Archive for the ‘genetics’ category: Page 378
Apr 13, 2019
How to biohack your cells to fight cancer — Greg Foot
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics
Check out the science of biohacking, where biologists go into a patient’s genetic code and reprogram their immune system to recognize and fight cancer cells.
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Apr 13, 2019
What Interesting Trends Are We Seeing In Genetics Research Right Now?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: genetics
What interesting trends are we seeing in genetics research right now? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Carrie Northover, Research Director at 23andMe, on Quora:
One of the coolest things right now is the size and scale of the research we’re able to do with human genetics, and those numbers are just getting bigger and bigger.
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Apr 12, 2019
Shutting down deadly pediatric brain cancer at its earliest moments
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, neuroscience
Cell-by-cell genetic analyses of developing brain tissues in neonatal mice and laboratory models of brain cancer allowed scientists to discover a molecular driver of the highly aggressive, deadly, and treatment-resistant brain cancer, glioblastoma.
Published findings in Cell Stem Cell describe how the single-cell analyses identified a subpopulation of cells critical to glioblastoma formation—the early primitive progenitor cells of oligodendrocyte brain cells, pri-OPC progenitors, according to Q. Richard Lu, Ph.D., lead investigator and Scientific Director of the Brain Tumor Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
The data suggest that reprogramming of primitive oligodendrocyte progenitors into a stem-like state plays an important role in glioma initiation and progression. The researchers’ primary molecular target in the study, a protein called Zfp36l1, launches biological programs that mirror those of healthy early brain development in the mice, but instead help fuel brain cancer growth. The discovery presents an opportunity to find out if new therapeutic approaches can stop glioblastoma at its earliest stages of initial formation or recurrence, Lu said.
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Apr 11, 2019
Engineers tap DNA to create ‘lifelike’ machines
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: biotech/medical, genetics
As a genetic material, DNA is responsible for all known life. But DNA is also a polymer. Tapping into the unique nature of the molecule, Cornell engineers have created simple machines constructed of biomaterials with properties of living things.
Using what they call DASH (DNA-based Assembly and Synthesis of Hierarchical) materials, Cornell engineers constructed a DNA material with capabilities of metabolism, in addition to self-assembly and organization – three key traits of life.
“We are introducing a brand-new, lifelike material concept powered by its very own artificial metabolism. We are not making something that’s alive, but we are creating materials that are much more lifelike than have ever been seen before,” said Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
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Apr 10, 2019
Chinese Scientists Gene-Hacked Super Smart Human-Monkey Hybrids
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: cyborgs, evolution, genetics, neuroscience
But not everyone is on board.
“The use of transgenic monkeys to study human genes linked to brain evolution is a very risky road to take,” University of Colorado geneticist James Sikela told the MIT Technology Review. “It is a classic slippery slope issue and one that we can expect to recur as this type of research is pursued.”
Pinpointing the gene’s role in intelligence could help scientists understand how humans evolved to be so smart, MIT Tech reports.
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Apr 10, 2019
Program: We are happy to announce Dr. Ruby Yanru Chen-Tsai, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Applied StemCell, Inc. as a speaker for the 2019 Undoing Aging Conference
Posted by Michael Greve in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, life extension
“Ruby, along with her company Applied Stem Cell, is one of the world’s most respected experts in gene editing. We are delighted to be working with her on our ambitious project to transform the potential of somatic gene therapy, in terms of both its safety from creating unwanted mutations and its efficacy in delivering large amounts of DNA, which is founded on some pioneering work at Stanford in which she was also heavily involved.” says Aubrey de Grey.
https://www.undoing-aging.org/news/dr-ruby-yanru-chen-tsai-t…b5IQ0dQ64s
#undoingaging #sens #foreverhealthy
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Apr 10, 2019
You Are What You Eat: Neanderthals, Woolly Mammoths Apparently Shared Genetic Traits
Posted by Xavier Rosseel in categories: biological, food, genetics
In a new study published in the journal Human Biology, archaeologists from the Tel Aviv University reveal the molecular similarities between Neanderthals and woolly mammoths by studying three case studies.
Scientists discover that two completely different species can evolve and develop the same genetic characteristics. In a landmark study, Neanderthals and woolly mammoths are found to be very similar to each other.
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Apr 7, 2019
Will we win the battle against cancer?
Posted by Paul Battista in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension
This article opened with some fearful figures about cancer and its effect on people worldwide. But there’s reason to hope.
While the total number of new cancer cases and deaths continues to increase, the rates of cancer diagnoses and deaths decline each year — as absolute figures don’t account for rises in life expectancy, population growth, or aging populations. We’ve made great strides in understanding the disease and its various genetic and environmental origins. And events like Breast Cancer Awareness Month continue to educate the populace about the preventative measures available to them.
Thanks to scientists like those at the University of Basel in Switzerland, we may have more reasons to be hopeful very soon.
Apr 5, 2019
A light-based carrier system for CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, nanotechnology
A team of researchers from Nanjing and Xiamen Universities in China has developed an alternative to using viruses to transport CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tools into a desired cell—and it involves two types of light. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their new type of carrier and how well it worked with test mice.
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tools are a coming revolution in treating genetic conditions, and scientists continue to test their abilities in a variety of applications. One area of study has involved looking for a replacement carrier system—the current approach uses a virus to carry the gene editing tool into a particular cell. Early on, researchers knew that the virus approach was not viable because of possible responses from the immune system, or worse, the threat of initiating tumors. In this new effort, the team in China has come up with an entirely new way to deliver the gene editing tool using two kinds of light.
Their carrier system consists of nanoparticles that are sensitive to low-energy near–infrared radiation (NIR) and that emit UV light. When NIR is shone on the nanoparticles, the light is absorbed and converted to UV light, which is emitted. Inside of a cell, the package is activated by shining NIR onto the skin, where it penetrates into the body and makes its way to the gene editing tool. When the NIR is converted to UV light, it cuts molecules in the carrier package, releasing the gene editing tool to do its work.
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