Press monitoring
Fishing expedition nets nearly tenfold increase in number of sequenced virus genomes
28.8.2015 | Press monitoring
Using a specially designed computational tool as a lure, scientists have netted the genomic sequences of almost 12,500 previously uncharacterized viruses from public databases. Microbes are essential contributors to all life on the planet, and viruses have a variety of influences on microbial functions that remain largely misunderstood, said...
Alert to biologists: Ribosomes can translate the untranslated region of messenger RNA
26.8.2015 | Press monitoring
In what appears to be an unexpected challenge to a long-accepted fact of biology, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have found that ribosomes - the molecular machines in all cells that build proteins - can sometimes do so even within the so-called untranslated regions of the ribbons of genetic material known as messenger RNA (mRNA). "This is an...
Chemists report nicotine-chomping bacteria may hold key to anti-smoking therapy
24.8.2015 | Press monitoring
A new study from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) explores a bacterial enzyme that might be used as a drug candidate to help people quit smoking. The research shows that this enzyme can be recreated in lab settings and possesses a number of promising characteristics for drug development. The new research, published online...
Biochemist studies oilseed plants for biofuel, industrial development
21.8.2015 | Press monitoring
A Kansas State University biochemistry professor Timothy Durrett has reached a milestone in building a better biofuel: producing high levels of lipids with modified properties in oil seeds. Durrett and collaborators have modified Camelina sativa - a nonfood oilseed crop - and produced the highest levels of modified seed lipids to date. By...
Fast, accurate nanoscale sensor created
19.8.2015 | Press monitoring
Imagine being able to test your food in your very own kitchen to quickly determine if it carried any deadly microbes. Research conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and now being commercialized by Optokey may make that possible. Optokey, a startup based in Hayward, California, has developed a miniaturized sensor based...
Researchers resurrect ancient viruses in hopes of improving gene therapy
17.8.2015 | Press monitoring
Researchers have recreated the evolutionary lineage of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) to reconstruct an ancient viral particle that is highly effective at delivering gene therapies targeting the liver, muscle, and retina. This approach could be used to design a new class of genetic drugs that are safer and more potent than those currently...
Team genetically engineers yeast to produce opioids
14.8.2015 | Press monitoring
For thousands of years, people have used yeast to ferment wine, brew beer and leaven bread. Now researchers at Stanford have genetically engineered yeast to make painkilling medicines, a breakthrough that heralds a faster and potentially less expensive way to produce many different types of plant-based medicines. Writing today in Science, the...
Sustainable production: Cyanobacteria can manufacture biocatalysts for industry
12.8.2015 | Press monitoring
Using photosynthetically active microorganisms, researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have succeeded in manufacturing several biocatalysts suitable for industrial application: a crucial step towards sustainable chemical processes. Many catalytic processes result in not only the desired product, but also in a number of by-products,...
Harnessing the survival powers of cancer cells could wipe out heart disease
10.8.2015 | Press monitoring
The same genes that allow many cancers to proliferate and thrive could in the future be repurposed as a force for good. A study at the San Diego State University (SDSU) Heart Institute has found that mouse hearts regenerate cells better, causing the mice to live longer, when their progenitor cells are modified to over-express a key gene in cancer...
Scientists grow human serotonin neurons in petri dish
7.8.2015 | Press monitoring
Serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in regulating mood and mental states, has been linked to numerous neurological and mental illnesses, including depression. But because there has been no way to obtain live human serotonin neurons to study these diseases, most serotonin research has been done on lab animals. Now, University at Buffalo...
