Author X boldly presents a story of a group of new age scientists that has found a way to use DNA and cutting-edge technology to resurrect Jesus Christ, or at least somebody similar. Only one man (Dr. Samuel John) who is the voice of reason for the entire world will have to decide if he should or shouldn’t help make this a reality. Is this real life or is it fantasy? How will Christians react? How will the world react? How will you react when the Only Begotten Son has returned?
Viruses are mostly known for their aggressive and infectious nature.
It’s true, most viruses have a pathogenic relationship with their hosts – meaning they cause diseases ranging from a mild cold to serious conditions like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). They work by invading the host cell, taking over its cellular machinery and releasing new viral particles that go on to infect more cells and cause illness.
But they’re not all bad. Some viruses can actually kill bacteria, while others can fight against more dangerous viruses. So like protective bacteria (probiotics), we have several protective viruses in our body.
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are a major cause of serious infections that often persist despite antibiotic treatment, but scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have now discovered a way to make these bacteria much more susceptible to some common antibiotics.
The scientists, in a study published in Cell Chemical Biology, found that adding molecules called rhamnolipids can make aminoglycoside antibiotics, such as tobramycin, hundreds of times more potent against S. aureus — including the strains that are otherwise very hard to kill. The rhamnolipids effectively loosen up the outer membranes of S. aureus cells so that aminoglycoside molecules can get into them more easily.
“There’s a great need for new ways to kill bacteria that tolerate or resist standard antibiotics, and to that end we found that altering membrane permeability to induce aminoglycoside uptake is an extremely effective strategy against S. aureus,” said study senior author Brian Conlon, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at the UNC School of Medicine.
If a police officer suspects you’ve had too much to drink before getting behind the wheel of your car, they can use a breathalyzer to estimate your blood alcohol level on the spot.
But if a cop thinks you’re driving stoned, they currently don’t have any evidence-based way to immediately confirm their suspicions — they typically have to rely on subjective roadside sobriety tests.
Now, though, Canadian startup SannTek Labs says it’s developed a marijuana breathalyzer — and it’s caught the eye of top startup accelerator Y Combinator.
New research, published today in Nature, reveals how increasing brain stiffness as we age causes brain stem cell dysfunction, and demonstrates new ways to reverse older stem cells to a younger, healthier state.
The results have far reaching implications for how we understand the ageing process, and how we might develop much-needed treatments for age-related brain diseases.
As our bodies age, muscles and joints can become stiff, making everyday movements more difficult. This study shows the same is true in our brains, and that age-related brain stiffening has a significant impact on the function of brain stem cells.
In the future, we may have to deal with biological weapons that target specific groups of people, passing over everyone else.
That’s according to a new report out of Cambridge University’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk reviewed by The Telegraph. In it, the Cambridge researchers argue that world governments have failed to prepare for futuristic weapons based on advanced technology like artificial intelligence and genetic manipulation — or even a killer pathogen designed to kill only people of a particular race.
Today [August 13] the US National Academy of Sciences is hosting the first meeting of the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing in Washington, to discuss controversial applications of CRISPR to human eggs, sperm, or fertilized ova, in the wake of Chinese researcher He Jiankui announcing the birth of CRISPR twins after a similar meeting in 2017 (See Do China’s controversial CRISPR babies illustrate the need for an undo button?)
Although only one clinical trial is up-and-running for CRISPR to treat body cells, with an initial patient making the media rounds just last week to discuss her cells doctored to counter sickle cell disease, many other applications are in preclinical testing — animal models and human cells and organoids. And they’re not restricted to rare diseases.
Imagine a single injection that quells the inflammation behind lower back pain — perhaps forever. CRISPR may make that possible by dampening the immune system’s cytokine signals, according to a report in the July issue of Human Gene Therapy.
