Dipali Sashita, assistant professor of biochemistry at Iowa State, will be discussing genome editing Thursday at 7 p.m. in the South Ballroom at the Memorial Union.

Genomes are the designs for cells that have the information to mature and support life. Sashita will be talking about how new technology called CRISPR, which stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, can change DNA through gene editing, according to the Iowa State lectures website.

According to sciencemag.org, CRISPR works by using altered bacterial proteins and a RNA that leads it to a specific DNA sequence. It will give more control over genes in multiple species, including humans.

According to broadinstitute.org, the new genome editing will allow scientists to create cell models to study diseases such as cancer and mental illness to treat diseases. This new gene editing can also improve our food supplies and help discover new energy resources.

As Sashita is an expert in the new CRISPR tool, her lab is learning more and centering on how to improve this new tool for gene editing. On Thursday, she will expand on how this technology started and how it is still developing.

This lecture is cosponsored by Sigma Xi and the Committee on Lectures that is funded by Student Government.