Here is a snapshot of our talks on synthetic biology. These videos will provide you with a basic understanding and appreciation for this field. These lectures start with an introduction to synthetic biology and go through the major discoveries and ethical controversies that arise from this field. You can check out the full Synthetic Biology Playlist here!
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women around the world, responsible for 1700 deaths every day. Although the vast majority of breast cancers are treatable, the most aggressive subtype—triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) – has a high recurrence rate, a high potential for metastasis and shows resistance to conventional treatments, leading to very poor prognosis and survival outcomes. A team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC) conducted a preclinical study and discovered a novel targeted combination therapy that efficiently reduced tumor growth in metastatic breast cancer. Published in Nature Communications, their findings could lead to the development of a novel first line targeted therapy for the treatment of TNBC, with the prospect of rapidly transitioning to clinical trials in humans.
“There is no targeted therapy for TNBC. Chemotherapy treatment can even enrich these tumors in cancer stem cells and be detrimental to the patient, as we have shown in a previous study,” says Dr. Jean-Jacques Lebrun, senior scientist in the Cancer Research Program at the RI-MUHC and principal investigator of the study. “Filling that huge medical gap was our motivation in conducting this study.”
While most breast cancers have one of three main receptors that are like entrance gates for treatments—estrogen, progesterone and a protein called human epidermal growth factor (HER2) – TNBC has none, thus the name triple negative breast cancer. Using state-of-the-art technologies such as gene editing and genome-wide molecular approaches, the team identified two pathways which could be targeted in a therapeutic strategy.
“Once the virus is recognised, the CRISPR enzyme is activated and chops up the virus,” she said.
Paris (AFP)
Scientists have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to successfully block the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in infected human cells, according to research released Tuesday that could pave the way for Covid-19 treatments.
Continue reading “Gene editing ‘blocks virus transmission’ in human cells” »
Circa 2019
MIT’S new mini cheetah robot is the first four-legged robot to do a backflip. At only 20 pounds the limber quadruped can bend and swing its legs wide, enabling it to walk either right side up or upside down. The robot can also trot over uneven terrain about twice as fast as an average person’s walking speed. (Learn more: http://news.mit.edu/2019/mit-mini-cheetah-first-four-legged-…kflip-0304)
Two reports call for the development of global standards for gene editing, covering unfair and potentially dangerous applications of experimental techniques, including altering DNA to enhance athletic ability.
The innovative material that creates green energy through mechanical force.
A new nanotechnology development by an international research team led by Tel Aviv University researchers will make it possible to generate electric currents and voltage within the human body through the activation of various organs (mechanical force). The researchers explain that the development involves a new and very strong biological material, similar to collagen, which is non-toxic and causes no harm to the body’s tissues. The researchers believe that this new nanotechnology has many potential applications in medicine, including harvesting clean energy to operate devices implanted in the body (such as pacemakers) through the body’s natural movements, eliminating the need for batteries.
The study was led by Prof. Ehud Gazit of the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at the Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, along with his lab team, Dr. Santu Bera and Dr. Wei Ji.
The researchers explain that the development involves a new and very strong biological material, similar to collagen, which is non-toxic and causes no harm to the body’s tissues. The researchers believe that this new nanotechnology has many potential applications in medicine, including harvesting clean energy to operate devices implanted in the body (such as pacemakers) through the body’s natural movements, eliminating the need for batteries.
The study was led by Prof. Ehud Gazit of the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at the Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, along with his lab team, Dr. Santu Bera and Dr. Wei Ji.
Also taking part in the study were researchers from the Weizmann Institute and a number of research institutes in Ireland, China and Australia. As a result of their findings, the researchers received two ERC-POC grants aimed at using the scientific research from the ERC grant that Gazit had previously won for applied technology. The research was published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.
As the Shenzhou-12 crew of three taikonauts has lived for nearly three weeks in China’s Tianhe space station core module, the urine treatment system in the module has recycled 66 liters of urine and treated it into distilled water to support the crew, the Global Times learned from the system designers on Tuesday.
This urine treatment system — a sub-system of the life support system — was devised by Chinese scientists with the 206 Research Institute of the Second Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC). The developers told the Global Times that this is the nation’s first engineering application of the system, and its good performance shows how China’s space station construction work has advanced.
All indicators of the distilled water have reached the standards for usage, and the mission planners have unanimously recognized this outstanding performance, the institute said in a statement it sent to the Global Times.
The Gist: They think they can start wider human trials soon which would last 2 years then have a product in 3 to 4 years.
In this video, Drs Irina and Mike Conboy talk how TPE, therapeutic plasma exchange is already available as an FDA approved procedure and the plans to extend the usage to include more age related diseases. We also discuss the company that they have formed IMU
In this video, Drs Irina and Mike Conboy talk about the procedure of Neutral Blood Exchange. How it is done and how much blood of the blood is exchanged.
Our guests today are Drs. Irina and Michael Conboy of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California Berkeley. their discovery of the rejuvenating effects of young blood through parabiosis in a seminal paper published in Nature in 2005 paved the way for a thriving field of rejuvenation biology. The Conboy lab currently focuses on broad rejuvenation of tissue maintenance and repair, stem cell niche engineering, elucidating the mechanisms underlying muscle stem cell aging, directed organogenesis, and making CRISPR a therapeutic reality.
