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May 21, 2021
Researchers discover a gene that could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease
Posted by Jason Blain in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience
May 21, 2021
A toxic chemical in tires is causing salmon populations to die
Posted by Jason Blain in category: chemistry
May 21, 2021
Breastfeeding protects mothers from diabetes, new research shows
Posted by Jason Blain in category: biotech/medical
May 21, 2021
Scientists develop a gene-editing tool that’s more powerful than CRISPR
Posted by Jason Blain in categories: biotech/medical, genetics
May 21, 2021
People who live beyond 105 years old have a rare self-repairing DNA
Posted by Jason Blain in category: biotech/medical
May 21, 2021
Electric cars will be cheaper to produce than fossil fuel vehicles by 2027
Posted by Jason Blain in categories: sustainability, transportation
May 21, 2021
New technology eliminates tumors, and could revolutionize cancer therapy
Posted by Jason Blain in category: biotech/medical
May 21, 2021
Polycarpa mytiligera can regrow all of its organs if dissected into three pieces
Posted by Joe Bennett in categories: biotech/medical, life extension
It might not look like much, but this little worm could hold the key to biological regeneration!
Researchers have made an extraordinary discovery using a creature in common to the Gulf of Eilat. The creature is called Polycarpa mytiligera and is a species of ascidian, which is a marine animal commonly found in the waters of the Gulf that is capable of regenerating its organs. Surprisingly, the researchers discovered the animal can regenerate all of its organs even when dissected into three fragments.
Scientists say that is an astounding discovery because it’s an animal belonging to the Phylum Chordata, which are animals with a dorsal cord, which also includes humans. The ability to regenerate organs itself is not uncommon in the animal kingdom. One example is the gecko able to regrow its tail. However, it’s not common for creatures to be able to regrow entire body systems.
May 21, 2021
AgomAb Therapeutics announce major funding for nanobody research
Posted by Joe Bennett in category: biotech/medical
Antibodies are small protein molecules which are used by the body in order to ‘tag’ foreign pathogens in order for the immune system to identify and destroy them. What is unique about these antibodies is that due to their structure they will only attach themselves to a particular pathogen (on a site known as an antigen). In many cases, the binding of an antibody to a pathogen such as a virus is enough to completely inactive the virus, making it effectively harmless.
Due to the existence of millions upon millions of different types of pathogens, there are quite literally trillions of possibilities for the structures of antibodies, which gives them a near infinite ability to bind with extreme prejudice to just about anything within the body, including our own proteins, such as enzymes and cell receptors.
This ability to bind to biological surfaces allows antibodies to effectively mimic the function of proteins within the body, with the added benefit of often being notably more stable that the protein that they are mimicking. However, there is the slight issue with human antibodies in that they are fairly large, which makes them physically incapable of mimicking many types of proteins. Fortunately, antibodies are not universally the same size within the animal kingdom, and animals such as Llamas have very small antibodies, which are commonly known as nanobodies (very small antibodies).
