Lifeboat Foundation

“The possibility to selectively activate genes using various engineered variants of the CRISPR-Cas9 system left many researchers questioning which of the available synthetic activating Cas9 proteins to use for their purposes. The main challenge was that all had been uniquely designed and tested in different settings; there was no side-by-side comparison of their relative potentials,” said George Church, Ph.D., who is Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, leader of its Synthetic Biology Platform, and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. “We wanted to provide that side-by-side comparison to the biomedical research community.”

In a study published on 23 May in Nature Methods, the Wyss Institute team reports how it rigorously compared and ranked the most commonly used artificial Cas9 activators in different cell types from organisms including humans, mice and flies. The findings provide a valuable guide to researchers, allowing them to streamline their endeavors.

The team also included Wyss Core Faculty Member James Collins, Ph.D., who also is the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science and Professor of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Department of Biological Engineering and Norbert Perrimon, Ph.D., a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Continue reading “A Guide to CRISPR Gene Activation” »

Oct4, a gene, thought to be inactive in adults, may actually play a vital role in preventing heart attacks and strokes and could also delay some of the effects of ageing, scientists have found. They said the gene could also prove critical in the field of regenerative medicine.

Representative photo.

Establishing the trend. Q-dot technology will be in all displays soon.

“Samsung Electronics will skip commercializing OLED for TVs and ho straight to QLED technology, perhaps as soon as 2009. Its strategy is to continue to develop its quantum-dot TVs, which are its current major products, and prepare to commercialize QLED technologies during this time.”

Read More at ET News

Continue reading “Samsung Electronics To Skip OLED TV And Go Straight To QLED TV” »

AR for plastic surgery.

ILLUSIO, the next generation in computer imaging for plastic surgery, will be presenting at the 2016 Virtual Reality Summit in Seoul, South Korea on June 22. The conference is expected to attract thousands of people interested in the latest applications for virtual reality and augmented reality.

ILLUSIO CEO Ethan Winner will present the Company’s use of augmented reality for plastic surgery imaging. ILLUSIO combines the latest in 3D augmented reality technology with real-time morphing animation, providing a platform for plastic surgeons and their patients to visually communicate.

Continue reading “ILLUSIO to Present at 2016 Virtual Reality Summit in Seoul, South Korea” »

Father of VR worried.

One might think that Jaron Lanier would be elated right now.

More than 30 years after his pioneering work in virtual reality, VR finally appears to be on the verge of becoming a mass market phenomenon. Major companies are investing in the technology; high-profile products are hitting store shelves; and developers of all sorts are creating VR experiences.

Continue reading “Wolverton: VR’s father worried about technology’s future” »

Got to luv this.

Is this brand new type of battery the key to clean energy and off-grid electricity?

Lithium-ion batteries are having a moment. After becoming the de facto battery in laptops and cell phones over the years, they’re now starting to power electric cars (like those made by Tesla) and plug into the power grid.

Continue reading “A Battery Made From Metal and Air Is Electrifying the Developing World” »

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Nice.

/EINPresswire.com/ — SAN JOSE, CA — (Marketwired) — 05/24/16 — UltraMemory Inc. (UltraMemory) has selected NanoSpice™ and NanoSpice Giga™ from ProPlus Design Solutions, Inc., the leading technology provider of giga-scale parallel SPICE simulation, SPICE modeling solutions and Design-for-Yield (DFY) applications, to simulate its super-broadband, super large-scale memory design.

UltraMemory is developing innovative 3D DRAM chip, which includes Through Chip Interface (TCI), enabling low-cost and low-power wireless communication between stacked DARM when compared to TSV technology.

Highly accurate and high-capacity SPICE simulation was necessary because it needed to simulate several DRAM chips with analog functions. UltraMemory’s decision to adopt NanoSpice, a high-performance parallel SPICE simulator, and NanoSpice Giga, the industry’s only GigaSpice simulator, came after an extensive evaluation of commercial SPICE and FastSPICE circuit simulators. NanoSpice and NanoSpice Giga have been integrated in UltraMemory’s existing design flows to replace other SPICE and FastSPICE simulators to provide full circuit simulation solutions from small block simulation to full-chip verification.

Continue reading “UltraMemory Turns to NanoSpice, NanoSpice Giga From ProPlus Design Solutions for Design of Super-Broadband, Large-Scale Memory” »

More information on ANTs.

In the minuscule world of nanotechnology, big steps are rare. But a recent development has the potential to massively improve our lives: an engine measuring 200 billionths of a metre, which could power tiny robots to fight diseases in living cells.

Life itself is proof of the extreme effectiveness of nanotechnology — the manipulation of matter on a molecular or atomic scale — in which DNA, proteins and enzymes can all be considered as machinery. In fact, researchers have managed to make micro-propellers using tiny strands of DNA. These strands can be stitched together so freely and precisely that the practise is known as “DNA origami”. However, DNA origami lacks force and operational speed (it takes time measurable in seconds), reducing its robotic function.

Continue reading “Powering nanotechnology with the world’s smallest engine” »