An analysis of drywood termite DNA shows the wood-dwelling insects have crossed the oceans at least 40 times in their history, probably rafting inside driftwood.
Termites spread globally
Posted in biotech/medical
Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,367
New findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Sunday that found all rectal cancer patients given a certain bill were cancer-free.
The New York Times reported the findings, noting that the sample size was incredibly small, with just 18 people but the results were unbelievable.
“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” said Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Scientists at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution announced today that ribonucleic acid (RNA), an analog of DNA that was likely the first genetic material for life, spontaneously forms on basalt lava glass. Such glass was abundant on Earth 4.35 billion years ago. Similar basalts of this antiquity survive on Mars today.
More information:
Craig A. Jerome et al, Catalytic Synthesis of Polyribonucleic Acid on Prebiotic Rock Glasses, Astrobiology (2022). DOI: 10.1089/ast.2022.
Hyo-Joong Kim et al, Prebiotic stereoselective synthesis of purine and noncanonical pyrimidine nucleotide from nucleobases and phosphorylated carbohydrates, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.
Hyo-Joong Kim et al, A Prebiotic Synthesis of Canonical Pyrimidine and Purine Ribonucleotides, Astrobiology (2019). DOI: 10.1089/ast.2018.
Use of circulating tumor DNA to guide adjuvant treatment planning for patients with resectable colon cancer led to fewer patients receiving chemotherapy while maintaining outcomes, according to the DYNAMICS study.
The world’s smallest remote-controlled robot is a crab-like object that may be able to help save people during medical procedures.
You might not recognize the term NSAID, which stands for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but you are undoubtedly familiar with this class of medications which are commonly used for headaches, pain relief, and to reduce fever. You’ll also recognize the common types of NSAIDs including aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen, as well as the brand names such as Bayer, St. Joseph, Advil, Motrin, and Aleve.
Even though they are often used to treat pain and inflammation, different NSAIDs can have surprising and inexplicable effects on many diseases. New research reveals a previously unknown process by which some NSAIDs affect the body. The findings may explain the varying effects of different NSAIDs and also point to entirely new applications for these drugs.
Since these medications are so widely used, it is really important to fully understand how they affect the body.
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Scientists successfully proved reverse aging techniques in mice by employing proteins that can turn an adult cell into a stem cell. There’s hope for you yet.
An Apple Watch owner has created a complication and watchOS app that works with a glucose monitor, so they can keep track of their blood glucose level from their wrist.
Numerous rumors have claimed Apple is actively working on some form of glucose monitoring sensor for the Apple Watch, but has so far yet to add it to the wearable device. In the case of one Apple Watch owner, they managed to hack together their own solution.
The project, outlined by Harley Turan, effectively takes the data from a continuous glucose monitoring system and imports and interprets it in a way that it can be viewed on an Apple Watch. In doing so, the project creates a reasonably low-cost solution for the problem.
Aqueous droplet formation by liquid-liquid phase separation (or coacervation) in macromolecules is a hot topic in life sciences research. Of these various macromolecules that form droplets, DNA is quite interesting because it is predictable and programmable, which are qualities useful in nanotechnology. Recently, the programmability of DNA was used to construct and regulate DNA droplets formed by coacervation of sequence designed DNAs.
A group of scientists at Tokyo University of Technology (Tokyo Tech) led by Prof. Masahiro Takinoue has developed a computational DNA droplet with the ability to recognize specific combinations of chemically synthesized microRNAs (miRNAs) that act as biomarkers of tumors. Using these miRNAs as molecular input, the droplets can give a DNA logic computing output through physical DNA droplet phase separation. Prof. Takinoue explains the need for such studies, “The applications of DNA droplets have been reported in cell-inspired microcompartments. Even though biological systems regulate their functions by combining biosensing with molecular logical computation, no literature is available on integration of DNA droplet with molecular computing.” Their findings were published in Advanced Functional Materials.
Developing this DNA droplet required a series of experiments. First, they designed three types of Y-shaped DNA nanostructures called Y-motifs A, B, and C with 3 sticky ends to make A, B, and C DNA droplets. Typically, similar droplets band together automatically while to join dissimilar droplets a special “linker” molecule is required. So, they used linker molecules to join the A droplet with the B and C droplets; these linker molecules were called AB and AC linkers, respectively.