БЛОГ

Archive for the ‘bioengineering’ category: Page 140

May 17, 2019

Genetically engineered immune cells fight off deadly virus in mice

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics

Researchers may have demonstrated a novel way to protect us from some of the world’s deadliest viruses. By genetically engineering immune cells to make more effective antibodies, they have defended mice from a potentially lethal lung virus. The same strategy could work in humans against diseases for which there are no vaccines.

“It’s a huge breakthrough,” says immunologist James Voss of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California, who wasn’t connected to the study.

Vaccines typically contain a disabled microbial invader or shards of its molecules. They stimulate immune cells known as B cells to crank out antibodies that target the pathogen. Not everyone who receives a vaccine gains protection, however. Some patients’ antibodies aren’t up to snuff, for instance. And researchers haven’t been able to develop vaccines against some microbes, such as HIV and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes lung infections mainly in children and people with impaired immune systems.

Continue reading “Genetically engineered immune cells fight off deadly virus in mice” »

May 17, 2019

Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Co-Founder and CSO of the SENS Research Foundation — ideaXme — Ira Pastor

Posted by in categories: aging, bioengineering, bioprinting, biotech/medical, business, cryonics, futurism, genetics, health, life extension

May 15, 2019

How whales defy the cancer odds: Good genes

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical

But they don’t. Instead, they are less likely to develop or die of this enigmatic disease. The same is true of elephants and dinosaurs’ living relatives, birds. Marc Tollis, an assistant professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University, wants to know why.

Tollis led a team of scientists from Arizona State University, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, the Center for Coastal Studies in Massachusetts and nine other institutions worldwide to study potential cancer suppression mechanisms in cetaceans, the mammalian group that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Their findings, which picked apart the genome of the humpback whale, as well as the genomes of nine other cetaceans, in order to determine how their cancer defenses are so effective, were published today in Molecular Biology and Evolution.

The study is the first major contribution from the newly formed Arizona Cancer and Evolution Center or ACE, directed by Carlo Maley under an $8.5 million award from the National Cancer Institute. Maley, an evolutionary biologist, is a researcher at ASU’s Biodesign Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics and professor in the School of Life Sciences. He is a senior co-author of the new study.

Continue reading “How whales defy the cancer odds: Good genes” »

May 15, 2019

Gene editing: will it make rich people genetically superior?

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics

There’s no doubt that genetic therapy won’t be cheap.

Read more

May 13, 2019

Scientists bioengineer a cellular speedometer

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, transportation

An all-Princeton research team has identified bacteria that can detect the speed of flowing fluids.

Many kinds of cells can sense , just as our skin cells can feel the difference between a gentle breeze and a strong wind. But we depend on feeling the force involved, the push-back from the air against us. Without that push, we can’t distinguish speed; when the windows are closed, our skin can’t feel any difference in whether we are sitting in an office, a speeding car or a cruising airplane. But now, a team of Princeton researchers has now discovered that some bacteria can in fact detect the speed of flow regardless of the force. Their paper appears in the online journal Nature Microbiology.

“We have engineered bacteria to be speedometers,” said Zemer Gitai, Princeton’s Edwin Grant Conklin Professor of Biology and the senior author on the paper. “There’s an application here: We can actually use these bacteria as flow sensors. If you wanted to know the speed of something in real time, we can tell you.”

Continue reading “Scientists bioengineer a cellular speedometer” »

May 10, 2019

Australia Allows CRISPR Editing Of Plants And Animals Without Government Approval

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, government

Australia has approved the use of CRISPR gene editing tool on plants and animals without the oversight of a governmental body. The controversial move has been called a ‘middle ground’ compared to regulations on other countries.

Read more

May 9, 2019

New Progress in the Biggest Challenge With 3D Printed Organs

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, bioengineering, biotech/medical, food

We’re tantalizingly close to growing organs in the lab, but the biggest remaining challenge has been creating the fine networks of blood vessels required to keep them alive. Now researchers have shown that a common food dye could solve the problem.

In the US there are currently more than 100,000 people on organ transplant waiting lists. Even if you’re lucky enough to receive a replacement, you face a lifetime on immunosuppressant drugs. That’s why scientists have long dreamed of growing new organs from patients’ own cells, which could simultaneously tackle the shortage and the risk of organ rejection.

The field of tissue engineering has seen plenty of progress. Lab-grown skin has been medically available for decades, and more recently stem cells have been used to seed scaffolds—either built form synthetic materials or made by stripping cells from natural support structures—to reproduce more complex biological tissue.

Continue reading “New Progress in the Biggest Challenge With 3D Printed Organs” »

May 9, 2019

Researchers develop viable, environmentally-friendly alternative to Styrofoam

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, materials

Washington State University researchers have developed an environmentally-friendly, plant-based material that for the first time works better than Styrofoam for insulation.

The is mostly made from nanocrystals of cellulose, the most abundant plant material on earth. The researchers also developed an environmentally friendly and simple manufacturing process to make the foam, using water as a solvent instead of other harmful solvents.

The work, led by Amir Ameli, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Xiao Zhang, associate professor in the Gene and Linda School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, is published in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers.

Continue reading “Researchers develop viable, environmentally-friendly alternative to Styrofoam” »

May 8, 2019

To Save a Girl’s Life, Researchers Injected Her With Genetically Engineered Viruses

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics

So-called phage therapy isn’t yet mainstream, but in some cases it might be the only option for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

Read more

May 8, 2019

Anti-Aging Gene Therapy for Dogs Coming This Fall

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, life extension

In an article last May, we covered how Rejuvenate Bio, a startup biotech company led by Professor George Church, was planning to reverse aging in dogs as a step towards bringing these therapies to us. Those plans are now starting to move forward with news of a trial launch in the fall later this year.

Developing anti-aging therapies in dogs is the first step

Back in 2015, the Church lab at Harvard began testing a variety of therapies focused on age reversal using CRISPR, a gene editing system that was much easier and faster to use than older techniques. Since then, Professor Church and his lab have conducted a myriad of experiments and gathered lots of data with which to plan future strategies for tackling aging.

Continue reading “Anti-Aging Gene Therapy for Dogs Coming This Fall” »