Press monitoring
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HIV kill switch clears out dormant virus in human cells
27.9.2019 | Press monitoring
Several major strides have been made towards a cure for HIV in recent years, and now, researchers from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) may have found a new potential target. In lab tests, the team identified a cellular “switch” that could be turned off to clear out the virus lying dormant inside cells. Currently, people with HIV...
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CRISPR might be the banana’s only hope against a deadly fungus
25.9.2019 | Press monitoring
The race to engineer the next-generation banana is on. The Colombian government confirmed last month that a banana-killing fungus has invaded the Americas – the source of much of the world’s banana supply. The invasion has given new urgency to efforts to create fruit that can withstand the scourge. Scientists are using a mix of approaches to save...
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Discovery of sorghum gene that controls bird feeding could help protect crops
23.9.2019 | Press monitoring
A single gene in sorghum controls bird feeding behavior by simultaneously regulating the production of bad-tasting molecules and attractive volatiles. This gene, called Tannin1, controls the synthesis of bird-deterring astringent polyphenols called tannins, as well as bird-attracting fatty-acid-derived volatile organic compounds. The authors...
Reimagining eggshells and other everyday items to grow human tissues and organs
20.9.2019 | Press monitoring
It can be quite cumbersome and expensive to develop new combinations of engineered materials and molecules that support the creation of artificial tissues outside of the human body. But as humans go about our daily lives, there is a diverse range of natural and man-made materials that are overlooked in tissue engineering. Recent successes use...
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Scientists construct energy production unit for a synthetic cell
18.9.2019 | Press monitoring
Scientists at the University of Groningen have constructed synthetic vesicles in which ATP, the main energy carrier in living cells, is produced. The vesicles use the ATP to maintain their volume and their ionic strength homeostasis. This metabolic network will eventually be used in the creation of synthetic cells – but it can already be used to...
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Biobots made from muscle propelled by neurons and light
16.9.2019 | Press monitoring
Tiny, soft robots that can safely navigate biological settings like the human body could mean big things for medical treatment, but moving them through these environments is much easier said than done. Scientists at the University of Illinois have come up with a promising new possibility, describing biohybrid robots that can be propelled purely...
Cable bacteria: Living electrical wires with record conductivity
13.9.2019 | Press monitoring
A team of scientists from the University of Antwerp (Belgium), Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) and the University of Hasselt (Belgium) have reported on bacteria that power themselves using electricity and can send electrical currents over long distances through highly conductive power lines. Centimeter-long bacteria from the seafloor...
Super shrimp could increase yield and prevent disease
11.9.2019 | Press monitoring
Single-sex prawns could help alleviate poverty, reduce disease and protect the environment, according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) who have developed a monosex prawn that may make this winning trifecta possible. In a groundbreaking study in Nature's Scientific Reports, the BGU group highlights the development of a...
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Studying heart cells with nanovolcanoes
9.9.2019 | Press monitoring
Researchers at EPFL and the University of Bern have developed a groundbreaking method for studying the electrical signals of cardiac muscle cells. The technology has numerous potential applications in basic and applied research – such as improving the search for mechanisms underlying cardiac arrhythmias. Excitable cells such as neurons and...
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Part cow, part… bacterium? Biotech company makes heifer of gene-editing blunder
6.9.2019 | Press monitoring
A Minnesota-based gene-editing company is left red in the face after it took on bull genetics – and got slammed. The company, Recombinetics, set out years ago to genetically engineer Holstein dairy cattle to come without their troublesome horns, which farmers typically remove to keep themselves and other cows safe. In 2015, the company seemed to...
