Genetics – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Dec 24
2023

Researchers develop effective method to genetically modify brain organoids

Primates are among the most intelligent creatures with distinct cognitive abilities. Their brains are relatively large in relation to their body stature and have a complex structure. However, how the brain has developed over the course of evolution and which genes are responsible for the high cognitive abilities is still largely unclear. The better our understanding of the role of genes in brain development, the more likely it will be that we will be able to develop treatments for serious brain diseases.

Researchers are approaching these questions by knocking out or activating individual genes and thus drawing conclusions about their role in brain development. To avoid animal experiments as far as possible, brain organoids are used as an alternative. These three-dimensional cell structures, which are only a few millimeters in size, reflect different stages of brain development and can be genetically modified. However, such modifications are usually very complex, lengthy and costly.

Researchers at the German Primate Center (DPZ)—Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen have now succeeded in genetically manipulating brain organoids quickly and effectively. The procedure requires only a few days instead of the usual several months and can be used for organoids of different primate species. The brain organoids thus enable comparative studies of the function of genes at early stages of brain development in primates and help to better understand neurological diseases.

Dec 24
2023

Optogenetics 2020 Webinar

Full Video of the NeuroTechnolgy Center at Columbia University’s Optogenetics 2020 WebinarQ&A Transcript: tinyurl.com/yajfeozsTable of Contents:00:00:00 — In…

Dec 24
2023

DNA repair‐deficient premature aging models display accelerated epigenetic age

Aging Cell is an open access geroscience journal addressing the biology of aging, from molecular mechanisms of aging to age-related disease.

Dec 24
2023

S41378-018‑0009-2.Pdf

Dual color optogenetic control of neural populations.

Shared with Dropbox.

Dec 23
2023

This first CRISPR gene-editing treatment is just the beginning. Here’s what’s coming next

2023 was the year that CRISPR gene-editing sliced its way out of the lab and into the public consciousness—and American medical system. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first gene-editing CRISPR therapy, Casgevy (or exa-cel), a treatment from CRISPR Therapeutics and partner Vertex for patients with sickle cell disease. This comes on the heels of a similar green light by U.K. regulators in a historic moment for a gene-editing technology whose foundations were laid back in the 1980s, eventually resulting in a 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering CRISPR scientists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier.

That decades-long gap between initial scientific spark, widespread academic recognition, and now the market entry of a potential cure for blood disorders like sickle cell disease that afflict hundreds of thousands of people around the world is telling. If past is prologue, even newer CRISPR gene-editing approaches being studied today have the potential to treat diseases ranging from cancer and muscular dystrophy to heart disease, birth more resilient livestock and plants that can grapple with climate change and new strains of deadly viruses, and even upend the energy industry by tweaking bacterial DNA to create more efficient biofuels in future decades. And novel uses of CRISPR, with assists from other technologies like artificial intelligence, might fuel even more precise, targeted gene-editing—in turn accelerating future discovery with implications for just about any industry that relies on biological material, from medicine to agriculture to energy.

With new CRISPR discoveries guided by AI, specifically, we can expand the toolbox available for gene editing, which is crucial for therapeutic, diagnostic, and research applications… but also a great way to better understand the vast diversity of microbial defense mechanisms, said Feng Zhang, another CRISPR pioneer, molecular biologist, and core member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in an emailed statement to Fast Company.

Dec 23
2023

4 MOST Promising Longevity Molecules You NEED To Know

7 month treatment, 6 years returned according to a methylation clock, mostly in people who’s biological age was greater than their calendar age.

Please note that the links above are affiliate links, so we receive a small commission when you purchase a product through the links. Thank you for your support! =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= ~*~ Discount Coupon Code: REVERSE 🌏ProHealth Longevity 15% OFF Calcium AKG Longevity 500mg Caps https://prohealth.pxf.io/CaAKG NMN Pro™ Powder 100 g https://prohealth.pxf.io/NMN100 Longevity Greens™ Powder https://prohealth.pxf.io/LongevityGreens Full Spectrum Apigenin https://prohealth.pxf.io/apigenin Green Tea EGCG Extreme™ https://prohealth.pxf.io/EGCG 🔬Renue By Science 10% OFF Liposomal NMN caps https://bit.ly/45ChBDg Pure NMN Powder 100g https://shorturl.at/fjxU2 Lipo Quercetin 150mg https://bit.ly/3K4mwVg 🧬 DoNotAge 10% OFF Code: REVERSE https://donotage.org/?customer_referr… SIRT6 Activator® https://shorturl.at/owL23 Pure Hyaluronic Acid https://rb.gy/lcezr 🔶 Restore Our Cells Ability To Make NAD Like When We Were Young — Nuchido Time+ Supplement https://www.nuchido.com/REVERSEAGING FIRST ORDER 20% OFF Discount Code when checkout : REVERSEAGING20 🍀 iHerb New Customer 20% OFF Code: New20, existed customer 5% off All Products Link: https://iherb.co/sUBAZcqw =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

DISCLAIMER: Please note that none of the information in this video constitutes health advice or should be substituted in lieu of professional guidance. The video content is purely for informational purposes. #longevity #taurine #supplements #CaAkg #urolithinA #Nicotinamide #ALA #quercetin #EGCG #greentea #vitaminC #zinc #rutin #CD38 #Apigenin #TMG #reverseaging #supplement #slowaging #stayyoung #MethylDonors #Epigenetic #sirtuin #Exercise #NAD #BeingHungry #Rejuvenate #Mitochondria #ALA #Antioxidant #LookYounger #Resveratrol #Quercetin #Fisetin #senolytics #OliveOil #Sirtuin #HIIT #aging #Lifespan #Berberine #ReverseAging #NAD #Sirtuins #Fasting #Longevity #RestoreYouth #Healthspan #Younger #antiaging #longevity

Dec 22
2023

China creates world’s first chimeric monkey with fluorescent eyes, fingertips

ICYMI: In a groundbreaking achievement, researchers have successfully created a chimeric monkey with two different sets of DNA through the injection of stem cells from one monkey embryo into another of the same species.

[Source]

Scientists based in China have successfully created a chimeric monkey.

How they did it: A chimera is a human or an animal whose body is composed of cells that are genetically distinct. For their study, the researchers used two sets of DNA: stem cells from a cynomolgus (crab-eating macaque) monkey and a genetically distinct four-to five-day-old embryo from the same species. After implanting embryos into 40 female macaques, they recorded 12 pregnancies and six live births.

Dec 22
2023

Research argues that Occam’s razor is an ‘essential factor that distinguishes science from superstition’

Occam’s razor—the principle that when faced with competing explanations, we should choose the simplest that fits the facts—is not just a tool of science. Occam’s razor is science, insists a renowned molecular geneticist from the University of Surrey.

In a paper published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Professor Johnjoe McFadden argues Occam’s razor—attributed to the Surrey-born Franciscan friar William of Occam (1285–1347)—is the only feature that differentiates science from superstition, pseudoscience or fake news.

Professor McFadden said, “What is science? The rise of issues such as vaccine hesitancy, climate skepticism, alternative medicine, and mysticism reveals significant levels of distrust or misunderstanding of science among the general public. The ongoing COVID inquiry also highlights how scientific ignorance extends into the heart of government. Part of the problem is that most people, even most scientists, have no clear idea of what science is actually about.”

Dec 22
2023

Researchers discover crucial step in creating blood stem cells

A microbial sensor that helps identify and fight bacterial infections also plays a key role in the development of blood stem cells, providing a valuable new insight in the effort to create patient-derived blood stem cells that could eliminate the need for bone marrow transplants.

The discovery by a research team led by Raquel Espin Palazon, an assistant professor of genetics, development and cell biology at Iowa State University, is published in Nature Communications. It builds on prior work by Espin Palazon showing that the inflammatory signals that prompt a body’s immune response have an entirely different role in the earliest stages of life, as vascular systems and blood are forming in embryos.

Espin Palazon said knowing that embryos activate the microbial sensor, a protein known as Nod1, to force vascular endothelial cells to become blood stem cells could help develop a method to make blood stem cells in a lab from a patient’s own blood.

Dec 22
2023

Ultrasound-Triggered In Situ Photon Emission for Noninvasive Optogenetics

Optogenetics has revolutionized neuroscience understanding by allowing spatiotemporal control over cell-type specific neurons in neural circuits. However, the sluggish development of noninvasive photon delivery in the brain has limited the clinical application of optogenetics. Focused ultrasound (FUS)-derived mechanoluminescence has emerged as a promising tool for in situ photon emission, but there is not yet a biocompatible liquid-phase mechanoluminescence system for spatiotemporal optogenetics. To achieve noninvasive optogenetics with a high temporal resolution and desirable biocompatibility, we have developed liposome (Lipo@IR780/L012) nanoparticles for FUS-triggered mechanoluminescence in brain photon delivery. Synchronized and stable blue light emission was generated in solution under FUS irradiation due to the cascade reactions in liposomes.