• Question: Max, what is it like to edit genes?

    Asked by Pepe 15 to Max on 12 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Max Jamilly

      Max Jamilly answered on 12 Mar 2018:

      Genes are encoded in our DNA, which is a very long molecule that’s tightly coiled inside most of our cells. The DNA is a series of just four different compounds, A, C, G and T. It’s the order of these compounds which encodes the information in our genes. Sometimes genes are broken, which means the sequence is wrong and the gene makes a person unwell. We can use special molecules to go into a cell, find the wrong sequence and exchange it for the right one – just like when you do ‘find and replace’ in Microsoft Word. Cool, huh?

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