Press monitoring
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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...
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Plant research could benefit wastewater treatment, biofuels and antibiotics
4.9.2019 | Press monitoring
Chinese and Rutgers scientists have discovered how aquatic plants cope with water pollution, a major ecological question that could help boost their use in wastewater treatment, biofuels, antibiotics and other applications. The researchers used a new DNA sequencing approach to study the genome of Spirodela polyrhiza, one of 37 species of...
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Woman is first to receive cornea made from reprogrammed stem cells
2.9.2019 | Press monitoring
A Japanese woman in her forties has become the first person in the world to have her cornea repaired using reprogrammed stem cells. At a press conference on 29 August, ophthalmologist Kohji Nishida from Osaka University, Japan, said the woman has a disease in which the stem cells that repair the cornea, a transparent layer that covers and...
Pancreas on a chip: Scientists combine organ-on-a-chip and stem-cell technologies
30.8.2019 | Press monitoring
By combining two powerful technologies, scientists are taking diabetes research to a whole new level. In a study led by Harvard University's Kevin Kit Parker, microfluidics and human, insulin-producing beta cells have been integrated in an "Islet-on-a-Chip". The new device makes it easier for scientists to screen insulin-producing cells before...
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Scientists find new cancer-killing compound in sea snail goo
28.8.2019 | Press monitoring
The natural world is a huge source of important medicines, and among all the species that scientists turn to for inspiration the humble snail continues to provide the goods. New and improved insulins and painkillers are a couple of possibilities these mollusks have put forward, and researchers have uncovered yet another in the form of an...
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Scientists say sustainable forestry organizations should lift ban on biotech trees
26.8.2019 | Press monitoring
Look at anything made from trees – a ream of paper, a cardboard box, lumber – and it's probably stamped with the logo of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or an equivalent organization. These nonprofits certify that forests are managed sustainably, and one common requirement is no genetically modified (GM) trees. But that ban hinders...
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MIT and Harvard use CRISPR to edit DNA gels for diagnostic devices
23.8.2019 | Press monitoring
CRISPR is a powerful gene-editing tool that’s showing real promise in treating diseases like HIV, cancer, diabetes and a host of others. Now, new research from MIT and Harvard is showing how versatile this tool is, putting CRISPR’s genetic scissors to work in diagnostic tools and timed drug delivery systems. CRISPR works by using certain enzymes...
All-in-one: New microbe degrades oil to gas
21.8.2019 | Press monitoring
Archaea have presented many surprises in recent years. Now, a study led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, and the MARUM, Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences, provides environmental information, genomes and first images of a microbe that has the potential to transform long-chain...
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Paper filter from local algae could save lives in Bangladesh
19.8.2019 | Press monitoring
The problem of access to safe drinking water in most parts of Bangladesh is a persistent challenge. Now, a team of scientists from Uppsala University, Sweden, and Dhaka University, Bangladesh, shows that a locally growing and previously unexploited green macroalgae species could be used to extract cellulose nanofibers, which can then be formed...
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Scientists are making human-monkey hybrids in China
16.8.2019 | Press monitoring
In a controversial first, a team of researchers have been creating embryos that are part human and part monkey, reports the Spanish daily El País. According to the newspaper, the Spanish-born biologist Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, who operates a lab at the Salk Institute in California, has been working working with monkey researchers in China to...
