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Category: genetics – Page 290

A team of Johns Hopkins University researchers has developed a new software that could revolutionize how DNA is sequenced, making it far faster and less expensive to map anything from yeast genomes to cancer genes.

The , detailed in a paper published in Nature Biotechnology, can be used with portable sequencing devices to accelerate the ability to conduct genetic tests and deliver diagnoses outside of labs. The new technology targets, collects and sequences without sample preparation and without having to map surrounding genetic material like standard methods require.

“I think this will forever change how DNA sequencing is done,” said Michael C. Schatz, a Bloomberg Distinguished Associate Professor of Computer Science and Biology and senior author of the paper.

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Summary: Artificial intelligence technology redesigned a bacterial protein that helps researchers track serotonin in the brain in real-time.

Source: NIH

Serotonin is a neurochemical that plays a critical role in the way the brain controls our thoughts and feelings. For example, many antidepressants are designed to alter serotonin signals sent between neurons.

In an article in Cell, National Institutes of Health-funded researchers described how they used advanced genetic engineering techniques to transform a bacterial protein into a new research tool that may help monitor serotonin transmission with greater fidelity than current methods. Preclinical experiments, primarily in mice, showed that the sensor could detect subtle, real-time changes in brain serotonin levels during sleep, fear, and social interactions, as well as test the effectiveness of new psychoactive drugs.

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Dr. Steve Horvath, a professor of genetics and biostatistics at UCLA, has found a way to measure biological aging – a type of “clock” – based on the methylation pattern of an organism’s genome. Methylations are biochemical processes that modify the activity of a DNA segment without changing its sequence – a type of epigenetic change. This video primer explains the basics of epigenetic clocks, the topic of our interview with Dr. Steve Horvath, coming soon!

Get the show notes here:
https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/epigenetic-clock/

Episode highlights:
• 00:00:09 — A person’s risk of disease is more dependent on their biological age than their chronological age.
• 00:00:09 — Epigenetics refers to processes that can affect gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. Methylation is a type of epigenetic change that occurs over a lifetime in a predictable way and can be used to measure biological age.
• 00:01:17 — The Horvath clock can accurately predict a person’s chronological age based on only the epigenetic information in their blood.
• 00:01:54 — The GrimAge clock can predict the risk and time of onset of cancer, heart disease, and death.
• 00:02:19 — Certain drugs can reverse a person’s epigenetic age, but the effects on biological age are unknown.
• 00:03:09 — The discovery of an anti-aging drug is on the horizon.

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Rusted iron pipes can react with residual disinfectants in drinking water distribution systems to produce carcinogenic hexavalent chromium in drinking water, reports a study by engineers at UC Riverside.

Chromium is a metal that occurs naturally in the soil and groundwater. Trace amounts of trivalent eventually appear in the and food supply and are thought to have neutral effects on health. Chromium is often added to iron to make it more resistant to corrosion.

Certain can change chromium atoms into a hexavalent form that creates cancer-causing genetic mutations in cells. This carcinogenic form of chromium was at the heart of a lawsuit in California’s Central Valley by Erin Brockovich, which became the subject of an Oscar-winning movie.

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A new study has found that a novel T cell genetically engineered by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers is able to target and attack pathogenic T cells that cause Type 1 diabetes, which could lead to new immunotherapy treatments.

The immune system fights bacteria, viruses and other pathogens by utilizing several types of T , all of which have receptors that are specific to particular antigens. On killer T cells, the receptor works in concert with three signaling modules and a coreceptor to destroy the . Michael Kuhns, Ph.D., an associate professor in the UArizona College of Medicine—Tucson Department of Immunobiology, copied the evolutionary design to engineer a five-module , or 5MCAR, T cell.

“The 5MCAR was an attempt to figure out if we could build something by biomimicry, using some of evolution’s natural pieces, and redirect T cells to do what we want them to do. We engineered a 5MCAR that would direct killer T cells to target autoimmune T cells that mediate Type 1 diabetes,” said Dr. Kuhns, who is member of the UArizona Cancer Center, BIO5 Institute and Arizona Center on Aging. “So now, a killer T cell will actually recognize another T cell. We flipped T cell-mediated immunity on its head.”

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“BAT said KBP had cloned a portion of the genetic sequence of coronavirus and developed a potential antigen, which is then inserted into tobacco plants for reproduction.”

😲😲😲

While large pharmaceutical companies are already producing vaccines, [the company British American Tobacco] believes its own can be produced in six weeks, compared with the several months it takes using conventional methods.

This, the company claims, is because of proprietary technology that allows elements of the vaccine to gather quickly on tobacco plants.

Continue reading “COVID vaccine made from GMO tobacco? It’s now in human trials” | >