Explore the transformative potential of CRISPR in medicine, agriculture, and beyond, and delve into the ethical debates surrounding this technology.
Category: food – Page 52
Research team uses CRISPR/Cas9 to alter photosynthesis for the first time
A team from the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) has produced an increase in gene expression in a food crop by changing its upstream regulatory DNA. While other studies have used CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing to knock out or decrease the expression of genes, new research published in Science Advances is the first unbiased gene-editing approach to increase gene expression and downstream photosynthetic activity.
Bill Gates-backed startup creates Lego-like brick that can store air pollution for centuries: ‘A milestone for affordably removing carbon dioxide from the air’
The pipe dream of carbon capture is one step closer to reality thanks to a Bill Gates-backed startup that is burying bricks made from plants.
The Washington Post detailed a “deceptively simple” procedure by Graphyte to sequester blocks of wood chips and rice hulls, calling it “a game-changer” for the industry, which has been held back by the cost ineffectiveness of other methods.
“The approach, the company claims, could store a ton of CO2 for around $100 a ton, a number long considered a milestone for affordably removing carbon dioxide from the air,” the outlet reported.
Towards realizing nano-enabled precision delivery in plants
Nanocarrier delivery has huge potential in agriculture; however, there are significant scientific and societal barriers to overcome. In this Review, the authors explore the state of the field, what lessons can be learned from nanomedicine, and discuss what scientific and societal issues need to be addressed.
Better farming through nanotechnology
(Nanowerk News) Advanced technologies enable the controlled release of medicine to specific cells in the body. Scientists argue these same technologies must be applied to agriculture if growers are to meet increasing global food demands.
In a new Nature Nanotechnology journal review paper (“Towards realizing nano-enabled precision delivery in plants”), scientists from UC Riverside and Carnegie Mellon University highlight some of the best-known strategies for improving agriculture with nanotechnology.
You can watch astronauts at the International Space Station receive 3 tons of supplies: Here’s how
Space lovers have an opportunity to watch two unique occurrences at the International Space Station this week, but you will have to stay up pretty late — or wake up very early — to see them live.
According to NASA, the cargo spacecraft carrying three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the ISS is for the Expedition 71 crew.
The unpiloted spacecraft – called Progress 88 – is scheduled to launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday at 2:43 p.m. local time.
No, All That Sugar Won’t Make Your Kid Hyperactive. Even if They Have ADHD
It’s a Saturday afternoon at a kids’ birthday party. Hordes of children are swarming between the spread of birthday treats and party games. Half-eaten cupcakes, biscuits and lollies litter the floor, and the kids seem to have gained superhuman speed and bounce-off-the-wall energy.
But is sugar to blame?
The belief that eating sugary foods and drinks leads to hyperactivity has steadfastly persisted for decades. And parents have curtailed their children’s intake accordingly.
Stem cells, lab-grown meat, and potential new medical treatments, with Mark Kotter
Our guest in this episode is Dr. Mark Kotter. Mark is a neurosurgeon, stem cell biologist, and founder or co-founder of three biotech start-up companies that have collectively raised hundreds of millions of pounds: bit.bio, clock.bio, and Meatable.
In addition, Mark still conducts neurosurgeries on patients weekly at the University of Cambridge.
We talk to Mark about all his companies, but we start by discussing Meatable, one of the leading companies in the cultured meat sector. This is an area of technology which should have a far greater impact than most people are aware of, and it’s an area we haven’t covered before in the podcast.
Selected follow-ups:
• Dr Mark Kotter at the University of Cambridge (https://www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk/peopl…)
• Meatable (https://meatable.com/)
• bit.bio (https://www.bit.bio/)
• clock.bio (https://clock.bio/)
• After 25 years of hype, embryonic stem cells are still waiting for their moment (https://www.technologyreview.com/2023…) — Article in MIT Technology Review.
• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/med…)
• Moo’s Law: An Investor’s Guide to the New Agrarian Revolution (https://www.harriman-house.com/mooslaw) — book by Jim Mellon.
• What is the climate impact of eating meat and dairy? (https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/w…)
• Guidance for businesses on cell-cultivated products and the authorisation process (https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guid…)
• Wild mammals make up only a few percent of the world’s mammals (https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mamma…) — Our World In Data.
• BlueRock Therapeutics (https://www.bluerocktx.com/)
• Therapies under development at bit.bio (https://www.bit.bio/therapeutics2023)
• Stem Cell Gene Therapy Shows Promise in ALS Trial (https://www.technologynetworks.com/ne…) — from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Music: Spike Protein, by Koi Discovery, available under CC0 1.0 Public Domain Declaration.