In one form of gene therapy to treat loss of sight, a virus containing genetic material injected in one eye has now been shown to travel into the untreated eye Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2262327-gene-therapy-injected-in-one-eye-can-travel-to-the-other-eye/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: gene
Reversal of Biological Clock Restores Vision In Old Mice
John Trumpian shares a report from SciTechDaily: Harvard Medical School scientists have successfully restored vision in mice by turning back the clock on aged eye cells in the retina to recapture youthful gene function. The team’s work, described today in Nature, represents the first demonstration that it may be possible to safely reprogram complex tissues, such as the nerve cells of…
CRISPR gene editing of brain cells might prevent Alzheimer’s disease
CRISPR gene editing could be used to introduce a rare gene variant that greatly reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s, but it has only been tried in a dish so far Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2261034-crispr-gene-editing-of-brain-cells-might-prevent-alzheimers-disease/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
‘I Should Have Loved Biology’
James Somers, in a long essay: I should have loved biology but I found it to be a lifeless recitation of names: the Golgi apparatus and the Krebs cycle; mitosis, meiosis; DNA, RNA, mRNA, tRNA. In the textbooks, astonishing facts were presented without astonishment. Someone probably told me that every cell in my body has the same DNA. But no one…
Mysterious ‘gene within a gene’ found in the coronavirus
Researchers have uncovered a mysterious gene in the genetic code of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 – a segment virtually hidden from view in the virus’s genome, and largely overlooked until now. Source: https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-mysterious-gene-inside-gene-discovered.html
Jupiter and Saturn are drawing closer!
Photos of Jupiter and Saturn, from the EarthSky community around the world, as the planets head for their once-in-20-years great conjunction on December 21, 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/jupiter-saturn-photos-drawing-closer-conjunction-dec21-2020…
Tiny Variants In Genes May Dictate Severity of Coronavirus
Scientists are tracking small differences in DNA to explain why the disease has different effects. An anonymous reader shares a report from The Guardian: Key developments include research which indicates that interferon — a molecular messenger that stimulates immune defenses against invading viruses — may play a vital role in defending the body. Scientists have found that rare mutations in some…
No Implants Needed For Precise Control Deep Into the Brain
An anonymous reader quotes a report from IEEE Spectrum: In April, Guoping Feng and colleagues at MIT, along with [Karl Deisseroth, a neuroscientist and bioengineer at Stanford University] demonstrated a minimally invasive optogenetic system that required drilling a small hole in the skull, then being able to control opsin-expressing neurons six millimeters deep into the brain using blue light. This approach…
CRISPR turns normal body fat into a type that burns energy
Animal studies suggest the metabolic conditions linked to obesity could be treated by using CRISPR gene editing to turn normal fat into heat-producing beige fat Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2257655-crispr-turns-normal-body-fat-into-a-type-that-burns-energy/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Gene-editing CRISPR technique can help us cut emissions from farming
There are risks to using CRISPR, but also to not embracing it, because it will be much harder to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food production without gene editing Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833033-000-gene-editing-crispr-technique-can-help-us-cut-emissions-from-farming/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…