An exciting Focused Research Organization (FRO): is systematically developing tools for working with non-model microorganisms.

As we walked, Lee told me that’s efforts to make “extraordinary” organisms accessible almost always follow the same basic steps. First, the team orders a microbe from ATCC, a non-profit group that has been storing and mailing microbes to researchers since 1925. The ATCC catalog includes more than 14,000 bacterial strains, the vast majority of which gather dust and are rarely ordered by researchers.

After receiving a microbe in the mail, sequences it. Mutations can creep into strains over time, and even a seemingly minor alteration—a single base swapped here or there—can change how cells grow and respond to their environment.

Lee told me that he once sequenced Vibrio natriegens stored in the ATCC database. Ten years later, a professor at Harvard ordered the same microbe from ATCC and sequenced its genome again. But the professor noticed a small change: the Vibrio cells now carried a single mutation in a ribosomal gene that made the cells sickly and slow-growing. This mutation had not been present when Lee studied the same microbes just a decade prior: evidence that nothing in biology remains constant. By sequencing the genome, constructs a record from which to diagnose future problems.

Ed Boyden is a professor at the MIT Media Lab working on the most advanced brain-computer interfacing technology currently available, optogenetics. At Singularity Summit 2009.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies and Wasatch BioLabs have joined forces to develop a groundbreaking direct whole-methylome sequencing (dWMS) product. This collaboration addresses the limitations of traditional methylation sequencing methods, such as bisulfite sequencing and methylation microarrays.

By leveraging Oxford Nanopore’s advanced sequencing technology and Wasatch BioLabs’ proprietary methylation assays, the partners aim to offer a more comprehensive and accurate approach to studying epigenetic modifications. dWMS eliminates the need for harsh chemical treatments and PCR amplification, reducing biases and improving genome-wide coverage.

This innovative technology has the potential to revolutionize epigenetic research, providing valuable insights into the role of methylation in various biological processes and diseases. The collaboration between these two companies is poised to drive significant advancements in genomics and precision medicine.

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New research from the Kind Group at the Hubrecht Institute sheds light on how cells repair damaged DNA. For the first time, the team has mapped the activity of repair proteins in individual human cells.

The study demonstrates how these proteins collaborate in so-called “hubs” to repair DNA damage. This knowledge offers opportunities to improve cancer therapies and other treatments where DNA repair is essential. The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications on November 21.

DNA is the molecule that carries our genetic information. It can be damaged by normal cellular processes as well as external factors such as UV radiation and chemicals. Such damage can lead to breaks in the DNA strand. If DNA damage is not properly repaired, mutations can occur, which may result in diseases like cancer. Cells use repair systems to fix this damage, with specialized proteins locating and binding to the damaged regions.

Recent breakthroughs in genetics research may have uncovered new genes underlying common psychiatric disorders. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder affect more than 64 million people around the world. These disorders are strongly influenced by genetics. No one gene, however, determines one’s risk of developing schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Rather, it is likely that a host of genes contribute to risk. Using artificial intelligence, researchers at Stanford University now have uncovered complex variants throughout the human genome that may contribute to these psychiatric disorders. This new study suggests that mutations that occur after fertilization, such as genetic mosaicism, may be responsible for a number of psychiatric disorders including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Think of a genome as a living book with instructions for every cell in the body. Our genes are the chapters. We have approximately 200,000 genes that provide instructions for making proteins, the building blocks of life. The vast majority of our genes, however, are non-coding, meaning that they do not provide instructions for proteins. Nonetheless, these genes play an important role in genetics and regulating cell function.

Genetic variants, or spelling changes, in either a coding or non-coding region can interfere with how the cell translates specific instructions. A small typo may have little to no effect on how the book is read. However, larger spelling changes can lead to the deletion of a sentence or even a whole chapter. Without the correct instructions to produce specific proteins, these spelling changes can contribute to disorders that impact different aspects of our body.

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Communication and coordination among different cells are fundamental aspects that regulate many functions in our body. This process, known as paracrine signaling, involves the release of signaling molecules by a cell into its extracellular matrix (ECM) or surroundings to communicate changes in its cellular processes or the local environment. These signaling molecules are then detected by neighboring cells, leading to various cellular responses.

For instance, during cell/tissue injury, the paracrine signaling process releases growth factors that signal nearby stem cells to assist in tissue repair in the form of scar tissue formation or blood clotting. Similar processes occur in the regulation of other vital functions, such as digestion, respiration, and reproduction. Additionally, paracrine signals influence the expression and activity of enzymes involved in drug metabolism and play a role in drug–drug interactions.

The signaling molecules, which may contain proteins and genetic material, are transported within tiny vesicles called exosomes. These vesicles serve as valuable biomarkers for various diseases and can even be engineered to carry drugs, making them a highly effective targeted drug delivery system. Notably, the hormone oxytocin and the neurotransmitter dopamine are paracrine messengers.

Insecticides have been used for centuries to counteract widespread pest damage to valuable food crops. Eventually, over time, beetles, moths, flies and other insects develop genetic mutations that render the insecticide chemicals ineffective.

Escalating resistance by these mutants forces farmers and vector control specialists to ramp up use of poisonous compounds at increasing frequencies and concentrations, posing risks to human health and damage to the environment since most insecticides kill both ecologically important insects as well as pests.

To help counter these problems, researchers recently developed powerful technologies that genetically remove insecticide-resistant variant genes and replace them with genes that are susceptible to pesticides. These gene-drive technologies, based on CRISPR gene editing, have the potential to protect valuable crops and vastly reduce the amount of chemical pesticides required to eliminate pests.

Scientists have discovered that tRNAs can determine how long mRNAs exist in a cell, causing some messages to be stabilized and translated into more protein, while directing others to be degraded and limiting how much protein can be made. They published their report in Science.

The messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines developed to fight the virus SARS-CoV-2 saved lives and made the nucleic acid a household name during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suddenly, everyone knew a little bit more about the molecule that helps convert genetic information into proteins.

But in addition to determining which proteins are made, mRNAs can also specify how much protein is produced.