Press monitoring
Engineers make nanoscale muscles powered by DNA
21.11.2016 | Press monitoring
The base pairs found in DNA are key to its ability to store protein-coding information, but they also give the molecule useful structural properties. Getting two complementary strands of DNA to zip up into a double helix can serve as the basis of intricate physical mechanisms that can push and pull molecular-scale devices. Engineers at the...
Scientists are using the enzyme that makes fireflies glow to track brain cells
18.11.2016 | Press monitoring
Fireflies and other bioluminescence-producing species (e.g. bacteria, jellyfish, worms, sharks) create light through a chemical reaction in their body catalyzed by an enzyme called luciferase. Now, a team of scientists from Vanderbilt University are using a genetically modified form of that same enzyme to make brain cells glow-in-the-dark. The...
Chinese group injects CRISPR edited cells into human test subject for first time
16.11.2016 | Press monitoring
A team of researchers working at West China Hospital in Chengdu has for the first time injected CRISPR–Cas9 edited cells into a human test subject. Nature reports that the procedure occurred on October 28, and that thus far, the patient is doing "fine." Modified cells have been injected into human subjects before, of course, but using different...
Decoding the genome of the Japanese morning glory
15.11.2016 | Press monitoring
Researchers in Japan have successfully decoded the entire Japanese morning glory genome. Japanese morning glories (Ipomoea nil) are traditional garden plants that are popular in Japan. You can see the flower in many Japanese gardens in the summer. Further, mutants are known to frequently appear in morning glories due to the actions of "jumping...
USB-Sized Device Can Detect HIV in Under 30 Minutes
11.11.2016 | Press monitoring
An HIV-positive diagnosis was often seen as a death sentence 20 years ago. Today, medical advancements have made it possible for positive-status patients to live long, normal lives in countries where drug therapies are available, but cost and time hurdles can make monitoring treatment cumbersome. Scientists at Imperial College London and...
Faster diagnosis of sepsis pathogens
9.11.2016 | Press monitoring
Microbial pathogens can be diagnosed unambiguously and within just 24 hours by means of high-throughput sequencing of their genetic makeup and special bioinformatics evaluation algorithms. Fraunhofer researchers have validated this in a clinical study with sepsis patients. It is estimated that in Germany alone around 150,000 people fall ill with...
Gatekeeping proteins to aberrant RNA—“You shall not pass“
7.11.2016 | Press monitoring
Mistakes happen. This is the case in the process of transporting genetic information in cells. How our cells keep errors in this process in check is the subject of a new paper by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). They found that RNA-binding proteins are regulated such that gateway...
Researchers discover how Clostridium thermocellum utilizes both CO2 and cellulose
4.11.2016 | Press monitoring
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) made the surprise discovery that a metabolic pathway to take up CO2 exists and functions in a microorganism capable of breaking down and fermenting cellulosic biomass to produce biofuels including hydrogen and hydrocarbons. Clostridium thermocellum is among...
New gene-editing technology successfully cures a genetic blood disorder in mice
2.11.2016 | Press monitoring
A next-generation gene-editing system developed by Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University scientists has successfully cured a genetic blood disorder in living mice. Unlike the popular CRISPR gene-editing technique, the new technology can be administered to living animals and it significantly decreases unwanted, off-target gene mutations....
3-D-printed organ-on-a-chip with integrated sensors
31.10.2016 | Press monitoring
Harvard University researchers have made the first entirely 3D-printed organ-on-a-chip with integrated sensing. Built by a fully automated, digital manufacturing procedure, the 3D-printed heart-on-a-chip can be quickly fabricated in customized form factors allowing researchers to easily collect reliable data for short-term and long-term...
