PROOVING THAT A RETRO VIRUS IS REQUIRED FOR SHEEP REPRODUCTION

Dr Spencer’s team prooved that enJSRV was neccessary for successful placental formation and therefore successful reproduction by knocking-out the gene that normally codes for the enJSRVs retrovirus.   

Genes can be knocked out by inserting a backwards copy of the gene into the host’s genome.  When the forward and backward genes are read and created by the genetic machinary they form opposite messengers (mRNA).  These opposite messengers are then like polar magnets and are attracted to one another.  When two messengers are attached to one another then they can no longer create the message (protein) they have been created for.  A video summary of this technique referred to as RNAi can be found in the links section of this blog.

Therefore by knocking-out the gene for the enJSRV retro virus Sheep that had the retrovirus gene knocked-out showed inhibited growth of the placenta cell type called giant binucleate cells, which led to miscarriage.

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