Press monitoring
A biosynthetic dual-core cell computer
19.4.2019 | Press monitoring
ETH researchers have integrated two CRISPR-Cas9-based core processors into human cells. This represents a huge step towards creating powerful biocomputers. A team of researchers led by Martin Fussenegger, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel, have now found a...
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A history of the Crusades, as told by crusaders DNA
17.4.2019 | Press monitoring
History can tell us a lot about the Crusades, the series of religious wars fought between 1095 and 1291, in which Christian invaders tried to claim the Near East. But the DNA of nine 13th century Crusaders buried in a pit in Lebanon shows that there's more to learn about who the Crusaders were and their interactions with the populations they...
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Injecting immune stimulants turns tumors into cancer vaccine factories
15.4.2019 | Press monitoring
Scientists at New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have made an exciting breakthrough in the realm of cancer treatment, describing a new way of supercharging the body's immune system so that it can take the upper hand and destroy tumor cells around the body. The technique falls under an arm of cancer treatment known as...
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Everyday enzymes, now grown in plants
12.4.2019 | Press monitoring
The jeans you wear, the orange juice you drink, the laundry detergent you use: None would be possible without the activity of enzymes. Currently the enzymes used in industry are produced through an expensive, laborious process, requiring cold storage. But an innovative new approach, ushered in by research from Penn's School of Dental Medicine, is...
New DNA shredder technique goes beyond CRISPRs scissors
10.4.2019 | Press monitoring
In the last six years, a tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has transformed genetic research, allowing scientists to snip and edit DNA strands at precise locations like a pair of tiny scissors. But sometimes, it takes more than scissors to do the job.Now, a collaborative international team has unveiled a new CRISPR-based tool that acts more like a shredder,...
Nanomaterials give plants super abilities
8.4.2019 | Press monitoring
Science-fiction writers have long envisioned human-machine hybrids that wield extraordinary powers. However, "super plants" with integrated nanomaterials may be much closer to reality than cyborgs. Today, scientists report the development of plants that can make nanomaterials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and the application of MOFs as...
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Game-changing gene edit turned this anole lizard into an albino
5.4.2019 | Press monitoring
The mighty genome editor CRISPR isn’t so powerful in lizards and snakes: Never before has it been used to edit the embryos of these reptiles. Now, researchers have come up with a workaround – by editing the immature, unfertilized eggs of brown anole lizards. Researchers typically edit with CRISPR by injecting it into a single-celled fertilized...
Chinas Selling Genetically-Modified Mice for $17,000 a Pair
3.4.2019 | Press monitoring
Sacks of pungent animal feed cram the corridors of a Cyagen Biosciences Inc. center for laboratory mice in southern China, maximizing space for rodents that sell for as much as $17,000 a pair. Demand is skyrocketing in China for animals that mimic the diseases of humans. President Xi Jinping’s drive to turn the country into a biomedical...
Designer organelles bring new functionalities into cells
1.4.2019 | Press monitoring
For the first time, scientists have engineered the complex biological process of translation into a designer organelle in a living mammalian cell. Research by the Lemke group at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) – in collaboration with JGU Mainz and IMB Mainz – used this technique to create a membraneless organelle that can build...
3D-printed material is designed to treat difficult bone injuries
29.3.2019 | Press monitoring
The long bones in our arms and legs have a layer of smooth, compressible cartilage at each end, which gradually transitions to hard bone underneath. This dual-density combo is known as osteochondral tissue, and when it develops cracks or otherwise gets damaged, conditions such as disabling arthritis can result. Although such injuries frequently...
