БЛОГ

Archive for the ‘genetics’ category: Page 148

Mar 11, 2022

CRISPR On-Off Switch Will Help Unlock the Secrets of Our Immune System

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

Can we turn up—or dial down—their fervor by tweaking their genes?

Enter a new kind of CRISPR. Known mostly as a multi-tool to cut, snip, edit, or otherwise kneecap an existing gene, this version—dubbed CRISPRa—forcibly turns genes on. Optimized by scientists at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco, the tool is counterbalanced by CRISPRi—“i” for “interference,” which, you guessed it, interferes with the gene’s expression.

Though previously used in immortal cells grown in labs, this is the first time these CRISPR tools are rejiggered for cells extracted from our bodies. Together, the tools simultaneously screened nearly 20,000 genes in T cells isolated from humans, building a massive genetic translator—from genes to function—that maps how individual genes influence T cells.

Mar 10, 2022

Virgin mouse gives birth after gene-editing experiment: scientists

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University altered a mouse’s DNA to impregnate it through asexual reproduction.

Mar 7, 2022

Anti-aging molecules safely reset mouse cells to youthful states

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics, life extension, neuroscience

One of the especially promising therapies to appear in the realm of anti-aging research involves a set of molecules known as Yamanaka factors, which scientists have deployed to rejuvenate aging cells, trigger muscle regeneration and tackle glaucoma. New research at the Salk Institute has sought to build on these short-term and specific use cases by demonstrating how these molecules can reverse signs of aging in middle-aged and elderly mice, with no evidence of health problems following the extended treatment.

The Yamanaka factors at the center of this study are a set of four reprogramming molecules that can reset the molecular clock found in the cells of the body. They do so by returning unique patterns of chemicals known as epigenetic markers, which evolve through aging, to their original states.

Continue reading “Anti-aging molecules safely reset mouse cells to youthful states” »

Mar 7, 2022

Science competitions can help to catapult your science into the real world

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

The XPrize and other competitions are helping to advance science and technological innovation.


Over the years, we have had alumni go on to become successful academic scientists, company managers and entrepreneurs. The networks that the participants create with each other during the competition are useful to tap into throughout their careers. Recently, I also learnt that a winning team from 2020 decided to create a bioelectronics start-up, INIA Biosciences, that aims to use ultrasound to interact with the immune system to relieve chronic inflammatory diseases.

More companies and foundations are seeing the advantages of science competitions and are organizing innovation challenges. The organizers benefit from recruiting talented people, gaining fresh ideas and promoting an image of innovativeness. The participants are rewarded with training, network building and prize money. In addition to the Innovation Cup, we also organize events such as the €1 million Future Insight Prize, which is given out annually to honour and enable scientists solving key challenges of humanity.

Continue reading “Science competitions can help to catapult your science into the real world” »

Mar 6, 2022

Single test for over 50 genetic diseases will cut diagnosis from decades to days

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Further research shows that the test is accurate.

When it comes to genetic neurological and neuromuscular diseases, screening early is key to getting the right treatment. A new DNA test developed by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney may help in this process, as reported by the institution in a press release published on Saturday.


Garvan researchers have shown how new genomic sequencing technology can reduce the ‘diagnostic odyssey’ experienced by people with rare neurological and neuromuscular diseases.

Continue reading “Single test for over 50 genetic diseases will cut diagnosis from decades to days” »

Mar 4, 2022

Protein tweak makes CRISPR gene editing 4,000 times less error-prone

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

The CRISPR gene-editing system is a powerful tool that could revolutionize medicine and other sciences, but unfortunately it has a tendency to make edits to the wrong sections of DNA. Now, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have identified a previously unknown structure of the protein that drives these mistakes, and tweaked it to reduce the likelihood of off-target mutations by 4,000 times.

CRISPR tools use certain proteins, most often Cas9, to make precise edits to specific DNA sequences in living cells. This can involve cutting out problematic genes, such as those that cause disease, and/or slotting in beneficial ones. The problem is that sometimes the tool can make changes to the wrong parts, potentially triggering a range of other health issues.

And in the new study, the UT researchers discovered how some of these errors can happen. Usually, the Cas9 protein is hunting for a specific sequence of 20 letters in the DNA code, but if it finds one where 18 out of 20 match its target, it might make its edit anyway. To find out why this occurs, the team used cryo-electron microscopy to observe what Cas9 is doing when it interacts with a mismatched sequence.

Mar 4, 2022

When did the first humans arise on planet Earth?

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks, genetics

By the time our planet was four billion years old, the rise of large plants and animals was just beginning. Complexity exploded around that time, as the combination of multicellularity, sexual reproduction, and other genetic advances brought about the Cambrian explosion. Many evolutionary changes occurred over the next 500 million years, with extinction events and selection pressures paving the way for new forms of life to arise and develop.

65 million years ago, a catastrophic asteroid strike wiped out not only the dinosaurs, but practically every animal weighing over 25 kg (excepting leatherback sea turtles and some crocodiles). This was Earth’s most recent great mass extinction, and it left a large number of niches unfilled in its wake. Mammals rose to prominence in the aftermath, with the first humans arising less than 1 million years ago. Here’s our story.

Mar 4, 2022

Reprogrammed bacterium turns carbon dioxide into chemicals on industrial scale

Posted by in categories: chemistry, economics, genetics, sustainability

Process achieved at industrial scale in 120 litre reactor.


Factory

The 120 litre LanzaTech pilot plant that can convert carbon dioxide into acetone and isopropanol.

Continue reading “Reprogrammed bacterium turns carbon dioxide into chemicals on industrial scale” »

Mar 4, 2022

Targeting the cell cycle could overcome cancer treatment resistance

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Scientists from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have shed light on a different way of overcoming mechanisms of resistance to specific therapeutic agents used to treat cancer. In a new article published March 1 in the journal Cell Reports, the researchers propose a new approach to cancer treatment based on the way different cancer cells divide.

A collaborative team led by Agnieszka Witkiewicz, MD, Professor of Oncology, and Erik Knudsen, Ph.D., Professor of Oncology and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Biology, from Roswell Park investigated over 500 from a multitude of cancer types, as well as preclinical tumor models. The researchers then analyzed based on their dependency for CDK and CCN, two genes that drive the cell cycle and determine how often a cancer cell divides.

“We found that the way cancer cells divide is highly varied, and that diversity represents a tremendous challenge for some widely used cancer therapies because it often contributes to treatment resistance,” says Dr. Witkiewicz, the study’s senior author. “However, with a better understanding of these heterogenous features of cancer cell division, different therapies could be deployed in a more precise and effective fashion.”

Mar 1, 2022

UC Berkeley loses CRISPR patent case, invalidating patent rights it granted gene-editing companies developing human therapies

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

Ending the latest chapter in a years-long legal battle over who invented CRISPR, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled on Monday that the revolutionary genome editing technology belongs to the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

The decision is a blow to the University of California and biotech companies that had licensed the technology from the university for use in developing treatments, including Intellia Therapeutics and CRISPR Therapeutics. They will now have to negotiate with the Broad Institute for the right to use CRISPR for human therapies.