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Category: genetics – Page 418

New genetic method of using CRISPR to eliminate COVID-19 virus genomes in cells

Bioengineering.

There is currently no vaccine or cure towards COVID-19. It is predicted the development of a safe and effective vaccine to prevent COVID-19 will take 12 to 18 months, by which time hundreds of thousands to millions of people may have been infected. With a rapidly growing number of cases and deaths around the world, this emerging threat requires a nimble and targeted means of protection.

Could CRISPR be the next virus killer? To address this global pandemic challenge, we are developing a genetic vaccine that can be used rapidly in healthy and patients to greatly reduce the coronavirus spreading. We developed a safe and effective CRISPR system to precisely target, cut and destroy COVID-19 virus and its genome, which stops coronavirus from infecting the human lung.

We’ve shown that the CRISPR system can reduce 90% of coronavirus load in human cells. It can also protect humans against essentially 90% of all current and emerging coronaviruses. The project is ongoing, and we are working around the clock towards getting an actual product by combing our CRISPR method with an inhaler-based delivery device.

Brain study reveals one type of exercise increases stress resilience

In a recent study conducted in mice, researchers became one step closer to that understanding, discovering that exercise actually strengthens the brain’s resilience to stress. Exercise helps animals cope with stress by enabling an uptick in a crucial neural protein called galanin, the study suggests. This process influences stress levels, food consumption, cognition, and mood.

Leveraging this finding, researchers were able to genetically tweak even sedentary mice’s levels of galanin, shifts that lowered their anxious response to stress.

The study’s authors explain that this study helps pin down the biological mechanisms driving exercise’s positive effects on stress. While further human experiments are needed to confirm these findings, the researchers have practical advice for people looking to get these benefits: perform regular, aerobic exercise.

Genetic Engineering, No Virus Required

Nature has spent millennia honing the virus into a ruthlessly efficient delivery vehicle for nucleic acids. Viruses have even been harnessed for our own delivery purposes. But some applications have had only mixed success. For example, commercial applications of genetic engineering, which require high scalability, low cost, and impeccable safety, remain a challenge.

Although they can easily enter the body and inject their payload into cells, viruses may stimulate a dangerous immune reaction and cause long-term medical complications. In addition, viruses can be expensive and time consuming to cultivate.

Safer and more practical alternatives to viruses are being sought by innovative companies. For example, these companies are developing nonviral gene delivery systems that incorporate nanoparticle formulations, ultrasound, and electric fields. These systems can slip bits of genetic material into cells efficiently and cost-effectively in a range of applications.

Gene-editing, Moderna, and transhumanism

But U.S. is not the only country engaged in human enhancement and transhumanism, as Russia and China are also in hot pursuit with exoskeletons, vaccines and brain implants. As this competition gains traction, one wonders what the future of their militaries may look like as human beings are steadily integrated with machines to become armies of iron man.

From the blog of Christina Lin at The Times of Israel.

Young cancer survivors show genetic signs of accelerated aging

A striking new study has found young cancer survivors show high expression of a gene known to be an effective marker of aging. The researchers suggest this genetic biomarker could be used to identify cancer survivors most at risk of later-life frailty due to their treatment.

As we age, concentrations of a gene called p16INK4a gradually increase in our cells, making it a potentially useful molecular marker for aging. One of the gene’s roles is to slow cell division and reduce the proliferation of stem cells.

In a new study researchers set out to investigate p16INK4a levels in pediatric and young adult cancer survivors. The hypothesis was that increased p16INK4a levels could be an effective sign of frailty among young cancer survivors.

Dr. Daniel Stickler views on reversing the aging process in humans

This is an excerpt of a conversation between Dr. Daniel Stickler and Brian Rose.
Dr. Stickler is the Medical Director for the Neurohacker Collective, a consultant for Google on epigenetics and AI in healthcare, and a lecturer at Stanford University.
Brian Rose is the founder of London Real, a curator of people worth watching. Its mission is to promote personal transformation through inspiration, self-discovery and empowerment.
CUENTA CON SUBTÍTULOS EN ESPAÑOL
To watch the entire conversation clic here: https://youtu.be/ynbaJ2038K0

Scientists 3D Printed Ears Inside Living Mice Using Light

Using nothing but light and bioink, scientists were able to directly print a human ear-like structure under the skin of mice. The team used a healthy ear as a template and 3D printed a mirror image of that ear—tissue layer by tissue layer—directly onto the back of a mouse.

All without a single surgical cut.

If you’re thinking that’s super creepy, yeah…I’m with you. As a proof-of-concept, however, the team shows that it’s possible to build or rebuild tissue layers, even those as intricate as an ear, without requiring surgical implant. This means that it could one day be possible to fix an ear or other surface tissue defects—either genetic or from injuries—directly at the injury site by basically waving a sophisticated light wand.

Activation of TRPA1 nociceptor promotes systemic adult mammalian skin regeneration

Could speed up healing.

Wound healing in mammalian skin often results in fibrotic scars, and the mechanisms by which original nonfibrotic tissue architecture can be restored are not well understood. Here, Wei et al. have shown that pharmacological activation of the nociceptor TRPA1, which is found on cutaneous sensory neurons, can limit scar formation and promote tissue regeneration. They confirmed the efficacy of TRPA1 activation in three different skin wounding mouse models, and they also observed that localized activation could generate a response at distal wound sites. TRPA1 activation induced IL-23 production by dermal dendritic cells, which activated IL-17–producing γδ T cells and promoted tissue regeneration. These findings provide insight into neuroimmune signaling pathways in the skin that are critical to mammalian tissue regeneration.

Adult mammalian wounds, with rare exception, heal with fibrotic scars that severely disrupt tissue architecture and function. Regenerative medicine seeks methods to avoid scar formation and restore the original tissue structures. We show in three adult mouse models that pharmacologic activation of the nociceptor TRPA1 on cutaneous sensory neurons reduces scar formation and can also promote tissue regeneration. Local activation of TRPA1 induces tissue regeneration on distant untreated areas of injury, demonstrating a systemic effect. Activated TRPA1 stimulates local production of interleukin-23 (IL-23) by dermal dendritic cells, leading to activation of circulating dermal IL-17–producing γδ T cells. Genetic ablation of TRPA1, IL-23, dermal dendritic cells, or γδ T cells prevents TRPA1-mediated tissue regeneration.

750 million genetically engineered mosquitoes approved for release in Florida Keys

A plan to release over 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys in 2021 and 2022 received final approval from local authorities, against the objection of many local residents and a coalition of environmental advocacy groups. The proposal had already won state and federal approval.

“With all the urgent crises facing our nation and the State of Florida — the Covid-19 pandemic, racial injustice, climate change — the administration has used tax dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment,” said Jaydee Hanson, policy director for the International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety, in a statement released Wednesday.

“Now the Monroe County Mosquito Control District has given the final permission needed. What could possibly go wrong? We don’t know, because EPA unlawfully refused to seriously analyze environmental risks, now without further review of the risks, the experiment can proceed,” she added.

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