A new gene editor takes advantage of CRISPR-associated proteins to insert whole genes into the genome, scientists report.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 816
Ingredient in energy drinks may help fuel aggressive blood cancers
A new study published in Nature has identified taurine, a common ingredient in energy drinks, as a nutrient that supports the survival and growth of leukemia stem cells in aggressive blood cancers.
Though taurine is known for its antioxidant and neuroprotective properties, the findings suggest it may play a harmful role in certain cancers.
The study’s authors caution that taurine supplements, including those in energy drinks, could influence disease progression in leukemia patients and recommend further research.
Advanced gene editor enables more precise insertion of complete genes
Ask scientists which gene-editing tool is most needed to advance gene therapy, and they’d probably describe a system that’s now close to realization in the labs of Samuel Sternberg at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and David Liu at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
The gene editor—called evoCAST—goes a long way toward solving a problem that has confounded the development of gene therapies from the field’s beginnings: How to add long stretches of DNA to defined locations in the human genome without creating unwanted modifications.
The latest iteration of the editor, which utilizes complex enzymes found in bacteria, can be programmed to insert an entire gene—or multiple genes—into a specific location in the human genome with an efficiency suitable for gene therapy. Details of the editor are described in a paper published in Science.
Electro-optic sampling research unlocks new insights into quantum physics
Konstantin Vodopyanov, a professor at the College of Sciences and CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics, recently co-authored a study published in the journal Optica. This research examines electro-optic sampling (EOS), a technique that advances fields such as quantum physics, molecular spectroscopy and biomedical sensing.
As a professor at the two colleges, Vodopyanov shows how working across different fields can lead to new ideas. The Optica Fellow’s research, which combines interdisciplinary work, is shaping the future of quantum physics and other areas of science.
His new study explores how EOS transmits ultrashort laser pulses through crystals that change in response to an applied electric field. This technique allows researchers to accurately capture the shape and timing of electric fields across a broad range of frequencies.
Naturally occurring clay material has sought-after properties for use in quantum technology
In the future, quantum technology will become the standard for extremely fast computers. These kinds of machines will be important in everything from space technology to mineral exploration and the development of new medicines.
“Quantum technology is often associated with synthetic materials that have been developed in advanced, completely clean environments,” says Professor Jon Otto Fossum from NTNU’s Department of Physics.
But Fossum and colleagues have good news.
Abstract: For several years, researchers have known that hyperactivity of a subset of neurons located in the hypothalamus, called AgRP neurons, is common in mice with diabetes
“These neurons are playing an outsized role in hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes,” said UW Medicine endocrinologist Dr. Michael Schwartz, corresponding author of the paper.
To determine if these neurons contribute to elevated blood sugar in diabetic mice, researchers employed a widely used viral genetics approach to make AgRP neurons express tetanus toxin, which prevents the neurons from communicating with other neurons.
Unexpectedly, this intervention normalized high blood sugar for months, despite having no effect on body weight or food consumption.
Conventional wisdom is that diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, stems from a combination of genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors, including obesity, lack of physical activity and poor diet. This mix of factors leads to insulin resistance or insufficient insulin production.
Until now, scientists have traditionally thought the brain doesn’t play a role in type 2 diabetes, according to Schwartz.
The paper challenges this and is a “departure from the conventional wisdom of what causes diabetes,” he said.
The new findings align with studies published by the same scientists showing that injection of a peptide called FGF1 directly into the brain also causes diabetes remission in mice. This effect was subsequently shown to involve sustained inhibition of AgRP neurons.
Link between ADHD and obesity might depend on where you live
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might contribute to obesity by reducing physical activity—a relationship that can also be mediated by the features of the urban environment in which a person lives.
That is the conclusion of a new study published in PLOS Complex Systems by Tian Gan, Rayan Succar, and Maurizio Porfiri of the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University, U.S., and Simone Macrì of the Italian National Institute of Health, Italy.
For years, scientists have suspected that impulsivity—including conditions like ADHD—may increase the risk of obesity, but much of the evidence has focused on individual traits and behaviors, placing limited attention toward environmental and social factors.