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Building designer plant cuticles with important protective functions

Scientists are working to bioengineer a common defense mechanism that most plants develop naturally to protect against drought, insects and other environmental stresses.

11 Oct 2022

Adults with congenital blindness experience striking recoveries of night vision after gene therapy

Adults with a genetic form of childhood-onset blindness experienced striking recoveries of night vision within days of receiving an experimental gene therapy, according to researchers at the Scheie Eye Institute in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

11 Oct 2022

The role of bacteria in preserving marine phytoplankton

Heterotrophic bacteria, according to a study from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), may be to blame for the phytoplankton’s continued survival.

10 Oct 2022

The science behind gene activation in plants

Researchers explain how a particular variety of GFP can be utilized to allow people to visually observe protein synthesis in this study.

10 Oct 2022

Distinct roles of aging and genetics on expression phenotypes

Research conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, found that individual distinctions in human DNA matter less as people age and become more susceptible to aging disorders like diabetes and cancer.

10 Oct 2022

Insights into the evolution of banana domestication

People on the island of New Guinea are said to have domesticated bananas 7,000 years ago. However, the history of banana domestication is convoluted, and their categorization is widely discussed, as the boundaries between species and subspecies are frequently ambiguous.

10 Oct 2022

Genome of domesticated banana varieties contains traces of three unknown ancestors

Bananas are thought to have been first domesticated by people 7,000 years ago on the island of New Guinea.

10 Oct 2022

UC Davis launches new center to accelerate the development of promising cancer therapies

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has launched a Center for Experimental Therapeutics in Cancer to accelerate promising cancer therapies from the lab to the bedside.

From The University of California, Davis 10 Oct 2022

Broadening the scope of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing systems

A group of Northwestern University researchers has created a novel gene editing platform that might influence the future application of a nearly infinite library of CRISPR-based therapeutics.

7 Oct 2022

Spores integrate environmental signals over time

When exposed to starvation and stress, certain bacteria enter a dormant state in which life functions cease. These cells, known as spores, can resist punishing extremes of heat, pressure, and even the extreme conditions of outer space by entering a profound hibernation.

7 Oct 2022

Genomic research helps in tackling the fatal complications of fungal infections

An important genetic discovery made by a research team led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst scientist sheds new light on the application of the drug caspofungin to treat the deadly fungal infection Aspergillus fumigatus, which claims the lives of about 100,000 severely immunocompromised individuals every year.

7 Oct 2022

A remarkable finding reorients attempts to cure liver disease

A long-running debate in gastroenterology has been settled by WEHI researchers who have shown that prevalent liver diseases are not caused by inflammatory cell death as previously believed.

From Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) 7 Oct 2022

Rising winter temperatures and rainfall pose a significant new threat to U.S. water quality

Scientists are ringing alarm bells about a significant new threat to U.S. water quality: as winters warm due to climate change, they are unleashing large amounts of nutrient pollution into lakes, rivers, and streams.

7 Oct 2022

Why pennycress is a great alternative to traditional cover crops?

To help protect the health of soil, one of the first methods farmers might turn to are planting cover crops in their fields.

7 Oct 2022

Interactional closeness with a dog can increase prefrontal brain activity

Researchers led by Rahel Marti at the University of Basel in Switzerland report that viewing, feeling, and touching real dogs leads to increasingly higher levels of activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.

6 Oct 2022

Multi-institutional project aims to deepen the understanding of a versatile bioenergy crop

Principal Investigator, Andrea Eveland, Ph.D., associate member at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, will lead a multi-institutional project to deepen the understanding of sorghum, a versatile bioenergy crop, and its response to drought.

6 Oct 2022

Making synthetic biology applications feasible using RNA origami

Synthetic biology aims to acquire comprehensive control over biological functions to produce designer organisms for a range of commercial, diagnostic, and therapeutic uses.

6 Oct 2022

Cell illumination and targeted cell editing using RNA-based editing technology

An RNA-based editing tool has been developed by Duke University researchers, which targets specific cells rather than genes. Any cell type can be precisely targeted, and any protein of interest can be added only to that cell type.

6 Oct 2022

New insight into human genome evolution

Researchers discovered that in one out of every 4,000 births, some of the genetic code from the mitochondria—the “batteries” that power human cells—inserts itself into the DNA, giving a startling new insight into how humans evolve.

6 Oct 2022

Microbiome manipulation to prevent and cure diseases

Tagbo Niepa, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, is inspired by this possibility in his research. His work on using the microbiome to enhance human health was recognized with a $2 million New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health, which funds “exceptionally creative scientists proposing high-risk, high-impact research.”

From University of Pittsburgh 5 Oct 2022