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Category: biotech/medical – Page 16

Scientists resurrect ancient proteins, offering new antibiotic leads

University of Oregon biologists have resurrected prehistoric proteins up to 160 million years old that carry natural antimicrobial properties. The revived molecules could inspire the design of new treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections, a pressing global health issue.

Described in a paper published in PLOS Biology on Aug. 25, the scientists worked their way up the tree of life, reconstructing peptides—short protein fragments—dating back to the earliest placental mammals, the diverse lineage that includes humans and nearly all mammals alive today. In laboratory tests, the researchers found that some of the extinct peptides were more potent against drug-resistant bacteria than some of their present-day counterparts.

Evolution’s ancient remedies could offer new starting points for scientists designing treatments that supplement or replace antibiotics that no longer work, said Matt Barber, senior author of the paper and evolutionary biologist at the UO College of Arts and Sciences.

AI Decodes a Hidden DNA Signal Linked to Disease-Causing Mutations

Machine learning identifies the likely “initiator” and enables new predictions about DNA mutations that can cause disease.

Every human cell depends on tens of thousands of genes being switched on at the right time and in the right amount. Specialized stretches of DNA coordinate this activity, ultimately directing the production of enzymes, hormones, proteins, and other components essential to cell structure and function. When that regulation goes wrong, cells can malfunction and contribute to disorders including cancer.

To better understand the DNA sequences that control this process, researchers in the University of California San Diego Professor James T. Kadonaga’s laboratory focused on a crucial region known as the “initiator.” This DNA segment marks the point where information encoded in a gene first begins to be converted, or expressed, into functional products.

Identification of Nuclear Genetic Loci Linked to Clinical Features of the m.3243AG Mitochondrial DNA Variant

Background and ObjectivesMitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) disorders exhibit striking clinical variability that is poorly explained by known factors such as variant heteroplasmy, age, or sex. Nuclear genetic modifiers likely play a significant role in this…

Dual Stem Cell Treatment Restores Vision in First Human Trial

A dual stem cell scaffold improved vision and eye surface scores in a small first-in-human trial for aniridia-related keratopathy.

For people with ARK (aniridia-related keratopathy), progressive damage to the eye’s surface can gradually cloud the cornea and severely reduce vision. In a first-in-human clinical trial at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London (UCL), a stem cell treatment improved vision in patients with this previously untreatable rare genetic condition. The findings were published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Aniridia is an eye surface disorder involving limbal stem cells, which are located at the boundary between the sclera (white of the eye) and cornea (the clear area at the front of the eye). Usually caused by an inherited genetic abnormality affecting eye development, the condition can result in profound vision loss.

Heart capillaries may build natural bypasses for blood flow after heart attacks

The heart powers a busy highway of arteries and vessels, providing a constant to-and-fro passage for blood. During a heart attack, this passage becomes blocked, usually when a blood clot forms on plaque in a coronary artery and cuts off blood flow to the heart muscle. A study published in Science found that the heart tries to save itself by growing new natural bypass channels to bring blood and oxygen back to damaged tissue.

For a long time, the prevailing theory was that new backup vessels, also known as coronary collateral arteries, grew when cells from existing arteries broke away and assembled into new arteries. The researchers designed genetic tools with fluorescent markers that glow in different colors depending on whether they contact the smooth muscle cells (SMCs) of mature arteries or the bare surface of capillaries, the tiniest blood vessels.

When injected into mice, the tools revealed that capillaries, rather than existing arteries, did most of the heavy lifting in forming new coronary collateral arteries after a heart attack. Capillaries changed their identity and grew into larger, fully mature arteries through a process called capillary arterialization.

A History of HeLa Cells: How the Immortal Cells Advanced Biomedical Science

Immortality is achievable with these cells but would need to be modified to adapt to human biology in a safe way. But these cells are quite interesting because they really can duplicate forever. If we gene edit cells with this property we could simply evolve into a new state when all inputs are controlled by radiogenetics from a smartphone or other device this could monitor the immortality rate and control the growth rate of essentially immortal cells. I think even cancer may actually be the answer to cell immortality because if we control it we could have indefinite lifespans if it was modified safely. The enemy of cancer may be the answer we have been searching for so long and it was in a different form.

HeLa cells are the most famous human cells in science. Discover how cervical cancer, HPV proteins, and bioethics shaped one of medicine’s biggest breakthroughs.

PRIMA retinal implant restores vision in patients with advanced GA

The editorial was authored by Jacque L. Duncan, MD, professor of ophthalmology and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, who did not participate in the PRIMA study.

In a press release issued by Science Corporation, the company described the implant as “consisting of a tiny wireless chip implanted in the retina combined with a pair of special glasses, based on work conducted by Professor Daniel Palanker at Stanford University.”

A total of 38 patients were included in the study. All underwent implantation of the PRIMAretinal prosthetic chip with the goal of restoring vision.

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