POWER OUTAGE HELPS CELL RESEARCH

When the power went out in 2003 in the Northeast, no one figured that the same technological advance that would lead to that solution would be one that also helped further biological studies. When experts found out that the mass blackout could have been avoided by causing a smaller blackout intentionally during the time of instability, it gave scientists an idea. This idea that a small amount of intentional damage could cure an exponentially larger one was what made scientists think that maybe the same idea could be applied to the cell systems.
To apply this theory scientists started with a perfectly working cell then somehow damaged it so that it could no longer function properly. This deletion that handicapped the cell was followed by even more deletions that forced the cell to use pathways differently. This new usage of pathways and molecules allowed the cell to regenerate most of the lost work – the cell’s productivity increased. This new way of gene therapy is different from the traditional way in that traditionally, new genes were added to increase productivity and these scientists deleted ones that were already present with ultimately much the same effect.
This new idea will impact society for the better because there is now a new way to make damaged cells do something that they should be doing. In and experiment with E. coli researchers found that the deletion of one gene is lethal but if that same gene is deleted along with a few others, that the cell survives. That gene, they concluded, was only needed in the presences of other cells. With new information like this, gene deletion or addition illnesses can be fixed.

source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317164339.htm