Press monitoring
With nanotubes, genetic engineering in plants is easy-peasy
4.3.2019 | Press monitoring
Inserting or tweaking genes in plants is more art than science, but a new technique developed by University of California, Berkeley, scientists could make genetically engineering any type of plant – in particular, gene editing with CRISPR-Cas9 – simple and quick. To deliver a gene, the researchers graft it onto a carbon nanotube, which is tiny...
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Scientists brew cannabis using hacked beer yeast
1.3.2019 | Press monitoring
The yeast that people have used for millennia to brew alcoholic drinks has now been engineered to produce cannabinoids – chemicals with medicinal and sometimes mind-altering properties found in cannabis. The feat, described on 27 February in Nature, turns a sugar in brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) called galactose into...
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First CRISPR therapy administered in landmark human trial
27.2.2019 | Press monitoring
The first confirmed CRISPR gene editing clinical trial to take place outside of China is officially underway, with pharmaceutical companies CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex revealing a human patient has been administered the experimental treatment targeting a rare blood disease. The gene-editing therapy, called CTX001, is designed to treat...
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Skin wound regeneration with bioactive glass-gold nanoparticles ointment
25.2.2019 | Press monitoring
Healing is a complex process in adult skin impairments, requiring collaborative biochemical processes for onsite repair. Tissue engineering strategies for skin regeneration is a practical approach involving the use of bioactive biomaterials for assisted angiogenesis and faster revascularization. In a recent study, Sorin Marza and co-workers at...
Geneticists use CRISPR to cut toxic protein out of the aging equation
22.2.2019 | Press monitoring
There is much we don't understand about the aging of the human body, but working with what we do know researchers continue to uncover potential new ways to slow down the process. Among them is a team of genetic scientists at the Salk Institute, which has developed a new therapy using the CRISPR/Cas9 tool that has greatly boosted the lifespan of...
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Genetics efforts enriching nutrition of popcorn, sorghum
20.2.2019 | Press monitoring
Two kernels of the same idea – cultivating protein quality in cereal grains – are reaching maturity at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The quality of protein often gets overshadowed amid the spotlight on its quantity. But that quality – the presence or absence of amino acids essential to the diets of humans and livestock – occupies the mind...
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Pioneers in Direct-to-Consumer DNA Test Kits Work with F.B.I. to Catch Killers
18.2.2019 | Press monitoring
In 2000, when Bennett Greenspan, President and Founder of Gene-by-Gene Ltd. and FamilyTreeDNA, launched FamilyTreeDNA as the first direct-to-consumer DNA testing company, he never imagined that it would lead to the creation of a booming industry. An avid genealogist, Greenspan created FamilyTreeDNA to help other family researchers solve problems...
One step closer to growing made-to-order human kidneys
15.2.2019 | Press monitoring
In a study with significant implications for human organ transplantation, researchers have successfully grown functional mouse kidneys inside rats from just a few donor stem cells. The results of the study, led by researchers from the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Japan, will be published in an upcoming issue of Nature...
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Converting cells into new neurons could lead to a pill that repairs brain damage
13.2.2019 | Press monitoring
As powerful as the human brain is, once it's damaged it can't really recover completely. Now researchers at Penn State may have found a way to boost the brain's regenerative abilities, using certain molecules to convert neighboring cells into new neurons. The technique could eventually lead to pills that treat brain injuries, stroke or...
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Chimpanzee mini-brains hint at secrets of human evolution
11.2.2019 | Press monitoring
At some point during human evolution, a handful of genetic changes triggered a dramatic threefold expansion of the brain's neocortex, the wrinkly outermost layer of brain tissue responsible for everything from language to self-awareness to abstract thought. Identifying what drove this evolutionary shift is fundamental to understanding what makes...
