#Researchers Discover New Epigenetic Mecahnism in Brain cells For decades, researchers in the genetics field have theorized that the protein spools around
which DNA is wound, histones, remain constant in the brain, never changing after development in the womb.
This histone replacement, known as turnover, enables our genetic machinery to adapt to our environment by prompting gene expression,
and at the Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics, The Rockefeller University, was published today in the journal Neuron.
and protect genetic material in chromosomes, are highly stable proteins in non-dividing cells like nerve cells.
The newfound mechanism is epigenetic meaning it fine-tunes gene expression without changing the DNA code we inherit from our parents.
The study results revolve around the fact that, although some cell types, such as skin cells, constantly self-destruct and are replaced in an ongoing turnover that keeps tissues viable, others,
creating a new front in the field of chromatin biology, said Ian Maze, Phd, Assistant professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at the Icahn School of medicine at Mount sinai. y identifying this new mechanism of epigenetic regulation,
or changes to gene expression caused by external and environmental factors, this work provides a novel conceptual framework for further studies aimed at identifying the molecular underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disease and psychiatric illness. pecifically,
the study examined a specific type of histone called H3. 3 in human and rodent brains.
with the histone variant H3. 3 accumulating to near-saturating levels throughout the neuronal genome by mid-adolescence.
Despite such accumulation, H3. 3-containing nucleosomes remain highly dynamicn a modification-independent mannero control neuronal-and glial-specific gene expression patterns throughout life.
cause an optic atrophy spectrum disorderis published in the journal Nature Genetics. Patients with mutations in this gene present symptoms similar to optic atrophy and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 2 (CMT2), including vision loss and weakening of the lower leg and foot
muscles beginning in the first decade of life. The novel variants occur in a gene called SLC25A46 that functions in mitochondria
assistant professor of Biology in the UM College of Arts and Sciences and a senior author of the study. hese data support a critical role for SLC25A46 and mitochondrial dynamics in the establishment and maintenance of neuronal processes.
Mutations in the genes associated with mitochondria dynamics OPA1 and MFN2 are linked to similar mitochondrial disorders.
Given the similarities between the diseases caused by mutations in OPA1, MFN2 and SLC25A46, these genes could be involved in common pathological mechanisms of neurodegeneration,
said Dr. Stephan Züchner, professor and chair of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human genetics, at UM Miller School of medicine,
and a senior author of the study. nly through the new genome sequencing methods and active global data exchange were we able to solve this puzzle. r
and uses biotechnology to convert viruses into therapeutic agents, effectively allowing them to go on seek
said Dr Kevin Harrington, professor of biological cancer therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research London (ICR),
Synthetic biologists are racing to come up with artificial versions of the building blocks of life.""We have been basically reinventing the genetic alphabet from the bottom up,
The scaffold is nourished then in a bioreactor enabling new tissue to grow and colonise the scaffold.
Ott began by suspending the decellularised forelimb in a bioreactor, plumbing the collagen artery into an artificial circulatory system to provide nutrients, oxygen and electrical stimulation to the limb.
Ott finished off the limb by coating the forelimbs with skin grafts (Biomaterials, doi. org/4w7.
taking known fundamental principles of biology and applying them as an engineer would.""Others are more critical."
if you are going to reproduce intestinal biology, "Donowitz says. This lab is moving in that direction.
and stoked concerns about setting a new precedent for genetic manipulation. In Britain the legislation known as the Human Fertilization and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 is seen as having a good chance at being approved.
#Scientists Give Genetically modified organisms A Safety Switch Researchers at Harvard and Yale have used some extreme gene-manipulation tools to engineer safety features into designer organisms.
This work goes far beyond traditional genetic engineering, which involves moving a gene from one organism to another.
In this case, they're actually rewriting the language of genetics. The goal is to make modified organisms safer to use,
you may need to remember a bit of basic biology. The enzymes and other proteins in our bodies are built all from building blocks called amino acids.
But George Church a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical school, has created a bacterium that requires an additional amino acid,
With their altered genetic code, they are resistant to viruses that frequently attack bacteria. Viruses need the conventional DNA language
and developmental biology at Yale university. Isaacs left Church's lab at Harvard to start his own at Yale.
"I think it's commendable they're starting to design safety into genetically modified organisms, "says Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic engineering and Society Center at North carolina State university."
"However, I don't really think it's going to affect the public perception that much or the way we have to deal with the uncertainty anyway.
"This camera module has been designed specifically for medical applications with stringent biocompatibility, sterilization and electrical requirements,"said Shingo Ishii, group leader of the medical business development division at Fujikura.
or improvements to the accuracy of biometric devices such as iris and retinal scanners,"noted Roesch."
According to experts at the United nations, the mass killings of the rare antelopes are attributable to a combination of environmental and biological factors.
This way, there are chances that the fluidic computer may find its uses in areas like biology, chemistry,
The new technique could be combined with optogenetics and other tissue manipulations, the researchers said. It could also be used for imaging cellular replication,
which is used to track minute biochemistry in the body, such as the transition of the naturally occurring chemical pyruvate to lactate.
has been found to be an excellent biomarker for disease. Finally, luminescence, fluorescence and optical imaging are all state-of-the-art imaging techniques that can be used to paint targets as small as a strand of DNA with glowing substances to make them stand out
Researchers are able to study these frequencies to learn about the composition of biological samples and chemical processes taking place within them.
a microbiologist at Delft University of Technology, is working on a concrete with built-in bacteria that can fill in cracks as they form.
Jonkers hopes that eventually more buildings will be built with the biological concrete, creating structures that will fix themselves instead of degrading into fixer-uppers s
He looks to the recent advances in coding biological strands of DNA in a similar manner as a roadmap for how synthetic polymer technology can progress.
Harvard professor of genetics George Church previously used this DNA method to print 70 million copies of his book to DNA, fitting all that data in a drop of liquid,
NA was designed really by biology and evolution to work in biological situations, but if you want to work in nanotechnology it is a very different environment,
The researchers tested their mixture on a 3d bioprinter, which had been used previously to make scaffolds where cells grew before being implanted in a patient.
a professor of biopolymer technology at Chalmers and one of the study authors, envisions a huge range of applications for products printed with cellulose."
including advanced DNA TESTING that is now used to protect endangered or threatened animals. Detecting illegal wood products is more challenging,
The british biotech company Oxitec has been developing a unique form of pest control for over a decade.
when the mosquitoes mate, their young carry a mutation that kills them before theye able to reproduce
Flu vaccines effectively give your immune system a antedposter based on researchersbest predictions for the mutation that year.
These qualities make the material a good candidate for a range of applications on biological and nonbiological materials.
Presumably the researchers would hope to reach the biggest possible market with a biocompatible sunscreen:
said Roderic Pettigrew, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the organization that funded the study, in the UCLA press release.
Mastercard plans on launching a pilot program this fall that uses biometrics to approve purchases instead of password verification.
In other tests the scientists used a technique known as optogenetics, where mice have been modified so that their neurons are lights sensitive,
#Biologists Discover New Mechanism of Cell division Cell division is fundamental to all life forms. Human body develops from a single cell that divides billions of times to generate all tissue types,
and it was unknown until now that chromosomes could play an active role in cell division. In animal cells, division involves mitosis,
the separation of chromosomes followed by splitting of the cell into two new daughter cells by cytokinesis. ivision is a complex and robust process that is generally performed flawlessly,
Working with fruit fly cells, Dr Hickson and co-authors discovered that chromosomes emit signals that influence the cortex of the cell to reinforce microtubule action.
This is what makes fruit flies such a powerful system for helping us to understand human biology, Dr Hickson said. hen chromosomes are segregated,
they approach the membrane at the poles of the cell, and thanks to this enzyme actions, this contributes to the softening of the polar membrane,
#Telomerase Cancer cell Mutation Mystery Solved More than 500,000 people in the United states die each year of cancer-related causes
and a new study has identified the mechanism behind one of the most common mutations that help cancer cells replicate limitlessly.
Recent cancer research has shown that highly recurrent mutations in the promoter of the TERT gene are the most common genetic mutations in many cancers,
TERT stabilizes chromosomes by elongating the protective element at the end of each chromosome in a cell. Scientists have discovered that cells harboring these mutations aberrantly increase TERT expression,
effectively making them immortal. Researchers have uncovered the mechanisms by which these common mutations result in elevated TERT expression by using computational and experimental analyses to determine that the mechanism of increased TERT expression in tumor tissue relies on a specific transcription factor-a protein that binds specific DNA sequences
and regulates how its target genes are expressed-that selectively binds the mutated sequences. The TERT mutations act as a new binding site for the transcription factor that controls TERT expression.
The newly identified transcription factor does not recognize the normal TERT promoter sequence, and thus, does not regulate TERT in healthy tissue.
The identified transcription factor and its regulators have great potential for the development of new precision therapeutic interventions in cancers that harbor the TERT mutations.
It was funded by Asthma UK, the Cardiff Partnership Fund, Marie Curie Initial Training Network, the Biotechnology and Biological sciences Research Council and the US National institutes of health t
which opens up potential applications such as the creation of microscopic centrifuges for biological cell sorting or small-scale, low-power water purification."
In order to bioengineer complex organs, scientists need to understand the mechanisms by which those shapes are produced normally by the living organism.
shape and orientation, said the paper's senior author, Michael Levin, Ph d.,Vannevar bush professor of biology and director of the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental biology.
Daniel Lobo/Michael Levin-Tufts University"Most regenerative models today derived from genetic experiments are arrow diagrams,
and developmental biology, said the paper's first author, Daniel Lobo, Ph d, . postdoctoral fellow in the Levin lab. To address this challenge,
and bring an unusual perspective to the field of developmental biology. Levin majored in computer science and biology at Tufts before earning his Ph d. in genetics.
Lobo earned a Ph d. in the field before joining the Levin lab. The paper represents a successful application of the growing field of"robot science
Currently, diagnosis of Ebola requires a full vial of venous blood to be shipped to a laboratory with a high level of biosafety and staff expertise for testing by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Discovery of the STORR gene completes the set of genes needed for genetic engineering of morphine production in microbes such as yeast.
These plants were found to carry mutations in the STORR gene. These mutations cause a roadblock in the pathway to morphine production in poppy plants.
The scientists were able to show that the non-mutated wild type gene can overcome the roadblock
orphinan biosynthesis in opium poppy requires a P450-oxidoreductase fusion protein Science Express n
#Oscillatory Chemical reactions: What Your Clothes May Literally Say About You In the future Wearing a computer on your sleeve may be a lot cooler than a plastic watch with an Apple logo on it-researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have designed a responsive hybrid material fueled by an oscillatory chemical reactions.
"says senior study author Jeffrey Ravetch, professor of Molecular genetics and Immunology at Rockefeller University.""We believe these results may represent a preliminary step toward a universal flu vaccine,
To learn more, the researchers analyzed cryo-electron microscopy (CRYO EM) structures of 2d22 in complex with two different strains of viral serotype 2--the dengue serotype with the most dynamic surface--at 6. 5
These CRYO EM structures reveal that 2d22 binds to viral envelope proteins, locking about two-thirds of them in place on the viral surface and preventing them from reorganizing into the orientations required to enter host cells.
"CRYO EM structure of an antibody that neutralizes dengue virus type 2 by locking E protein dimers,"by G. Fibriansah;
#Gene therapy Restores Hearing In Deaf Mice Using gene therapy, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical school have restored hearing in mice with a genetic form of deafness.
Their work, published online July 8 by the journal Science Translational Medicine, could pave the way for gene therapy in people with hearing loss caused by genetic mutations."
"Our gene therapy protocol is not yet ready for clinical trials--we need to tweak it a bit more
Sensory hair cells in the cochlea of a Beethoven mouse treated with TMC2 gene therapy. In this confocal microscopy image, microvilli are shown in red and cell bodies in green.
The researchers tested gene therapy in two types of mutant mice. One type had the TMC1 gene completely deleted
and is a good model for recessive TMC1 mutations in humans: Children with two mutant copies of TMC1 have profound hearing loss from a very young age, usually by around 2 years.
The other type of mouse, called Beethoven, has a specific TMC1 mutation--a change in a single amino acid
In this form, less common than the recessive form, a single copy of the mutation causes children to gradually go deaf beginning around the age of 10 to 15 years.
or AAV1, together with a promoter--a genetic sequence that turns the gene on only in certain sensory cells of the inner ear known as hair cells.
In the recessive deafness model, gene therapy with TMC1 restored the ability of sensory hair cells to respond to sound--producing a measurable electrical current--and also restored activity in the auditory portion of the brainstem.
"Mice with TMC1 mutations will just sit there, but with gene therapy, they jump as high as a normal mouse,
"says Holt. The force of their jump was measured by a plate on the floor underneath them;
In the dominant deafness model, gene therapy with a related gene, TMC2, was successful at the cellular and brain level,
and is already in use in human gene therapy trials for blindness, heart disease, muscular dystrophy and other conditions.
Holt hopes to partner with clinicians at Boston Children's Department of Otolaryngology and elsewhere to start clinical trials of TMC1 gene therapy within 5 to 10 years."
"Holt believes that other forms of genetic deafness may also be amenable to the same gene therapy strategy.
"I can envision patients with deafness having their genome sequenced and a tailored, precision medicine treatment injected into their ears to restore hearing,
a mutation in the TMC1 gene is sufficient to cause deafness. However, Holt's study also showed that gene therapy with TMC2 could compensate for loss of a functional TMC1 gene,
restoring hearing in the recessive deafness model and partial hearing in the dominant deafness model."
"The implications of successful gene therapy are profound, and we are delighted to be associated with this study program,
#New Cell division Mechanism Discovered Researchers have discovered that chromosomes play an active role in animal cell division.
It was observed by a team of researchers including Gilles Hickson, an assistant professor at the University of Montreal Department of Pathology and Cell biology and researcher at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, his assistant Silvana Jananji, in collaboration with Nelio
and Sergey Lekomtsev, a postdoc, working in the group led by Buzz Baum of the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell biology at University college London.
and it was unknown until now that chromosomes could play an active role at this step in cytokinesis.
the separation of chromosomes followed by splitting of the cell into two new daughter cells by cytokinesis."
called microtubules, were involved in pulling chromosomes to opposite poles of the cell during the division process. t this time,
microtubules physically separate the chromosomes via their central kinetochores while other microtubules signal to the cortex of the cell where its equator is, i e.,
it was believed that the chromosomes only played a passive role: that they were pulled by the microtubules
the research team discovered that chromosomes emit signals that influence the cortex of the cell to reinforce microtubule action.
This is what makes fruit flies such a powerful system for helping us to understand human biology.""When chromosomes are segregated,
they approach the membrane at the poles of the cell, and thanks to this enzyme actions, this contributes to the softening of the polar membrane,
who has devoted the last 15 years of his research life to cell biology. In fact, all cancers are unchecked characterised by cell division,
PP1DS22 couples chromosome segregation to polar relaxationin Nature on July 13, 2015. http://dx. doi. org/10.1038/nature14496
The study, of people with the rare condition Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), is published in the journal Nature Genetics.
biological chemist Richard Lee, said in a press release. The team went on to develop six compounds that form a new class of antibiotics called aminomethyl spectinomycins.
Amgen, is to get approval from the FDA and the European Medicines Agency. The drug is administered once every two weeks for up to 18 months
The foam-like batteries and supercapacitors were made using an aerogel material taken from tree fibres,
and release power much faster than batteries-were made out of a wood-based aerogel. To create this aerogel, the team first broke down cellulose,
the fibre found in trees, making it around one million times thinner. They then dissolved this nanocellulose and freeze-dried it,
"This aerogel is coated then with a special ink that conducts electricity within the aerogel, giving it the electronic properties that a battery requires.
"Our results demonstrate that layer-by-layer self-assembly inside aerogels is a rapid, precise and scalable route for building high-surface-area 3d thin-film devices,
and could also help them to control proteins and other biological components. It important to note that superlubricity doesn mean that friction disappears entirely,
and related impact of their novel method propels a huge variety of research fields investigating effects relevant from raft tectonics down to biological systems
#Computer solves 120-year-old biology problem that had stumped scientists Can computer software invent scientific theories and ideas as well as crunch numbers?
who have programmed a computer to come up with its own scientific hypothesis on one of biology's most well-known mysteries.
"Levin and Lobo's work has been published in the journal PLOS Computational biology, and the pair believe the same kind of reverse-engineering approach can be used in many other areas of science,
and bioengineer at Stanford university, said in a press release.""Imagine if when you run a set of computations that not only information is processed
"This opens up a completely new frontier where we can explore the interface between electronic structures and biology.""
which biology works,"adds Lieber. His work has just been published in Nature Nanotechnology. Once injected, the miniature scaffolding is able to unfurl itself
which can deliver biological materials to cells. This allows the cells to be reprogrammed, and essentially recreates a fully functioning laboratory on a piece of plastic the size of a postage stamp. y overall goal is to use technology to reduce the cost of healthcare
and reprogram them to have a therapeutic effect. his process could substantially bring down the cost of gene therapy,
a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health in Maryland, told Linn.
essentially creating tiny biological robots that perform the will of their human masters. Using the interface,
Angry atheist and esteemed biologist Richard Dawkins thinks that religion is for idiots, and philosopher Sam Harris has written that here are few modes of thinking less congenial to religious faith than science is."
and p53 mutations-these two mutations are found in about half of all colorectal tumours in humans.
"If we can define which types of mutations and changes are the critical events driving tumour growth,
biocompatible materials,"said one of the researchers, Zhen Gu, from the joint University of North carolina/NC State's Department of Biomedical engineering."
"This means that artificial neurons could theoretically be integrated into complex biological systems, such as our bodies,
and research to improve a couple's chances of having a biological child of their own. This discovery can potentially increase those chances."
"Reporting the results in PLOS Biology, the team says with 5ht2ar turned off in mice,
a bioengineer at the US National institutes of health who wasn't directly involved in the study, said in a press release."
a distinguished professor in biology and physiology at UCLA. The team backed up this hypothesis by recording the electrical signals generated in the men's calf muscles
This provides the conditions needed to study primary cells, such as neurons, opening doors for exploration of the pathogenic mechanisms of neural diseases and potentially leading to new gene therapies.
and John Kessler, the Ken and Ruth Davee Professor of Stem Cell biology at the Feinberg School of medicine, the localized electroporation device (LEPD) can be applied to adherent cells,
"The ability to deliver molecules into adherent cells without disrupting differentiation is needed for biotechnology researchers to advance both fundamental knowledge and the state-of-the-art in stem cell research,
"Non-destructive manipulation of cells over time and in the correct environment is a key enabling technology highly needed within the biology and medical research communities,
or other blood biomarkers that can help predict recurrence Agopian said. UCLA's nomogram used three groups of factors to predict recurrence
or the number and size of tumors on MRI and CT SCANS three pre-transplant blood biomarkers thought to be predictive for cancer recurrence
and that incorporation of other factors may improve the ability to select for patients with favorable tumor biology regardless of size who stand to benefit from liver transplantation.
Incorporation of routine pre-transplant biomarkers to existing radiographic size criteria significantly improves the ability to predict post-transplant recurrence
From 1994 to 2004 the medical device biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries had annual growth rates greater than 6 percent per year with biotechnology demonstrating the largest increases.
or swelling in the brain as a potential biomarker for assessing brain function and monitoring recovery in people with head injuries.
and a'biological'marker for detecting concussion Dr. Grady says. Since concussion can occur without loss of consciousness this can be particularly important in sideline evaluations in athletics
her unknown mutation sparked an international gene hunt. Comparing her genome to others with OMS and Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA),
another form of childhood blindness, uncovered a new gene that is critical for vision. What makes this breakthrough exceptional is that it opens up new treatment avenues for OMS and LCA and potentially other retinal degenerative diseases."
who is also a researcher at the Research Institute of the MUHC and a Professor of Human genetics, Paediatric Surgery and Ophthalmology at Mcgill University."
Together, the team identified mutations in the PNPLA6 gene in families with retinal degeneration. This is the 20th gene associated with LCA and the first associated with OMS.
no one had identified that mutations in this gene can lead to retinal degeneration--until now. To better understand the role of this gene,
They observed that some lipids were elevated in fruit flies with the PNPLA6 mutation, which led them to conclude that PNPLA6 affects phospholipid metabolism.
This novel insight about the role of phospholipid metabolism in photoreceptor biology paves the way for new sight-saving treatments.
They are currently generating animal models of this mutation, which will be essential to study how manipulating phospholipids could generate innovative strategies to treat blindness n
Targeted biological therapy can reduce toxicity and improve outcomes for many cancer patients, when compared to the adverse effects of standard chemotherapeutic drugs.
Complex, 3d micro/nanostructures are ubiquitous in biology, where they provide essential functions in even the most basic forms of life.
and an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at Illinois. He also holds affiliate appointments in the departments of bioengineering, chemistry, electrical and computer engineering,
Biocompatible flexible implant slips into the spinal cord EPFL scientists have managed to get rats walking on their own again using a combination of electrical and chemical stimulation.
Not only did the implant prove its biocompatibility, but it also did its job perfectly, allowing the rats to regain the ability to walk on their own again after a few weeks of training."
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011