The common analogy for CRISPR gene editing is that it works like molecular scissors, cutting out select sections of DNA. Stanley Qi, assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, likes that analogy, but he ...
Biotechnology
Sep 3, 2021
2
1511
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found a vital mechanism, previously thought to have disappeared as mammals evolved, that helps protect mammalian stem cells from RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and Zika virus. ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 8, 2021
0
381
Cells contain machinery that duplicates DNA into a new set that goes into a newly formed cell. That same class of machines, called polymerases, also build RNA messages, which are like notes copied from the central DNA repository ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 11, 2021
39
12351
For all animals, eliminating some cells is a necessary part of embryonic development. Living cells are also naturally sloughed off in mature tissues; for example, the lining of the intestine turns over every few days.
Cell & Microbiology
May 5, 2021
0
114
A tiny chemical modification on one of the most abundant and important proteins in cells, actin, has long been somewhat mysterious, its function not fully understood, but scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 8, 2020
0
67
If a bone breaks or a tendon snaps, you know to seek treatment immediately. But your most fragile and precious cellular commodity, chromosomal DNA, breaks with astounding frequency—some estimate as many as 10,000 times ...
Biotechnology
Dec 2, 2019
0
126
A team from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has developed a new CRISPR genome-editing approach by combining two of the most important proteins in molecular biology—CRISPR-Cas9 and a reverse transcriptase—into a ...
Biotechnology
Oct 21, 2019
2
339
Mineralization is mediated by osteoblasts, which secrete mineral precursors through matrix vesicles (MVs) as a fundamental process in vertebrates. The vesicles are calcium and phosphate rich, containing organic materials ...
Biological tissues are built when cells anchor to specific sites on a 3-D microfiber network in an extracellular matrix (ECM). Scientists are keen to recreate biological tissues in the lab using bioinspired tissue engineering ...
Biopharmaceuticals, a class of drugs comprising proteins such as antibodies and hormones, represent a fast-growing sector of the pharmaceutical industry. They're increasingly important for "precision medicine"—drugs tailored ...
Biotechnology
Oct 1, 2018
1
225
