A new discovery by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons could fix one of the major shortcomings of current gene-editing tools, including CRISPR, and offer a powerful new approach for genetic engineering and gene therapy. Their new technology, called INTEGRATE, harnesses bacterial jumping genes to reliably insert any DNA sequence into […]
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Could better tests help reverse the rise of drug-resistant infections? Modeling study says yes in theory; now comes a reality check
A growing number of infections — such as pneumonia, gonorrhea and tuberculosis — are becoming harder to treat, as bacteria evolve defenses against antibiotics faster than we can develop new drugs to replace them. Duke University game theorist David McAdams says faster, more accurate tests for drug-resistant infections are being developed that could, at least […]
New DNA ‘shredder’ technique goes beyond CRISPR’s scissors
In the last six years, a tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has transformed genetic research, allowing scientists to snip and edit DNA strands at precise locations like a pair of tiny scissors. But sometimes, it takes more than scissors to do the job. Now, a collaborative international team has unveiled a new CRISPR-based tool that acts more […]
Measuring stress around cells: Findings offer clues as to how cells act collectively to shape tissues and organs
Tissues and organs in the human body are shaped through forces generated by cells, that push and pull, to “sculpt” biological structures. Thanks to a new tool developed at McGill University, scientists will now be able to watch, and map these forces. Christopher Moraes, an assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Chemical Engineering, and colleagues […]
A new way to transfer energy between cells
Researchers from the Catalonian Institute of Bioengineering (Instituto de Bioingeniería de Cataluña) and the Seville Chemical Research Institute (Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas de Sevilla) have described a new method for the transmission of electrons between proteins that refutes the evidence from experiments until now. This process, involved in the generation of energy in both animal […]
A novel biosensor to advance diverse high-level production of microbial cell factories
A research group at KAIST presented a novel biosensor which can produce diverse, high-level microbial cell factories. The biosensor monitors the concentration of products and even intermediates when new strains are being developed. This strategy provides a new platform for manufacturing diverse natural products from renewable resources. The team succeeded in creating four natural products […]
How fatal biofilms form
By severely curtailing the effects of antibiotics, the formation of organized communities of bacterial cells known as biofilms can be deadly during surgeries and in urinary tract infections. Yale researchers have just come a lot closer to understanding how these biofilms develop, and potentially how to stop them. Biofilms form when bacterial cells gather and […]
Understanding antibiotic resistance in patients with cystic fibrosis
A defective gene causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). There, it traps bacteria, causing patients to develop frequent lung infections that progressively damage these vital organs and impair patients’ ability to breathe. Most patients with this progressive genetic disorder die by the fourth decade of […]
Particles surf their own waves, reveal how microbes and cells move through human body
Surf’s up for microbes swimming beside red blood cells. New calculations and experiments model for the first time how spherical particles submerged in gooey liquid travel along a flexible rubber sheet; comparable conditions are common in the human body, such as blood cells flowing through a capillary or the journeys of self-propelled microbes. (Although blood […]
BPA replacements in plastics cause reproductive problems in lab mice
Twenty years ago, researchers made the accidental discovery that the now infamous plastics ingredient known as bisphenol A or BPA had inadvertently leached out of plastic cages used to house female mice in the lab, causing a sudden increase in chromosomally abnormal eggs in the animals. Now, the same team is back to report in […]