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Category: genetics – Page 207

A “Missing Link” — Researchers Shed Light on the Origin of Complex Life Forms

What led to the emergence of complex organisms on Earth? It’s a significant unanswered question in biology. Researchers from Christa Schleper’s team at the University of Vienna and Martin Pilhofer’s team at ETH Zurich have taken a step towards resolving it. The scientists succeeded in cultivating a special archaeon and characterizing it more precisely using microscopic methods.

This member of the Asgard archaea exhibits unique cellular characteristics and may represent an evolutionary “missing link” to more complex life forms such as animals and plants. The study was recently published in the journal Nature.

All life forms on earth are divided into three major domains: eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea. Eukaryotes include the groups of animals, plants and fungi. Their cells are usually much larger and, at first glance, more complex than the cells of bacteria and archaea. The genetic material of eukaryotes, for example, is packaged in a cell nucleus and the cells also have a large number of other compartments. Cell shape and transport within the eukaryotic cell are also based on an extensive cytoskeleton. But how did the evolutionary leap to such complex eukaryotic cells come about?

Green Tea Is Associated With Reduced All-Cause Mortality Risk

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I Edited Human DNA at Home With a DIY CRISPR Kit

I never thought I’d order live human kidney cells to my address, but that all changed when I found out about biohacker Jo Zayner’s at-home genetic engineering class.

You may know Jo Zayner, a “biohacker” who has been in the vanguard of scientific self-experimentation for years, from their role in Netflix’s 2019 docuseries Unnatural Selection. The series shows Zayner attempting to edit their DNA by injecting themselves with CRISPR, a gene-editing technology. The action inspired a firestorm of criticism.

Zayner is also known for a variety of other bold moves, such as claiming to create a DIY at-home COVID vaccine in 2020 and executing their own fecal microbiome transplant.

A new AI-powered gene-editing technique could be set to replace CRISPR

CRISPR may be in for a fight thanks to this new, faster, safer, AI-powered zinc-finger gene-editing technique.

A new study has developed what the researchers call the “world’s first” simple, modifiable proteins. Called “zinc fingers,” these special proteins were developed partially through artificial intelligence.

Scientists from the University of Toronto and the NYU Grossman School of Medicine came up with the method, which is expected to speed up the development of gene therapies. This could be a game-changer for how doctors treat DNA mistakes that happen over time. This is partly because our genes change naturally as we age, which makes it inevitable that mistakes will happen. Or, of course, from genetic disorders inherited at birth.

Cancer cells may shrink or super-size to survive

Cancer cells can shrink or super-size themselves to survive drug treatment or other challenges within their environment, researchers have discovered.

Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, combined biochemical profiling technologies with to reveal how lead to differences in the size of cancer cells—and how these changes could be exploited by new treatments.

The researchers believe smaller cells could be more vulnerable to DNA-damaging agents like chemotherapy combined with targeted drugs, while larger cancer cells might respond better to immunotherapy.

Double Agents: Engineered Bacteria Tackle Pathogenic Biofilms in Mice

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Mycoplasma pneumoniae are tiny bacteria typically known to cause lung infections. But now, a group of scientists have turned them into double agents. Genetically engineered Mycoplasma helped break down biofilms of another pathogenic microbe, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in a mouse model of ventilator-associated pneumonia and on tube samples taken from human patients, the team reported January 19 in Nature Biotechnology. It is one of the first times that scientists have used live bacteria to treat a lung disease, and is the first therapeutic use of Mycoplasma.

“This approach is really powerful,” says Dave Hava, a microbiologist who wasn’t involved in the research, but who works at a company called Synlogic that develops live bacteria therapeutics for gut issues. “It offers the chance to target diseases and mechanisms that you can’t do with conventional therapies.”