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Category: biotech/medical – Page 565

Summary: Scientists have successfully determined the genomic composition of octopuses, unveiling a whopping 2.8 billion base pairs across 30 chromosomes. This was a result of comprehensive, computer-assisted genome studies and comparisons with other cephalopod species.

This high-quality reference sequence paves the way for understanding octopus biology and tracing its evolutionary trajectory.

The findings, which shine a light on the dynamic evolutionary history of the octopus genome, will enrich research in neurobiology, behavior, and development.

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We need to ķeep up with china in human enhancement and biotechnology.

Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin discuss how existing A.I. capabilities already pose catastrophic risks to a functional society, how A.I. companies are caught in a race to deploy as quickly as possible without adequate safety measures, and what it would mean to upgrade our institutions to a post-A.I. world.

This presentation is from a private gathering in San Francisco on March 9th, 2023 with leading technologists and decision-makers with the ability to influence the future of large-language model A.I.s. This presentation was given before the launch of GPT-4.

Continue reading “The A.I. Dilemma” | >

What is the impact of treatment interruptions during courses of adjuvant radiation therapy for breast cancer?

The impact of treatment interruptions during courses of adjuvant radiation therapy for breast cancer has not been investigated. To address this issue, investigators conducted a study of 35,845 triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients in the National Cancer Database who received external beam radiation and had overall survival (OS) of at least 12 months. Among these patients, 76% had grade III–IV disease and 68% had N0 cancer.

Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine the association between interrupted treatment days and OS. The number of interrupted treatment days was defined as the total number of days from the start to the end of treatment minus the number of expected days of treatment. OS was defined as the time between the date of diagnosis and the date of death.

As the number of interrupted treatment days increased, OS progressively worsened. Compared with 0–1 interrupted treatment days, hazard ratios for poorer OS were 1.069 for 2–5 interrupted treatment days, 1.239 for 6–10 interrupted treatment days, and 1.265 for 11–15 interrupted treatment days. Other factors significantly associated with poorer OS were Black versus white race (HR, 1.278), other nonwhite versus white race (HR, 1.337), grade III–IV versus grade I disease (HR, 1.743), and stage N1–N3 versus N0 disease (HR, 2.534–4.992).

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Researchers are attempting to uncover the basics of how fat tissue is structured and, specifically, inflammation associated with obesity, in the hopes of unlocking the connection between the accumulation of fat and poor health outcomes. Now, a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan revealed previously unrecognized immune cell types and interactions within adipose tissue using single-cell analysis of gene expression combined with spatial transcriptomics.

The findings are published in JCI Insight in an article titled, “A lipid-associated macrophage lineage rewires the spatial landscape of adipose tissue in early obesity.”

“Adipose tissue macrophage (ATM) infiltration is associated with adipose tissue dysfunction and insulin resistance in mice and humans,” wrote the researchers. “Recent single-cell data highlight increased ATM heterogeneity in obesity but do not provide a spatial context for ATM phenotype dynamics. We integrated single-cell RNA-Seq, spatial transcriptomics, and imaging of murine adipose tissue in a time course study of diet-induced obesity. Overall, proinflammatory immune cells were predominant in early obesity, whereas nonresident antiinflammatory ATMs predominated in chronic obesity.”

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COVER STORY: The epigenetic clock uses DNA methylation to calculate the metric of “epigenetic age”. Epigenetic age acceleration (epigenetic > chronological age) has been repeatedly linked to pediatric asthma and allergic disease, demonstrating its potential as a diagnostic biomarker. However, questions remain about the accuracy and utility of epigenetic clocks in children.

This review by researchers at University of British Columbia examines the most used current epigenetic clocks and details the associations between epigenetic age acceleration and asthma/allergic disease. They explore the potential of the epigenetic clock as a biomarker for asthma and discuss the need for a pediatric epigenetic clock that is accurate in blood samples in order to maximize the utility of this powerful tool.

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In a new study, Abudayyeh and Gootenberg led a team of scientists on a quest to identify and characterize Fanzor enyzmes in large-scale genetic databases. Their genetic mining venture, published in Science Advances, outlines the discovery of over 3,600 Fanzors in eukaryotes, including algae, snails, amoebas and the viruses that infect them.

Fanzors evolved new features to survive and thrive in eukaryotes

Five distinct families of Fanzors could be identified from the study data. By comparing the biological makeup of these families, Abudayyeh and colleagues could track their evolutionary history. Fanzors most likely evolved from proteins called TnpB, which are encoded in transposons – mobile genetic elements often nicknamed “jumping genes”. In Nature, the McGovern team hypothesized that the TnpB gene may have “jumped” from bacteria to eukaryotes in a genetic “shuffling” many years ago. Abudayyeh and Gootenburg’s new study and genetic tracing implies that this event likely occurred several times, with Fanzors “jumping” from viruses and symbiotic bacteria. Their analyses also suggest that once these genes had made their way into eukaryotes, they evolved new features that promoted their survival, including the ability to enter a cell’s nucleus and access its DNA.

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Scientists have successfully gene-edited chickens to make them partially resistant to the bird flu and believe full immunity may be within reach.

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute have successfully gene-edited chickens to make them partially resistant to the bird flu but experts argue that only full immunity can see the danger of the virus eradicated.

This is according to a report by BBC News published this week.

Influenza A viruses, which are responsible for causing bird flu, can be divided into many subtypes based on the surface proteins hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). While certain bird flu subtypes are less dangerous, others are more virulent and capable of causing serious illness.

Continue reading “Gene-edited chickens are partially resistant to bird flu” | >

Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of collective intelligence, programmable biology, and the future of learning with renowned TED speaker and Harvard’s Wyss Institute Associate Faculty, Michael Levin. As the director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University and co-director of the Institute for Computer-Designed Organisms, Levin stands at the forefront of biological research and innovation.

In this enlightening interview, we explore the potentials and pitfalls of rewriting our DNA to gain superhuman abilities – imagine being able to breathe underwater or see in infrared! We also address the nuances of academic publishing and the urgent need for more collaborative approaches within scientific disciplines.

This discussion is part of our ongoing series to understand and develop methodologies for collective and collaborative intelligence. The goal? To design more efficient and inclusive collaborative learning networks through our innovative methodology, Unify.

Tune in to learn more about the transformative power of biology, the future of academic collaboration, and the exciting potential of our Unify methodology. Whether you’re a biologist, an educator, a futurist, or simply curious about the potential of human biology, you won’t want to miss this interview.

Continue reading “Michael Levin: On collective intelligence, academic publishing, and programmable biology (Ep. #5)” | >