Press monitoring
First CRISPR single-nucleotide edited transgenic mice
6.3.2017 | Press monitoring
Cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, Huntington's disease and phenylketonuria are all examples of disorders caused by the mutation of a single nucleotide, a building block of DNA. The human DNA consists of approximately 3 billion nucleotides of four types: Adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). Scientists hope to cure these...
New tool for combating mosquito-borne disease: Insect parasite genes
3.3.2017 | Press monitoring
Wolbachia is the most successful parasite the world has ever known. You've never heard of it because it only infects bugs: millions upon millions of species of insects, spiders, centipedes and other arthropods all around the globe. The secret to the over-achieving bacterium's success is its ability to hijack its hosts' reproduction. Biologists...
Biofuel produced by microalgae
1.3.2017 | Press monitoring
Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology have identified unique lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferases as being the central enzymes for triacylglycerol synthesis by oleaginous alga Nannochloropsis, thus uncovering the mechanisms of biofuel production in microalgae. In the modern society, energy generation heavily relies on fossil fuels, which,...
Gene-edited pigs show signs of resistance to major viral disease
27.2.2017 | Press monitoring
Scientists have produced pigs that may be protected from an infection that costs the swine industry billions each year. The team have used advanced genetic techniques to produce pigs that are potentially resilient to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). Early tests have revealed that cells from the pigs are completely resistant...
How to stop brain cancer—with rabies
24.2.2017 | Press monitoring
A ruthless killer may soon help brain cancer patients. The rabies virus, which kills tens of thousands of people a year, has a rare ability to enter nerve cells and use them as a conduit to infect brain tissue. Now, scientists are trying to mimic this strategy to ferry tumor-killing nanoparticles into brain tumors. So far the approach has been...
The smallest Cas9 genetic scissors (so far)
22.2.2017 | Press monitoring
Scientists at the Center for Genome Engineering, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), in collaboration with KIM Eunji (ToolGen Inc.) and KIM Jeong Hun (Seoul National University) have engineered the smallest CRISPR-Cas9 to date, delivered it to the muscle cells and in the eyes of mice via adeno-associated viruses (AAV) and used it to...
A nanofiber matrix for healing
20.2.2017 | Press monitoring
A new nanofiber-on-microfiber matrix could help produce more and better quality stem cells for disease treatment and regenerative therapies. A matrix made of gelatin nanofibers on a synthetic polymer microfiber mesh may provide a better way to culture large quantities of healthy human stem cells. Developed by a team of researchers led by...
Induced pluripotent stem cells don\'t increase genetic mutations
17.2.2017 | Press monitoring
Despite its immense promise, adoption of iPSCs in biomedical research and medicine has been slowed by concerns that these cells are prone to increased numbers of genetic mutations. A new study by scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), suggests that iPSCs do not develop more mutations than cells that are duplicated by...
Plant-made virus shells could deliver drugs directly to cancer cells
15.2.2017 | Press monitoring
Viruses are extremely efficient at targeting and delivering cargo to cells. Researchers report they have harnessed this well-honed ability -- minus the part that makes us sick -- to develop virus-like nanoparticles to deliver drugs straight to affected cells. In lab tests, they show that one such particle can be produced in plants and it ferries...
Lab-made mini-brains are sprouting their own blood vessels
13.2.2017 | Press monitoring
In 2015, scientists at Brown University developed "mini-brains," models of living brains created from 3D cultures of neural cells. Like organs-on-chips, these models could help reduce our reliance on animal testing in the search for new treatments and drugs, and make early results more accurate. Now, the researchers have discovered something...
