Lifeboat Foundation

The CRISPR gene-editing system is a powerful tool that could revolutionize medicine and other sciences, but unfortunately it has a tendency to make edits to the wrong sections of DNA. Now, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have identified a previously unknown structure of the protein that drives these mistakes, and tweaked it to reduce the likelihood of off-target mutations by 4,000 times.

CRISPR tools use certain proteins, most often Cas9, to make precise edits to specific DNA sequences in living cells. This can involve cutting out problematic genes, such as those that cause disease, and/or slotting in beneficial ones. The problem is that sometimes the tool can make changes to the wrong parts, potentially triggering a range of other health issues.

And in the new study, the UT researchers discovered how some of these errors can happen. Usually, the Cas9 protein is hunting for a specific sequence of 20 letters in the DNA code, but if it finds one where 18 out of 20 match its target, it might make its edit anyway. To find out why this occurs, the team used cryo-electron microscopy to observe what Cas9 is doing when it interacts with a mismatched sequence.

CNBC’s Morgan Brennan joins The News with Shepard Smith to report that Russia is refusing to deliver satellites to space without guarantees they won’t be used against Moscow in its war against Ukraine.

This may not be a black hole, but it is a vampire star.

Two years after finding the closest black hole to Earth, astronomers are now reporting that it may be a two star system instead.

Choco 3Drag for printing of three-dimensional shapes with chocolate.

Circa 2013 o.o

Katharine Sanderson answers the big questions about the tiny technology on its way to your plate.

Circa 2013

A team of physicists at a university in the Netherlands have 3D-printed a microscopic version of the USS Voyager, an Intrepid-class starship from Star Trek.

Circa 2020 o.o!

A team of physicists at a university in the Netherlands have 3D-printed a microscopic version of the USS Voyager, an Intrepid-class starship from Star Trek.

The miniature Voyager, which measures 15 micrometers (0.015 millimeters) long, is part of a project researchers at Leiden University conducted to understand how shape affects the motion and interactions of microswimmers.

Continue reading “Scientists 3D print microscopic Star Trek spaceship that moves on its own” »

Circa 2012 o.o

For decades, the idea of a future where meals were condensed into tablets was so popular that it became cliché. So why are we not eating them now?

Do two promising structural materials corrode at very high temperatures when in contact with “liquid metal fuel breeders” in fusion reactors? Researchers of Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), and Yokohama National University (YNU) now have the answer. This high-temperature compatibility of reactor structural materials with the liquid breeder—a lining around the reactor core that absorbs and traps the high energy neutrons produced in the plasma inside the reactor—is key to the success of a fusion reactor design.

Fusion reactors could be a powerful means of generating clean electricity, and currently, several potential designs are being explored. In a fusion reactor, the fusion of two nuclei releases massive amounts of energy. This energy is trapped as heat in a “breeding blanket” (BB), typically a liquid lithium alloy, surrounding the reactor core. This heat is then used to run a turbine and generate electricity. The BB also has an essential function of fusion fuel breeding, creating a closed fuel cycle for the endless operation of the reactors without fuel depletion.

The operation of a BB at extremely high temperatures over 1,173 K serves the attractive function of producing hydrogen from water, which is a promising technology for realizing a carbon-neutral society. This is possible because the BB heats up to over 1,173 K by absorbing the energy from the fusion reaction. At such temperatures, there is the risk of structural materials in contact with the BB becoming corroded, compromising the safety and stability of the reactors. It is thus necessary to find structural materials that are chemically compatible with the BB material at these temperatures.