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Understanding the factors that impact CRISPRa efficiency

Investigators, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and partners, utilized human stem cells and neurons to explore what attributes impact how well CRISPR activation works for different sets of genes.

14 Mar 2023

TurboID-based proximity labeling in meiotic cells of Arabidopsis thaliana

During meiosis, reshuffling of genetic information between homologous chromosomes through meiotic recombination creates variable gametes and hence genetic variation in offsprings.

14 Mar 2023

Bile salt hydrolase cocktails may offer a new approach to inhibit C. diff colonization

Not all probiotics are created equal. In a new study, researchers found that certain enzymes within a class known as bile salt hydrolases (BSHs) can restrict Clostridioides difficile (C. diff.) colonization by both altering existing bile acids and by creating a new class of bile acids within the gut's microbial environment.

14 Mar 2023

SMART researchers develop the world's first microneedle-based drug delivery technique for plants

Researchers from the Disruptive & Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) of Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, and their collaborators from Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed the first-ever microneedle-based drug delivery technique for plants.

14 Mar 2023

Effective backup mechanism ensures efficient antimicrobial responses in humans

In the human body, virus particles are identified by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) either within or on the cell surface. When a receptor is activated, a signaling cascade is initiated, which results in the production and release of signaling molecules like interferons and cytokines.

14 Mar 2023

Analyzing the antimicrobial resistance profile of the main agent of urinary tract infections

The human intestine is an environment inhabited by many bacteria and other microorganisms collectively known as the gut microbiome, gut microbiota or intestinal flora. In most people, it contributes to wellness. A healthy gut indicates a stronger immune system, improved metabolism, and a healthy brain and heart, among other functions.

14 Mar 2023

Study investigates schizophrenia risk across African ancestry

Researchers have identified two previously unknown genes linked to schizophrenia and newly implicated a third gene as carrying risk for both schizophrenia and autism. Led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the multi-center study further demonstrated that the schizophrenia risk conferred by these rare damaging variants is conserved across ethnicities. The study may also point to new therapeutics.

14 Mar 2023

Bacteriophages might hold the key to fighting antibiotic resistance

As conventional antibiotics continue to lose effectiveness against evolving pathogens, scientists are keen to employ the bacteria-killing techniques perfected by bacteriophages, the viruses that infect bacteria.

14 Mar 2023

Neural-network-based image recognition models for examining SCC defects

Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used machine learning to automate the identification of defects in sister chromatid cohesion. They trained a convolutional neural network (CNN) with microscopy images of individual stained chromosomes, identified by researchers as having or not having cohesion defects. After training, it was able to successfully classify 73.1% of new images. Automation promises better statistics, and more insight into the wide range of disorders which cause cohesion defects.

14 Mar 2023

New class of oral drugs inhibits a diverse range of SARS-CoV-2 strains

The constant evolution of new COVID-19 variants makes it critical for clinicians to have multiple therapies in their arsenal for treating drug-resistant infections. Researchers have now discovered that a new class of oral drugs that acts directly on human cells can inhibit a diverse range of pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 strains.

13 Mar 2023

Study investigates the complex evolutionary history of jewel beetles' vision

Jewel beetles are striking insects, easily recognized by their vivid colors and metallic sheen. Possessing large, well-developed eyes, jewel beetles use vision and color for a range of different behaviors, including finding mates and host plants.

13 Mar 2023

Novel platform identifies genes that control biologic processes

Inflammatory neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), can arise when cell-to-cell communication between cells in the central nervous system (CNS) goes awry. But exactly how this cellular crosstalk leads to the molecular changes that drive disease remain unknown.

13 Mar 2023

A reliable way to downregulate gene translation in plants

By carefully constructing upstream open reading frames (uORFs), Caixia Gao’s team at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has created a new technique for downregulating gene translation to a predictable and desirable level in plants.

10 Mar 2023

Bean genome sequencing to boost nutritional quality

The faba bean genome, which has been sequenced for the first time and published in Nature on March 8th, 2023, is more than four times as large as the human genome at 13 billion bases.

From University of Reading 10 Mar 2023

Novel protein complex plays a significant role in RNA protection

Two proteins help in protecting and stabilizing RNA as it travels through the cell carrying muscle-forming code. Studying this RNA-stabilizing complex further may have ramifications for muscle recovery and disease treatment.

10 Mar 2023

Gaining deep insights into mezcal worms

Mezcal is a distilled alcohol made from the boiled and fermented sap of agave plants. Most mezcal beverages -; including all brands of tequila -; are sold as pure distillates, but a few have an added stowaway bottled inside: worms.

10 Mar 2023

Research substantiates that complex behaviors are seldom entirely innate

Social learning plays an important role in a honey bee's ability to "waggle dance," report researchers, who observed that honey bees not exposed to the dances of older, more experienced nestmates produced disordered dances full of errors. The findings demonstrate that social learning shapes this complex form of insect communication, just as it does in humans, birds, and other social vertebrate species. The waggle dance is a behavior that honey bee foragers use to communicate spatial information about the precise location of a food source to other nestmates.

10 Mar 2023

Study identifies a novel rare mutation in gene linked to Harlequin Ichthyosis

Harlequin ichthyosis (HI) is a severe genetic skin disorder characterized by thick white, brown, or dark brown patches on the skin covering a newborn's entire body. HI has a low incidence of 1 per 300,000 live births but comes with the highest mortality rate among skin conditions. It is caused by a mutation in the ABCA12 gene, which codes for a protein involved in transporting lipids necessary for the formation of the skin barrier. Such protein shortage leads to a weaker epidermal barrier.

9 Mar 2023