Lifeboat Foundation

Thanks to CRISPR, medical specialists will soon have unprecedented control over how they treat and prevent some of the most challenging genetic disorders and diseases.

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a Nobel Prize-winning gene-editing tool, already widely used by scientists to cut and modify DNA sequences to turn genes on and off or insert new DNA that can correct abnormalities. CRISPR uses an enzyme known as Cas9 to cut and alter DNA.

Engineers at the USC Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering have now developed an update to the tool that will allow CRISPR technology to be even more powerful with the help of focused ultrasound.

Researchers at UC San Diego identify a key pathway leading to neurodegeneration in early stages of ALS, hinting at the potential for short-circuiting the progression of the fatal disease if diagnosed early.

Researchers used a new screening technique to identify genes involved in heart cell damage during a common chemotherapy treatment. They also found a drug that may be able to prevent it.

Researchers have suspected for some time that the link between our gut and brain plays a role in the development of Parkinson’s disease.

A recent study identified gut microbes likely to be involved and linked them with decreased riboflavin (vitamin B2) and biotin (vitamin B7), pointing the way to an unexpectedly simple treatment that may help: B vitamins.

Continue reading “Parkinson’s Link to Gut Bacteria Suggests an Unexpected, Simple Treatment” »

Specially packaged DNA secreted by tumor cells can trigger an immune response that inhibits the metastatic spread of the tumor to the liver, according to a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Korea’s Yonsei University. The discovery improves the scientific understanding of cancer progression and anticancer immunity, and could yield new clinical tools for assessing and reducing metastasis risk.

In the study, reported Dec. 3 in Nature Cancer, the researchers examined cancer cells’ secretion of short stretches of DNA packaged on tiny capsules called extracellular vesicles (EVs). All cells use EVs to secrete proteins, DNA and other molecules, and tumor cells are particularly active EV secreters.

The biological functions of these EV-packaged molecules are still being explored, but in this case, the researchers discovered that in various cancer types, EV-DNA secreted by tumor cells works as a “danger” signal that activates an anti-tumor response in the liver, reducing the risk of liver metastasis.

Blurry vision may not really be a problem with your eyes. It’s usually no big deal, but it could be a sign of a serious illness or medical emergency.

Memory impairment in autism goes beyond poor facial recognition, a Stanford Medicine team showed. The finding suggests a wide role for memory in the neurobiology of the disorder.

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Researchers unveil Fas-p53 axis as a key regulator in adipocyte metabolism, linking it to obesity and insulin sensitivity through energy expenditure and inflammation pathways.

For the first time, scientists have invented a liquid ink that doctors can print onto a patient’s scalp to measure brain activity. The technology, presented December 2 in the journal Cell Biomaterials, offers a promising alternative to the cumbersome process currently used for monitoring brainwaves and diagnosing neurological conditions. It also has the potential to enhance non-invasive brain-computer interface applications.

“Our innovations in sensor design, biocompatible ink, and high-speed printing pave the way for future on-body manufacturing of electronic tattoo sensors, with broad applications both within and beyond clinical settings,” says Nanshu Lu, the paper’s co-corresponding author at the University of Texas at Austin.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is an important tool for diagnosing a variety of neurological conditions, including seizures, brain tumors, epilepsy, and brain injuries. During a traditional EEG test, technicians measure the patient’s scalp with rulers and pencils, marking over a dozen spots where they will glue on electrodes, which are connected to a data-collection machine via long wires to monitor the patient’s brain activity. This setup is time consuming and cumbersome, and it can be uncomfortable for many patients, who must sit through the EEG test for hours.