Press monitoring
Study identifies highly efficient new Cas9 for in vivo genome editing
6.4.2015 | Press monitoring
A collaborative study between researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, MIT, and the NIH-NCBI has identified a highly efficient Cas9 nuclease that overcomes one of the primary challenges to in vivo genome editing. This finding, published today in Nature, is expected to help make the CRISPR toolbox accessible for in vivo...
Next-generation GMOs: Pink pineapples and purple tomatoes
3.4.2015 | Press monitoring
With recent government approval of potatoes that don't bruise and apples that don't brown, a new generation of genetically modified foods is headed to grocery shelves. What could be next? Cancer-fighting pink pineapples, heart-healthy purple tomatoes and less fatty vegetable oils, among other products, could receive government approval in the...
Atomic chicken-wire is key to faster DNA sequencing
1.4.2015 | Press monitoring
An unusual and very exciting form of carbon – that can be created by drawing on paper- looks to hold the key to real-time, high throughput DNA sequencing, a technique that would revolutionise medical research and testing. Led by Dr Jiri Cervenka and PhD candidate Nikolai Dontschuk from the University of Melbourne, the study also included...
Brain tumor cells decimated by mitochondrial smart bomb
30.3.2015 | Press monitoring
An experimental drug that attacks brain tumor tissue by crippling the cells' energy source called the mitochondria has passed early tests in animal models and human tissue cultures, say Houston Methodist scientists. Houston Methodist Kenneth R. Peak Brain & Pituitary Tumor Center Director David S. Baskin, M.D., and Peak Center Head of Research...
Carbon nanotube fibers make superior links to brain
27.3.2015 | Press monitoring
Carbon nanotube fibers invented at Rice University may provide the best way to communicate directly with the brain. The fibers have proven superior to metal electrodes for deep brain stimulation and to read signals from a neuronal network. Because they provide a two-way connection, they show promise for treating patients with neurological...
Scientists grow mini-lungs to aid the study of cystic fibrosis
25.3.2015 | Press monitoring
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have successfully created ‘mini-lungs’ using stem cells derived from skin cells of patients with cystic fibrosis, and have shown that these can be used to test potential new drugs for this debilitating lung disease. The research is one of a number of studies that have used stem cells – the body’s master...
Opossum-based antidote to poisonous snake bites could save thousands of lives
23.3.2015 | Press monitoring
Scientists will report in a presentation today that they have turned to the opossum to develop a promising new and inexpensive antidote for poisonous snake bites. They predict it could save thousands of lives worldwide without the side effects of current treatments. Worldwide, an estimated 421,000 cases of poisonous snake bites and 20,000 deaths...
New test to revolutionise disease detection in people, crops and stock
20.3.2015 | Press monitoring
A single-drop DNA test invented by University of Queensland scientists could revolutionise the detection of diseases in humans, livestock and crops. The test works in a similar way to a pH test for swimming pools and gives a result in 90 minutes. It has been developed by researchers at UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and...
Genome-editing tool streamlined to thwart deadliest animal
18.3.2015 | Press monitoring
Life science researchers at Virginia Tech have accelerated a game-changing technology that's being used to study one of the planet's most lethal disease-carrying animals. Writing in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers revealed an improved way to study genes in mosquitoes using a genome-editing method known...
Editing human embryos is genetics\' new battleground
16.3.2015 | Press monitoring
Replacing faulty genes in early human embryos and germ cells is within our grasp. Such changes affect DNA in the nucleus and so would be heritable; ultimately, they could be used to make a genetically modified baby. There are already reports that groups in China, the US and the biotech industry have done this kind of genetic engineering in the...
