https://phys.org/biology-news/biotechnology en-us Phys.org provides the latest news on biotechnology Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have developed and implemented a new way to better understand how human cells communicate with each other, how this communication is disrupted in human diseases and how this can be corrected pharmacologically. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-artificial-genes-cellular-responses-drugs.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 06 Jul 2020 13:29:16 EDT news513260953 A new platform technology can assess water safety and quality with just a single drop and a few minutes. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-pregnancy-fast-easy-results-quality.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 06 Jul 2020 11:00:01 EDT news513232599 For the first time, scientists have shown that the bacterium that causes the tick-borne disease anaplasmosis interferes with tick gene expression for its survival inside cells and to spread to a new vertebrate host. Girish Neelakanta of Old Dominion University and colleagues report these findings in a study published July 2nd in PLOS Genetics. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-anaplasmosis-bacterium-tinkers-gene-hosts.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 02 Jul 2020 14:00:04 EDT news512887371 Cyanobacteria hardly need any nutrients and use the energy of sunlight. Bathers are familiar with these microorganisms—often incorrectly called "blue-green algae"—as they often occur in waters. A group of researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has discovered that the multicellular species Phormidium lacuna can be genetically modified by natural transformation and could thus produce substances such as ethanol or hydrogen. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-candidate-raw-material-synthesis-gene.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 02 Jul 2020 12:42:21 EDT news512912538 New technologies capable of sequencing single molecules in fine detail will help scientists better understand the mechanisms of rare nucleotides thought to play an important role in the progression of some diseases. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-sequencing-technology-scientists-decipher-disease.html Biotechnology Thu, 02 Jul 2020 12:26:25 EDT news512911579 University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have developed a safer and more efficient way to deliver a promising new method for treating cancer and liver disorders and for vaccination—including a COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Therapeutics that has advanced to clinical trials with humans. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-tiny-mineral-particles-vehicles-gene.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 02 Jul 2020 10:17:56 EDT news512903869 An estimated 17.3% of people worldwide are at risk of inadequate zinc intake; zinc deficiency is a major human health concern. Increasing Zn concentration in wheat grains is highly important, and management strategies to enhance grain Zn concentration can play an important role in fighting nutrient deficiency. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-zinc-bread-wheat.html Biotechnology Thu, 02 Jul 2020 03:33:57 EDT news512879628 While scientists still don't fully understand the diverse nature of RNA molecules, it is believed that the proteins binding to them, called RNA-binding proteins, are associated with many types of disease formation. Research led by biomedical scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has led to a novel detection method, called CARPID, to identify binding proteins of specific RNAs in living cells. It is expected that the innovation can be applied in various types of cell research, from identifying biomarkers of cancer diagnosis to detecting potential drug targets for treating viral diseases. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-crispr-assisted-method-rna-binding-proteins-cells.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 01 Jul 2020 12:45:25 EDT news512826319 Published in The Plant Genome recently, a study has analyzed one environment-sensitive genic male sterile (EGMS) line that exhibited fertility transition under specified environmental conditions. Fertility transition here refers to the reversion of male sterile condition producing viable pollen to become male fertile plant and vice-versa. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-mystery-pollen-sterility-reversion-pigeon.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 01 Jul 2020 10:23:03 EDT news512817780 Much of longevity and aging research focuses on studying extremely long-lived species, including bats, naked mole-rats and bowhead whales, to find genetic changes that contribute to long life. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-genes-animals-key-humans-longer.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 01 Jul 2020 09:39:26 EDT news512815160 Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research have uncovered new information about vital structures inside cells which are responsible for organizing our DNA. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-scientists-dna-organised.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 01 Jul 2020 09:20:56 EDT news512814052 There are about 75 different types of cells in the human brain. What makes them all different? Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have developed a new set of computational tools to help answer this question. Although different cell types from the same organism carry the same DNA, they look and function differently because a different set of genes is active or inactive in each. Cells switch genes on or off by using epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, which involves tagging genes with methyl chemical groups. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-software-reveals-molecular-barcodes-distinguish.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 01 Jul 2020 03:54:10 EDT news512794446 After several years of experimentation, scientists have engineered thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana, to behave like a succulent, improving water-use efficiency, salinity tolerance and reducing the effects of drought. The tissue succulence engineering method devised for this small flowering plant can be used in other plants to improve drought and salinity tolerance with the goal of moving this approach into food and bioenergy crops. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-tissue-drought-salinity-tolerance.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Tue, 30 Jun 2020 12:31:58 EDT news512739115 Many small regulatory elements, including miRNAs, miRNA binding sites, and cis-acting elements, comprise only five to 24 nucleotides and play important roles in regulating gene expression, transcription and translation, and protein structure, and are thus promising targets for gene function studies and crop improvement. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-multi-nucleotide-deletion.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 30 Jun 2020 10:40:41 EDT news512732438 Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is associated with switching between chromatin states characterized by distinct histone modifications. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-histone-epigenetic.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Tue, 30 Jun 2020 08:06:51 EDT news512723206 Scientists have developed new image processing techniques for microscopes that can reduce post-processing time up to several thousand-fold. The researchers are from the National Institutes of Health with collaborators at the University of Chicago and Zhejiang University, China. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-faster-cutting-edge-fluorescence-microscopy-accessible.html Biotechnology Mon, 29 Jun 2020 12:53:20 EDT news512653981 A type of anaerobic bacteria responsible for more than 50 percent of nitrogen loss from marine environments has been shown to use solid-state matter present outside their cells for respiration. The finding by KAUST researchers adds to knowledge of the global nitrogen cycle and has important energy-saving potential for wastewater treatment. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-anammox-bacteria-energy-wastewater.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 29 Jun 2020 11:57:58 EDT news512650674 Before a drug can be used to treat patients, it goes through several rounds of testing for efficacy and toxicity, which begin in animal models. Zebrafish, a tiny species of fish native to South Asia, are cheaper to maintain and easier to breed than laboratory mice or other animal models. They also share many disease-related genes with us, particularly those involved in neurological disorders. This makes them a great model for drug development. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-wider-net-brain-zebrafish-concurrently.html Biotechnology Mon, 29 Jun 2020 11:56:56 EDT news512650613 University of East Anglia scientists have helped find a way to control different plant processes—such as when they grow—using nothing but colored light. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-reveals-power.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Mon, 29 Jun 2020 11:00:11 EDT news512645125 Leiden chemists have developed a new technique with which they can determine the role of kinases—a group of proteins—in a living cell. This technique makes it easier to find new drug targets for diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. The team published the findings in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-technique-chemists-unprecedented-drug.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 29 Jun 2020 10:23:32 EDT news512645009 Three teams working independently to test the possibility of using CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing to remove genetic defects in human embryos report finding unwanted changes in the genomes. The first team, working at the Francis Crick Institute, edited mutations that can have a major impact on fetal development. The second, working at Columbia University tried to use the gene editor to fix a mutation known to cause blindness. And the third was a team working at Oregon Health & Science University—they were attempting to fix a mutation known to cause a certain heart problem. All three groups have written papers describing their efforts and findings, and have posted them on the bioRxiv preprint server while they await peer-review. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-unwanted-human-embryo-genome-crispr-cas9.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 29 Jun 2020 09:50:01 EDT news512642786 Since the 1980s, in seaweed farms dotted along the coastline of the subtropical islands of Okinawa, farmers have cultivated the edible brown alga Okinawa mozuku (Cladosiphon okamuranus). Popular in Japanese cuisine, this superfood produces high levels of fucoidan—a slimy substance that has a myriad of health benefits, including the suppression of blood clots and tumors. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-genome-pathway-sustainable-edible-seaweed.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:36:43 EDT news512393800 CRISPR-Cas9 has become one of the most convenient and effective biotechnology tools used to cut specific DNA sequences. Starting from Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9), a multitude of variants have been engineered and employed for experiments worldwide. Although all these systems are targeting and cleaving a specific DNA sequence, they also exhibit relatively high off-target activities with potentially harmful effects. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-crispr-cas9-dna-scissors.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 26 Jun 2020 09:29:04 EDT news512382538 Among the most easily recognizable features of any nervous system is the synapse. While the question of how synapses evolved has been a longstanding mystery, it can now largely be solved. In a nutshell, it appears that the synapses between neurons evolved directly from the original cell-to-cell contacts, namely, the adherence junctions and other bonds that linked the primitive epithelial sheets of early multicellular organisms. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-evolution-synapse.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 26 Jun 2020 09:10:01 EDT news512374495 Whole genome duplication followed by massive gene loss has shaped many genomes, including the human genome. Why some gene duplicates are retained while most perish has puzzled scientists for decades. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-gene-duplicates-retained-perish.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 25 Jun 2020 14:00:02 EDT news512288748 The crops we grow in the field often form dense canopies with many overlapping leaves, such that young "sun leaves" at the top of the canopy are exposed to full sunlight with older "shade leaves" at the bottom. In order to maximize photosynthesis, resource-use efficiency, and yield, sun leaves typically maximize photosynthetic efficiency at high light, while shade leaves maximize efficiency at low light. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-environment-modifications-maximize-productivity.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Wed, 24 Jun 2020 14:31:34 EDT news512227890 Life depends on an intricate game of hide-and-seek taking place inside the cell. New research, now published in the journal Nature, sheds light on the mechanisms with which DNA-binding proteins search the genome for their specific binding sites. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-vital-game-hide-and-seek-elucidated-single-molecule.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 24 Jun 2020 12:00:01 EDT news512218794 As the SARS-CoV-2 puts new focus on zoonotic pathogens, a Washington State University researcher has developed a method to use environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect disease in the vast international trade of aquatic animals. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-environmental-dna-pathogens-pet.html Ecology Biotechnology Wed, 24 Jun 2020 05:00:01 EDT news512191333 Modern genetics implies working with immense amounts of data which cannot be processed without the help of complex mathematical algorithms. For this reason, the task of developing special processing programs is no less important for bioinformatics specialists than that of genomic sequencing of specific animals. An international team of scientists that included researchers from ITMO University developed a software tool that makes it possible to quickly and efficiently find similar parts in the genomes of different animals, which is essential for understanding how closely related two species are, and how far they have evolved from their common ancestor. The research was published in GigaScience. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-synteny-blocks-animals.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 23 Jun 2020 11:54:56 EDT news512132094 How do plants know when it is time to flower? Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have studied this question and identified two genes that are key to this process. They were able to show that the ELF3 and GI genes control the plants' internal clock, which monitors the length of daylight and determines when it is the right time to flower. The findings could help to breed plants that are better adapted to their environments. The study was published in The Plant Journal. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-chronobiology-genes.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Tue, 23 Jun 2020 06:44:43 EDT news512113478