Lifeboat Foundation

CRISPR to improve shelf life of vegetables and fruits. I magine what this would mean for populations in remote locations with horrible climates or in disaster zones that need fresh foods.

Yinong Yang, a Penn State University researcher, has used a famous gene editing tool known as CRISPR/Cas9 for cutting out a small piece of DNA from one specific gene in a white button mushroom. With this, Yang was able to stop the gene, which in turn cuts the production of an enzyme known as polyphenol oxidase in mushroom. With this gene editing of white mushrooms, the mushroom doesn’t get spoiled as natural mushrooms.

You might have heard something like this earlier as scientists have also developed non-browning versions of apples and potatoes. However, those crops were called GMOs as scientists had put in new, slightly altered genes within those plants to ‘silence’ the natural gene.

Continue reading “Penn Researcher uses CRISPR/Cas9 to snip out tiny piece of DNA from gene in white button mushroom” »

Another gene editing triumph.

Genetic engineering may emerge as an important tool to avert extinctions. But ecosystems are complex, and this tinkering might not unfold as planned.

The researchers took T cells from the tumour, removed PD-1, multiplied the T cells and put them back into the mice and found that the tumours shrank.

They then inserted the enzyme and found that these T cells were able to keep up the fight at the tumour site.

The team is preparing for clinical trials and has started a company, PanTher Therapeutics, to develop the implant for patient use.

Continue reading “New implantable device may help shrink pancreatic tumours” »

Nice

Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) identified a gene that suppresses memory in the brain cells of fruit flies, and the findings could provide targets for potential new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

The team, led by Ron Davis, chair of TSRI’s Department of Neuroscience scanned about 3,500 Drosophila genes, and found multiple dozen memory suppressor genes that help the brain prioritize information and keep certain important memories.

Continue reading “Memory Suppressor Gene Identified” »

Nthing new; nice to see more folks waking up.

We’re moving beyond just prosthetics and wearable tech. Soon, we’ll all by cyborgs in one way or another.

From The Six Million Dollar Man to Inspector Gadget to Robocop, humans with bionic body parts have become commonplace in fiction. In the real world, we use technology to restore functionality to missing or defective body parts; in science fiction, such technology gives characters superhuman abilities. The future of cyborgs may hinge on that distinction.

Continue reading “Cyborgs Aren’t Just For Sci-Fi Anymore” »

Luv it! Nice read and recommend.

In Martyn Amos’s Genesis Machines, Steven Poole discovers how to turn some DNA into 50 billion smiley faces.

An autonomous DNA molecular machine has been created that can be programmed to assemble a variety of natural and synthetic molecular building blocks into longer chains.

DNA machine can be programmed to produce a wide range of polymers and even keeps a record of each one it makes.

This new method of pain treatment can prevent risky side-effects such as addiction, dependence, and overdose-related deaths — and it does so using electricity.

Abuse of prescription pain killers or opioid medicines is common. But then again, how else can you treat chronic pain? Unfortunately, addiction is a terrible side-effect that can lead to overdose-related deaths.

But now a research team from the University of Arlington seems to have found a better and more efficient solution: Electrical stimulation.

Continue reading “New Device Can Ease Chronic Pain Without Drugs, Thanks to Brain Stimulation” »

Stem cell discovery could transform the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Bill Condie reports.

A micrograph of a section through the human pancreas shows the central purple “Langerhans islets”, which contain the cells that produce hormones including insulin. The surrounding exocrine tissue produces digestive enzymes. Credit: STEVE GSCHMEISSNER /Getty Images.

Scientists have for the first time created insulin-producing cells in the laboratory, a discovery that could transform the way we treat diabetes.

Continue reading “Insulin-producing cells created in the lab” »