Press monitoring
Fast CRISPR test easily detects Zika and antibiotic resistence
21.4.2017 | Press monitoring
CRISPR has another trick up its sleeve. The system that sparked a revolution in gene editing can also be used in fast and cheap tests for pathogens. A tool based on CRISPR has been shown to detect the Zika virus in blood, urine and saliva. It was developed by researchers at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who call it SHERLOCK –...
Scientists combine viruses and human antibodies to hunt down superbugs
19.4.2017 | Press monitoring
Researchers at The Rockefeller University have developed a new weapon in the war against antibiotic resistance, by creating a molecule that combines a virus and human antibodies to hunt down drug-resistant bacteria. Our antibiotics aren't the only things that hunt down bacteria: a certain type of virus, called a bacteriophage, also preys on...
Bacterial supermachine reveals streamlined protein assembly line
17.4.2017 | Press monitoring
Transcription and translation allow the genetic information stored in DNA to be deciphered into the proteins that form all living things, from bacteria to humans to plants. Scientists have known for half a century that these two processes are coupled in bacteria, but only now have they finally had a look at the structure that makes this possible....
A hardy rodent with extraordinary anticancer defences
14.4.2017 | Press monitoring
Scientists are getting closer to understanding how naked mole rats, the world's longest living rodent species, avoid cancer, which could lead to safer stem cell therapies for human diseases. Mole rats live up to 30 years, 10 times longer than mice, and captured colonies almost never show any type of cancer. Understanding these animals'...
Engineered E. coli could color-code your poop to diagnose gut problems
12.4.2017 | Press monitoring
Humans have an uneasy relationship with bacteria – sure, they can make us very sick, but we also couldn't live without the complex society residing in our guts. Now, researchers at Rice University have engineered E. coli to help detect inflammation in the colon of mice by infiltrating that microbiome and sending color signals through their...
How octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish defy genetics central dogma
10.4.2017 | Press monitoring
Octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish often do not follow the genetic instructions in their DNA to the letter. Instead, they use enzymes to pluck out specific adenosine RNA bases (some of As, out of the As, Ts, Gs, and Us of RNA) that codes for proteins and replace them with a different base, called Inosine. This process—called "RNA editing"—is...
Edited live vaccine could stop harmful polio outbreaks
7.4.2017 | Press monitoring
We’re on the brink of wiping out polio, but the virus used in vaccines keeps evolving to become harmful again. The discovery of how the virus mutates to do this could lead to a safer vaccine. Polio once killed hundreds of thousands of children every year. The disease has largely been brought under control by the oral polio vaccine, which contains...
Newly characterized protein has potential to save US farmers millions annually
5.4.2017 | Press monitoring
Instead of turning carbon into food, many plants accidentally make a plant-toxic compound during photosynthesis that is recycled through a process called photorespiration. University of Illinois and USDA/ARS researchers report in Plant Cell the discovery of a key protein in this process, which they hope to manipulate to increase plant...
Transgenic plants against malaria
3.4.2017 | Press monitoring
Scientists have discovered a gene that allows to double the production of artemisinin in the Artemisia annua plant. The artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the standard treatment for malaria worldwide, endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since the ancient times, mankind has used plants to treat diseases. An example is the...
Scientists discover mechanism that causes cancer cells to self-destruct
31.3.2017 | Press monitoring
Many cancer patients struggle with the adverse effects of chemotherapy, still the most prescribed cancer treatment. For patients with pancreatic cancer and other aggressive cancers, the forecast is more grim: there is no known effective therapy. A new Tel Aviv University study published last month in Oncotarget discloses the role of three...
