MIT News: In the 1920s, German chemist Otto Warburg discovered that cancer cells don’t metabolize sugar the same way that healthy cells usually do. Since then, scientists have tried to figure out why cancer cells use this alternative pathway, which is much less efficient. MIT biologists have now found a possible answer to this longstanding question. In a study appearing in…
Tag: Mitochondria
Scientists Make Precise Gene Edits To Mitochondrial DNA For First Time
A peculiar bacterial enzyme has allowed researchers to achieve what even the popular CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing system couldn’t manage: targeted changes to the genomes of mitochondria, cells’ crucial energy-producing structures. From a report: The technique — which builds on a super-precise version of gene editing called base editing — could allow researchers to develop new ways to study, and perhaps even treat,…
The powerhouses inside cells have been gene-edited for the first time
Making precise changes to the genomes of mitochondria within our cells could lead to treatments for disorders that can result in muscle weakness or even death in early childhood Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2248168-the-powerhouses-inside-cells-have-been-gene-edited-for-the-first-time/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Scientists Find the First-Ever Animal That Doesn’t Need Oxygen To Survive
Scientists from Tel Aviv University in Israel discovered that a salmon parasite called Henneguya salminicola doesn’t have a mitochondrial genome — the first multicellular organism known to have this absence. That means it doesn’t breathe; in fact, it lives its life completely free of oxygen dependency. ScienceAlert reports: It’s a cnidarian, belonging to the same phylum as corals, jellyfish and anemones….
Walking sharks discovered in tropics
Researchers have discovered 4 new species of sharks that use their fins to walk, in waters off northern Australia and New Guinea. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/new-spacies-walking-sharks-discovered-in-tropics…
Thanksgiving turkey: Light meat or dark?
Want to avoid politics at this year’s Thanksgiving dinner? Amaze your companions with your knowledge of why different cuts of turkey have different characteristics. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/thanksgiving-turkey-meat-light-dark…
Targeting mitochondria in neurons may help relieve severe forms of MS
Altering the composition of a peron’s spinal fluid may provide a new approach for alleviating symptoms of progressive multiple sclerosis Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2209852-targeting-mitochondria-in-neurons-may-help-relieve-severe-forms-of-ms/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
A marine parasite’s mitochondria lack DNA but still churn out energy
Missing mitochondrial DNA inside a parasitic marine microbe turned up inside the organism’s nucleus. Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/marine-parasite-mitochondria-no-dna-energy4…
Magnesium Puts Psychiatric Drugs to Shame for Depression
Sayer Ji – Depression is one of the most widely diagnosed conditions of our time. Source: https://www.wakingtimes.com/2019/04/16/magnesium-puts-psychiatric-drugs-to-shame-for-depression/…