Lifeboat Foundation

A team of researchers in China has used a form of the CRISPR gene editing technique to repair a genetic defect in a viable human embryo. In their paper published in the journal Molecular Therapy, the group describes their work and how well it worked.

Only three years ago, CRISPR was first used on a human embryo. In that work, a Chinese team attempted to use the technique to repair a genetic fault. Though the work made headlines around the world, it had a low success rate—just four out of 54 embryos that survived the technique carried the repaired genes. Since that time, a new variation of CRISPR has been developed—it is called base editing, and works in a more efficient way. Instead of snipping DNA strands and replacing removed bits with desired traits, the new method does nothing more than swap DNA letters—trading out an A for a G, for example. In this new effort, the researchers used this new method to correct a gene mutation that results in humans having a condition called Marfan syndrome, in which people have an A instead of a G in the FBN1 gene. It is a disorder that causes problems with connective tissue, leading to a myriad of problems for those born with it.

The new research is unique in that the scientists used viable embryos created using in vitro fertilization. The team could have implanted these viable gene-edited embryos into a woman’s uterus, had they chosen to do so.

Seed oil components of an ornamental flower could provide a direct pathway for designing a new class of environmentally friendly lubricants. Researchers at the School of Science at IUPUI identified the compound in the seed oil that is produced in a manner unlike any other fatty acid. The study was published today online in the journal Nature Plants.

The Orychophragmus violaceus plant is a purple flower native to China; it’s commonly referred to as the February orchid. While collaborating on the O. violaceus plant’s biology and genetic makeup, researchers at Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln encountered a bit of a mystery: All plant seeds contain oils as energy reserves for later growth, but researchers noticed the February orchid seed oils were unusual.

They called upon IUPUI bioorganic chemist Robert Minto, who specializes in identifying natural products and unknown compounds.

Continue reading “Serendipitous discovery may lead to eco-friendly lubricant” »

Scientists have recently discovered pieces of bone from an ancient female that include genetic evidence that her parents are two different species related to modern humans.

A pioneer of the Crispr gene-editing technology that’s taken Wall Street by storm says the field is probably five to 10 years away from having an approved therapy for patients.

Scientists in the US may be out in front developing the next generation of Crispr-based genetic tools, but it’s China that’s pushing those techniques toward human therapies the fastest. Chinese researchers were the first to Crispr monkeys, and non-viable embryos, and to stick Crispr’d cells into a real live human. And now, a team of scientists in China have used a cutting-edge Crispr technique, known as base editing, to repair a disease-causing mutation in viable human embryos.

Published last week in the journal Molecular Therapy, and reported first by Stat, the study represents significant progress over previous attempts to remodel the DNA of human embryos. That’s in part because the editing worked so well, and in part because that editing took place in embryos created by a standard in-vitro fertilization technique.

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Research involving 1,000 scientists finds scores of genetic markers that identify people most likely to develop diseases.

Ian Sample, science correspondent.

Maryam shanechi, university of southern california.

With recent technological advances, we can now record neural activity from the brain, and manipulate this activity with electrical or optogenetic stimulation in real time. These capabilities have brought the concept of brain-machine interfaces (BMI) closer to clinical viability than ever before. BMIs are systems that monitor and interact with the brain to restore lost function, treat neurological disorders, or enhance human performance.

Continue reading “The State of Brain-Machine Interfaces — Prof. Maryam Shanechi” »

A neurological “functional fingerprint” allows scientists to explore the influence of genetics, environment and aging on brain connectivity.

A team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences in China and the University of Oxford in the U.K. has found a way to grow green revolution crops using less nitrogen with no reduction in yield. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes their research efforts and the results they found when planting newly developed plant varieties. Fanmiao Wang and Makoto Matsuoka with Nagoya University offer a News & Views piece on the work done by the team in the same journal issue.

The green revolution was characterized by big increases in crop production in developing countries—it came about due to the increased use of pesticides, fertilizers and changes in crop varieties used. One of the changes to the crops came about as rice and wheat plants were bred to grow less tall to prevent damage from wind and rain. While this resulted in improved yields, it also resulted in the use of more nitrogen-based fertilizers, which are environmentally harmful. In this new effort, the researchers wondered if it might be possible to re-engineer green-revolution crop varieties in such a way as to restrict height and therefore retain high productivity, while also using nitrogen more efficiently.

Prior research had shown that proteins in the DELLA family reduced plant growth. Crop breeding in the 1960s led to varieties of rice and wheat with genetic mutations that allowed the proteins to build up in the plants, thus stunting their growth. Unfortunately, DELLA proteins have also been found to be the cause of inefficient nitrogen use in the same plants—as a result, farmers used more of it to increase yields. To overcome this problem, the researchers crossbred varieties of rice to learn more, and found that the transcription factor OsGRF4 was associated with nitrogen uptake. Using that information, they engineered some varieties of rice to express OsGRF4 at higher levels, which, when tested, showed higher uptake of nitrogen. The team then planted the varieties they had engineered and found that they required less nitrogen to produce the same yields—and they were just as stunted. They therefore claim that it is possible to grow green-revolution crops that require less nitrogen.

Continue reading “A way to get green revolution crops to be productive without needing so much nitrogen” »