even though this genetic error is simple and well studied, researchers are helpless to correct it and halt its devastating effects.

If the lab technique works in the field, it could offer a new way of stopping the biting insects from spreading malaria to humans, they say. The scientists put a new "resistance" gene into the mosquito's own DNA, using a gene editing method called Crispr. And when the GM mosquitoes mated - their offspring inherited the same resistance, PNAS journal reports. In theory, if these mosquitoes bite people, they should not be able to pass on the parasite that causes malaria.

You've always been told sugar is bad for you, but how bad is it really? Find out in this science music video - researched, written, sung, directed, shot, and edited by 8th graders from The Nueva School in California. This song is a science parody of "Sunday Candy" by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment, featuring Chance the Rapper and Jamila Woods.

Almost 80% of all antibiotics in the United States aren't taken by people. They're given to cows, pigs, and chickens to make them grow more quickly or as a cheap alternative to keeping them healthy. These drugs could give rise to superbugs-bacteria that can't be treated with modern medicine-and things are only getting worse. In 2013, more than 131,000 tons of antibiotics were used in food animals worldwide; by 2030, it will be more than 200,000 tons. In a paper published today in Science, epidemiologist Thomas Van Boeckel of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and colleagues outline the growing threat-and what can be done about it. Boeckel spoke to us about his team's work. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Designer babies, the end of diseases, genetically modified humans that never age. Outrageous things that used to be science fiction are suddenly becoming reality. The only thing we know for sure is that things will change irreversibly.

In a first, scientists led by Kamel Khalili, director of the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at Temple University, report in the journal Gene Therapy that they have for the first time successfully eliminated HIV genes from the genomes of mice and rats infected with the virus.

Overview of genetic engineering and business assessment of scientific feasibility.  Good overview of past gene therapy attempts.

Current CRISPR-based screens often mutate the beginning of a gene, which sometimes results in the expression of a functional protein variant. To circumvent this problem, researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) designed CRISPR guide RNAs that would mutate the portion of a gene encoding a domain on the surface of the protein where a small molecule could bind to alter the protein's function. The team had previously identified such a binding pocket on the protein BRD4, and a small molecule inhibitor that binds in the pocket is an effective leukemia treatment.

Here is a list of additional resources for Inquire High School. These inquiry resources include great links to Web sites, articles, videos, and much more that supports inquiry