Press monitoring
Human skin cells reprogrammed directly into brain cells
28.10.2014 | Press monitoring
Scientists have described a way to convert human skin cells directly into a specific type of brain cell affected by Huntington's disease, an ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Unlike other techniques that turn one cell type into another, this new process does not pass through a stem cell phase, avoiding the production of multiple cell...
Genetic engineering could help restore extinct species, researcher says
27.10.2014 | Press monitoring
Mammoth DNA in recovered cells frozen for thousands of years is likely too fragmented to clone an animal, according to Harvard geneticist George Church. So he's working instead to engineer one genetically from a close relative, the Asian elephant. Genetic studies have shown that the Asian elephant is more closely related to the extinct mammoth...
Researchers break nano barrier to engineer the first protein microfiber
24.10.2014 | Press monitoring
Researchers at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering have broken new ground in the development of proteins that form specialized fibers used in medicine and nanotechnology. For as long as scientists have been able to create new proteins that are capable of self-assembling into fibers, their work has taken place on the...
Lab-developed intestinal organoids form mature human tissue in mice
23.10.2014 | Press monitoring
Researchers have successfully transplanted "organoids" of functioning human intestinal tissue grown from pluripotent stem cells in a lab dish into mice -- creating an unprecedented model for studying diseases of the intestine. Scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center said that, through additional translational research the...
Fetus arthritis genes can affect the mother
22.10.2014 | Press monitoring
Unborn babies can sow the seeds for rheumatoid arthritis in their mothers - and the dads might be to blame. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, meaning the body's immune system turns on itself. In this case, it causes painful, swollen joints. Women are three times as likely to develop the condition as men, and seem to be especially...
Scientists restore hearing in noise-deafened mice, pointing way to new therapies
21.10.2014 | Press monitoring
Scientists have restored the hearing of mice partly deafened by noise, using advanced tools to boost the production of a key protein in their ears. By demonstrating the importance of the protein, called NT3, in maintaining communication between the ears and brain, these new findings pave the way for research in humans that could improve treatment...
Imaging electric charge propagating along microbial nanowires
20.10.2014 | Press monitoring
The claim by microbiologist Derek Lovley and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst that the microbe Geobacter produces tiny electrical wires, called microbial nanowires, has been mired in controversy for a decade, but the researchers say a new collaborative study provides stronger evidence than ever to support their claims. UMass...
Bioinspired coating for medical devices repels blood and bacteria
17.10.2014 | Press monitoring
From joint replacements to cardiac implants and dialysis machines, medical devices enhance or save lives on a daily basis. However, any device implanted in the body or in contact with flowing blood faces two critical challenges that can threaten the life of the patient the device is meant to help: blood clotting and bacterial infection. A team...
Illumina backs three genomics startups
16.10.2014 | Press monitoring
Gene-sequencing giant Illumina has founded a biotech incubator to develop applications for its technology. As the cost of high-throughput genetic sequencing plummets, one of the industry's leading firms is supporting entrepreneurs who it hopes will showcase what the technology can do. Genetic-analysis company Illumina today announced the first...
Genetic history of tomatoes revealed by new sequencing
15.10.2014 | Press monitoring
This week, an international team of researchers, led by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, is publishing in the journal Nature Genetics a brief genomic history of tomato breeding, based on sequencing of 360 varieties of the tomato plant. The C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center here at UC Davis played an important role...
