Date:August 29, 2019 Source:Stanford Medicine Summary:Researchers have found that inflammation in the lungs of rats, triggered by something as simple as the flu, may wake up a silent genetic defect that causes sudden onset cases of pulmonary hypertension, a deadly form of high blood pressure in the lungs. Researchers at the Stanford University School of...
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Understanding probiotic yeast
Date: August 30, 2019 Source:VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) Summary:Researchers have discovered that Saccharomyces boulardii, a yeast with probiotic properties, produces uniquely excessive amounts of acetic acid, the main component of vinegar. They were also able to find the genetic basis for this trait, which allowed them to modify the acetic acid production of...
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Mystery solved about the machines that move your genes
Date:September 2, 2019 Source: Simons Foundation Summary:Congestion causes the mass of tubes and motors that form chromosome-dividing spindles to move at full speed instead of slowing to a crawl, new research reveals. Fleets of microscopic machines toil away in your cells, carrying out critical biological tasks and keeping you alive. By combining theory and experiment, researchers have discovered the...
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A new signaling pathway for mTor-dependent cell growth
Date: August 27, 2019 Source: Forschungsverbund Berlin Summary:A team led by the scientist has now discovered how inactivation of a certain lipid kinase promotes mTor complex 1 activity, and may therefore constitute a new point of attack for the treatment of diabetes and cancer. The activation of mTor complex 1 in the cell is central to many vital processes...
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Forget single genes: CRISPR now cuts and splices whole chromosomes
Imagine a word processor that allowed you to change letters or words but balked when you tried to cut or rearrange whole paragraphs. Biologists have faced such constraints for decades. They could add or disable genes in a cell or even—with the genome-editing technology CRISPR—make precise changes within genes. Those capabilities have led to recombinant DNA technology, genetically modified organisms, and...
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Bacteria in pneumonia attack using bleaching agent
UMEA UNIVERSITY Research shows that bacteria use hydrogen peroxide to weaken the immune system and cause pneumonia. This according to a study at Umeå University and Stockholm University, Sweden. Hydrogen peroxide is also known as a bleaching agent that is used to whiten teeth or hair, as a stain remover, as well as for cleaning...
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Map of broken brain networks shows why people lose speech in language-based dementia
‘Now we know where to target people’s brains to attempt to improve their speech’ NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY CHICAGO — For the first time, Northwestern Medicine scientists have pinpointed the location of dysfunctional brain networks that lead to impaired sentence production and word finding in primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a form of dementia in which patients often...
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CRISPR-Responsive Materials Deliver Therapy on Biological Cues
CRISPR gene editing is a technique famous for its potential to edit the genomes of living organisms, including humans. Using the technique, it may be possible to reverse congenital conditions, kill off viruses, and do things previously only imagined. But now it has been employed to do something else entirely, and that is to give...
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Alzheimer’s research increasingly focused on links to sleep and other behaviors
by Elsevier Sleep and other behavioral topics are growing within Alzheimer’s disease research, according to a new report released today by Elsevier, a global information analytics business specializing in science and health. To coincide with World Alzheimer’s Month, Elsevier analyzed Alzheimer’s research published since the 1970s offering a comprehensive view of the landscape of Alzheimer’s...
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Woman is first to receive cornea made from ‘reprogrammed’ stem cells
The Japanese woman’s vision has improved since the transplant, say her doctors. At a press conference on 29 August, ophthalmologist Kohji Nishida from Osaka University, Japan, said the woman has a disease in which the stem cells that repair the cornea, a transparent layer that covers and protects the eye, are lost. The condition makes vision blurry and can lead to blindness....