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The International Space Station has long been known as a unique — and uniquely gross — environment. But according to a new NASA study, it has stuff growing on it that is straight-up alien, too.

In a press release, NASA said that when scientists from the Jet Propulsion Lab looked at samples of the drug-resistant Enterobacter bugandensis bacteria found on the orbital outpost, they found that the strains had mutated into something that literally doesn’t exist on Earth.

“Study findings indicate that under stress, the ISS isolated strains were mutated and became genetically and functionally distinct compared to their Earth counterparts,” the press release reads. “The strains were able to viably persist in the ISS over time in significant abundances.”

Although schizophrenia can be a very complex illness some new studies show that some major genetic factors could be the cause and then cured much easier through gene therapy.


Summary: Researchers leveraged cutting-edge technology to gain insights into schizophrenia’s neurodevelopmental origins. The researchers grew brain organoids from patients’ skin cells, finding persistent axonal disruptions in those with schizophrenia.

In another study, researchers zeroed in on a schizophrenia risk gene, CYFIP1, revealing its potential role in brain immune cells called microglia and their influence on synaptic pruning – a crucial process for brain health.

I found this on NewsBreak: Decoding the Mysteries of Life and the Cosmos: A Journey Through the Last Decade of Science.


By: Jason St Clair.

It’s worth reflecting on the scientific breakthroughs that have shaped our understanding of the universe and ourselves from 2010 to 2019. From the creation of synthetic life to the first glimpse of a black hole, these discoveries remind us of the indomitable human spirit and our unending quest for knowledge.

In 2010, scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute played the role of cosmic composers, creating the first living organism with a completely synthetic genome. This milestone marked the first step in producing artificial life, a symphony of genetic notes designed in a computer, assembled in a lab, and brought to life in a donor cell. It was a testament to our growing mastery over the building blocks of life itself.

If we can prove the concept of this technology in the two diseases we’re studying, we can then apply it to hundreds or thousands of diseases of the brain.

Yong-Hui Jiang, MD, PhD

Yes, please. Huntington disease hopefully.


The two-phase grant will support research into a novel CRISPR-based gene-editing technology and delivery platform for targeting neurogenetic diseases.

For as long as superheroes have been imagined, there’s been a superhero who can regrow limbs. Other animals (like salamanders and sharks) do it, why couldn’t we? Scientists have also tackled this question because, obviously, humans don’t naturally regrow limbs. But before we move on to regrowing limbs ourselves, we need to understand how other species do it.

In a new study, researchers mapped the proteins that kick off limb creation in mice and chicks, finding that a cocktail of just three proteins performs the initial magic.

“People in the field have known a lot of the proteins critical for limb formation, but we found that there are proteins we missed,” said study co-first author ChangHee Lee, research fellow in genetics in the lab of Cliff Tabin at Harvard Medical School.