In 2017, I sat down to read a book entitled, A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution. Written by Jennifer Doudna it described a new tool called CRISPR that could edit DNA. Doudna first published a description of this gene editing tool in the journal Science in 2012. I wrote about CRISPR [...]
The new findings have the potential to improve our understanding of cancers and a multitude of other diseases. Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have finally discovered the role of an enzyme named O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) in maintaining cell health. The findings, which were published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, offer [...]
Inherent ‘noise’ in the system of gene expression in tumor cell death, is another tool cancer cells use to resist chemotherapy treatment. Cancer cells have an innate randomness in their ability to respond to chemotherapy, which is another tool in their arsenal of resisting treatment, new research led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research shows. [...]
By monitoring the body’s molecular response to a viral attack, the new method developed by Flatiron Institute researchers and their colleagues can diagnose even asymptomatic patients with 98.4 percent accuracy. By inspecting the body’s immune response at a molecular level, a research team has developed a new way to test patients for COVID-19. Their method can [...]
Decisions on cancer treatment could become better tailored to individual patients with the adoption of a new imaging method being developed by University of Michigan researchers that maps the chemical makeup of a patient's tumor. Today, treatment methods for cancer—whether surgery, radiation therapy or immunotherapy—are recommended based mainly on the tumor's location, size and aggressiveness. This [...]
Study Shows Those With a Higher Omega-3 Index Are More Protected From Severe COVID Infection Omega-3 fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, might be protective against contracting and/or suffering adverse outcomes of COVID-19 infection. A study just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) explored the role of omega-3 fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, and whether [...]
Sweat contains biomarkers that help doctors make health diagnoses. Wearable sensors can be used to monitor a person's perspiration rate and provide information about the skin, nervous system activity and underlying health conditions. But not all sweat is created equal, and some cannot be measured with current sensors. A newly developed superhydrophobic biosensor could [...]
A blood test for prostate cancer could spare thousands of men from unnecessary biopsies. Experts say the breakthrough offers 'great promise' for detection of the disease, which is the most common cancer among men in the UK, affecting one in eight during their lifetime. Men who visit their GP with symptoms receive a blood test called [...]
A group of scientists collaborated to release comprehensive structures of the entire human opioid receptor family, with the aim of facilitating the development of more precise pain medications. In an ongoing endeavor to enhance opioid pain medications, scientists from the United States and China utilized cryoEM technology to determine the comprehensive structures of the [...]
A research team from Johns Hopkins Medicine and Johns Hopkins University has developed a machine-learning (ML) tool capable of predicting who has the highest probability of being naturally resistant to COVID-19 infection despite being exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes it. The study, published this week in PLOS One, aims to better understand the factors that influence [...]
