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Category: genetics

New recyclable protein textiles could cut microplastic pollution and lower clothing waste

The textile industry produces a substantial portion of the world’s waste, with only about 12% of fiber materials ending up in recycling. Textiles also account for much of the microplastics in oceans. During every wash cycle, synthetic fibers shed microplastics that are flushed down the drain and eventually enter aquatic environments. Increasing textile recycling alone won’t solve this problem because most petrochemical-based fibers are difficult to recycle and continue to release persistent microplastics throughout their life cycle.

Engineers from Washington University in St. Louis may have a solution, thanks to dedicated synthetic biology work in the lab of Fuzhong Zhang, the Francis F. Ahmann Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and co-director of Synthetic Biology Manufacturing of Advanced Materials Research Center (SMARC).

The results of that work, now published in the journal Advanced Materials, created protein-based materials, which are produced in bioreactors (think giant brewing tanks) using genetically engineered microbes. These materials can be readily recycled after use and remade into the same fibers over multiple cycles. In addition, any microparticles, if released from these fibers during washing, would be biodegradable.

Single-molecule RNA mapping may reveal how shape shifts steer health and disease

Researchers from A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS) have developed a new method to study individual RNA molecules and reveal how their structures influence gene regulation, a fundamental process that affects how cells function in health and disease. Their work was published in Nature Methods.

RNA is best known for carrying genetic instructions from DNA to make proteins. However, RNA does more than act as a messenger. Like a string that can bend, fold and interact with other molecules, RNA can adopt different shapes that affect how it behaves in the cell. These shapes can influence how efficiently proteins are produced, how long RNA molecules last, and how diseases such as viral infections progress.

Until now, studying these structures in detail has been difficult because RNA is highly flexible and dynamic. Most existing methods only provide an average picture across many RNA molecules, making it harder to see how individual RNA molecules may fold differently, even when they come from the same gene.

Scientists accidentally discover DNA that breaks the rules of life

A routine experiment with a new single-cell DNA sequencing method turned into a surprising scientific twist when researchers stumbled upon a bizarre genetic code in a microscopic pond organism. Instead of following the near-universal “rules” of life, this newly identified protist rewrites how genes signal their end. This unexpected discovery challenges long-held assumptions about how genetic translation works and hints that nature may be far more flexible—and mysterious—than scientists realized.

New targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy induces remission in pancreatic cancer model

A newly developed targeted radiopharmaceutical treatment can effectively slow tumor growth in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), according to new research published in the May issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. In preclinical models, the treatment achieved complete remission of the disease, highlighting its potential to transform care for this highly aggressive cancer.

PDAC accounts for more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases and remains one of the most lethal malignancies, with a five-year survival rate of less than 5% in patients with metastatic disease. Although surgery is the only curative approach, it is feasible only in 10%–20% of patients with localized disease.

“PDAC is very difficult to treat, and new options are urgently needed,” said Marika Nestor, professor in the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University in Sweden. “Our previous findings suggest a possible new targeted treatment approach for pancreatic cancer patients whose tumors express CD44v6, which may help make treatment more precise and effective.”

Gene Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease Associated with GBA1 Mutations

Abeliovich et al. make a compelling case for the promise of using gene therapy to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients who possess mutations in the GBA1 gene. People interested in the clinical-translational side of biomedicine should definitely check this out!

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Dyno Therapeutics Launches Two New AAV Capsids and AI Platform for Rare Disease Therapeutic Development at the 2026 American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting

Dyno continues to develop impressive new AAV capsids with their AI-guided design approach!

About Dyno Therapeutics.

Dyno Therapeutics is on a mission to build high-performance genetic technologies that transform patients’ lives. Dyno applies AI to build technologies for gene delivery and sequence design that advance “Genetic Agency” — an individual’s ability to take action at the genetic level to live a healthier life — through safe, effective and widely accessible genetic treatments. With frontier AI models and high-throughput in vivo experimentation, Dyno designs optimized AAV delivery vectors that solve gene delivery challenges across a wide range of therapeutic applications including eye, muscle and CNS. Dyno partners across industries to ensure these life-transforming technologies can help as many patients as possible, including through strategic collaborations with leading gene therapy developers Astellas and Roche and with technology companies including NVIDIA. Dyno’s AI-designed capsids are available for direct licensing and through the Dyno Frontiers Network. Visit www.dynotx.com for more information.

‘Dyno Therapeutics’, ‘dyno’, the Dyno logo, and mountain logo are registered trademarks of Dyno Therapeutics, Inc. All rights reserved.

A fresh approach to peppermint: 250 new variants could boost flavor and fight disease

The genomics of peppermint are not as fresh as their flavor but scientists from the University of California, Davis, have found a way to breathe new genetic variation into the species. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help the mint industry develop new varieties of peppermint and provide a roadmap for improving clonal crops more generally.

Similar to strawberries, potatoes and many fruit trees, peppermint plants (Mentha × piperita) are reproduced asexually by a process called clonal propagation. In the case of peppermint, this means that their genomes have remained unaltered for more than 200 years. This lack of genetic variation leaves them susceptible to disease and means that properties such as yield and flavor have remained stagnant.

UC Davis plant biologists used radiation to induce mutations in the leading peppermint clone grown in the United States, resulting in more than 250 new and genetically distinct variants. Altogether, they introduced 1,406 large genetic mutations, which can now be used to identify key genes for breeding or selecting new and superior peppermint varieties.

Image-based, pooled phenotyping reveals multidimensional, disease-specific variant effects

Variant in situ sequencing (VIS-seq) links genetic variants to cell images, revealing how variants affect molecules, subcellular structures, and cells at scale. Applied to thousands of LMNA and PTEN variants, VIS-seq illuminated how variants impacted a multidimensional phenotypic continuum that is not recapitulated by any single functional readout.

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