Lifeboat Foundation

A small team of public health specialists from the University of Glasgow and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health reports a possible link between some cases of autism and prenatal diet.

In their study, published in JAMA Network Open, the group analyzed information in two large databases of medical information on thousands of mothers and daughters in Norway and England.

Prior research has suggested that there appears to be diet, genetic and environmental factors involved in the development of autism in children while they are still in the womb, though the exact cause is still unknown. For this new study, the research team looked more closely at the role of diet in its development.

Bioelectrical signaling in the African clawed frog modulates both resistance to infection and tail regeneration. Michael Levin at Tufts University in Massachusetts, USA, and colleagues have used genetic technologies and drug treatments to manipulate the bioelectrical properties of tissues in frog embryos. Reducing the electric gradient between the inside and outside of cells (depolarization) increased the embryos’ survival rate to bacterial infection, whereas increasing the resting potential (hyperpolarization) had the opposite effect. The authors found that serotonergic signaling and an increase in the number of myeloid cells underpin depolarization-induced immunity. Interestingly, embryos undergoing tail regeneration, which triggers depolarization, also showed increased resistance to infection.

Scientists at the University of Sydney have developed a gene-editing tool with greater accuracy and flexibility than the industry standard, CRISPR, which has revolutionized genetic engineering in medicine, agriculture and biotechnology.

SeekRNA uses a programmable ribonucleic acid (RNA) strand that can directly identify sites for insertion in genetic sequences, simplifying the editing process and reducing errors.

The new gene-editing tool is being developed by a team led by Dr. Sandro Ataide in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences. Their findings have been published in Nature Communications.

The path toward a cancer diagnosis is anything but fun. Among the least enjoyable aspects of the journey are the invasive and often excruciating biopsies that are needed to collect information about the genetic mutations or chromosomal abnormalities of the cells in a growing tumor. This information is critical for an accurate diagnosis of a patient’s cancer, as well as for prognosis predictions and treatment selections. At the recent Acoustical Society of America meeting in Ottawa, Canada, Roger Zemp of the University of Alberta reported on an alternative method that he and his colleagues have developed for extracting this genetic information that uses sound waves rather than tissue removal. “Traditional biopsies with their big needles are scary and painful,” says Joy Wang, a master’s student who works with Zemp. “Our method is pain free and can provide clearer information about a cancer’s genetics.”

Biopsy needles are akin to hole punches for the flesh. These long, hollow needles can be over 2 mm in diameter and typically punch out a core of flesh between 1 and 2 mm in diameter. For comparison, the average blood-draw needle is half a millimeter in diameter. The large holes made by the biopsy needles significantly increase the likelihood of pain, swelling, bruising, or infection at the biopsy site, both during the biopsy collection and for days afterward.

The prospect of being left black and blue can cause patients significant anxiety. The worry can become so high that it can stop a person from getting a questionable lump or bump checked out. Therefore, researchers have been searching for less invasive, less frightening methods to retrieve the information that biopsies provide. Alternative techniques could also allow for earlier detection of some cancers, Zemp says.

“Bridge recombination can universally modify genetic material through sequence-specific insertion, excision, inversion, and more, enabling a word processor for the living genome beyond CRISPR,” said Berkeley’s Patrick Hsu, a senior author of one of the studies and Arc Institute core investigator, in a press release.

CRISPR Coup

Continue reading “Beyond CRISPR: Scientists Say New Gene Editing Tool Is Like a ‘Word Processor’ for DNA” »

A University of Bristol-led study found that life on Earth, stemming from a common ancestor called LUCA, flourished soon after the planet’s formation.

Through genetic analysis and evolutionary modeling, researchers pinpointed LUCA’s existence to about 4.2 billion years ago, revealing it as a complex organism with an early immune system integral to Earth’s earliest ecosystems.

Luca’s genetic blueprint and its descendants.

This is pretty impressive, they can move around individual cells. Video in comments:

Researchers at the HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, have developed tiny tools to capture individual cells. According to their study published in the journal Advanced Materials, key innovations of using flexible microrobots is that they do not require any treatment of the cells to grab them and also allow the cells to be released after examination, enabling more efficient investigations than ever before.

Continue reading “HUN-REN BRC researchers develop laser-guided microrobots for cell-capturing” »

In new research, Arizona State University scientists and their colleagues investigated genetic changes occurring in a naturally isolated population of the water flea, Daphnia pulex. This tiny crustacean, barely visible to the naked eye, plays a crucial role in freshwater ecosystems and offers a unique window into natural selection and evolution.

A long-term study since 1929 has revealed significant insights into barley’s evolution, showing its adaptation to different environments and the substantial impact of natural selection. This research underscores the limitations of evolutionary breeding and highlights the need for further exploration to enhance crop yields.

Utilizing one of the world’s oldest biological experiments, which commenced in 1929, researchers have revealed how barley, a major crop, has been influenced by agricultural pressures and its evolving natural environment. These findings highlight the significance of long-term studies in comprehending the dynamics of adaptive evolution.

The survival of cultivated plants after their dispersal across different environments is a classic example of rapid adaptive evolution. For example, barley, an important neolithic crop, spread widely after domestication over 10,000 years ago to become a staple source of nutrition for humans and livestock throughout Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa over just a few thousand generations. Such rapid expansion and cultivation have subjected the plant to strong selective pressures, including artificial selection for desired traits and natural selection by being forced to adapt to diverse new environments.