The recent announcement of novel, viable viruses created by artificial intelligence (AI) was celebrated as a major advance in the fight against antibiotic resistance. But it also raised urgent concerns about regulation.
Histone variants help establish DNA methylation at transposons (jumping genes) while preventing this epigenetic modification from spreading to essential genes in plants, a study from the Institute of Science Tokyo reveals. ...
Humans love dogs, but petting them can leave some people sneezing and wheezing. About 15% of the world's population lives with a dog allergy, which can increase the risk of hay fever and asthma. The main culprit is Can f ...
Like a delivery driver navigating crowded city streets, a gene-therapy-toting lipid nanoparticle faces a gauntlet of potential detours on its journey toward a cell's nucleus. First, there's entering the cell's plasma membrane; ...
They may look like any ordinary species of flies buzzing around on any given day, but the New World screwworm is quite extraordinary. Screwworm flies are highly destructive parasitic flies that feed on the tissue of warm-blooded ...
From genome editing to quantum computing, scientific progress is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, yet public faith in science is collapsing. Our species has mapped the human genome, created powerful computers that sit ...
When a wound does not heal properly, it leaves a scar. Similarly, mutations—which are permanent changes to genetic code—are often the result of damaged DNA that has not been properly repaired. Mutations can impede the function ...
In a world first, scientists led by a team from Stanford University have created 16 viable viruses that do not exist in nature and were designed by AI. Their experiment, which is published in Science, could help in the fight ...
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a platform that pinpoints genetic triggers that turn microbes into efficient factories for new chemicals and materials. The method enables ...
When a virus enters a cell, its top priority is to replicate its genome rapidly, creating new viruses to infect elsewhere. The host has the opposite priority: to destroy the virus, ideally before it can do any harm. Biology ...
