What is new in Biotech
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Scientists find genes to save ash trees from deadly beetle
25.5.2020 | Press monitoring
An international team of scientists have identified candidate resistance genes that could protect ash trees from the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), a deadly pest that is expected to kill billions of trees worldwide. Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, sequenced the genomes of 22 species of ash tree...
CRISPR a tool for conservation, not just gene editing
22.5.2020 | Press monitoring
The gene-editing technology CRISPR has been used for a variety of agricultural and public health purposes – from growing disease-resistant crops to, more recently, a diagnostic test for the virus that causes COVID-19. Now a study involving fish that look nearly identical to the endangered Delta smelt finds that CRISPR can be a conservation and...
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Humans Inoculated with Genetically Modified Malaria Parasites
20.5.2020 | Press monitoring
Two clinical trials, in which subjects were vaccinated with genetically engineered Plasmodium parasites and later exposed to the malaria-causing microbe, showed the vaccines to be safe with promising, but not ideal, efficacy. Certain parasites of the Plasmodium genus, including P. falciparum and P. vivax, cause malaria when transmitted to humans...
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Scientists successfully develop heat resistant coral to fight bleaching
18.5.2020 | Press monitoring
Corals with increased heat tolerance have the potential to reduce the impact of reef bleaching from marine heat waves, which are becoming more common under climate change. "Coral reefs are in decline worldwide," CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform (SynBio FSP) science lead Dr. Patrick Buerger said. "Climate change has reduced coral...
Several COVID-19 vaccines necessary to overcome pandemic, experts say
15.5.2020 | Press monitoring
A new article from a quartet of scientific leaders, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is outlining the challenges to overcome in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine over the next one to two years. The scientists suggest it will take not one, but multiple successful vaccines,...
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Malaria mosquitoes eliminated in lab by creating all-male populations
13.5.2020 | Press monitoring
A modification that creates more male offspring was able to eliminate populations of malaria mosquitoes in lab experiments. A team led by Imperial College London spread a genetic modification that distorts the sex ratio through a population of caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes using 'gene drive' technology. The team's modification causes...
Biofabrication: 3-D printing, sonic tweezers, and the creation of neurons in microscopic cages
11.5.2020 | Press monitoring
Microscopically small cages have been produced at TU Wien (Vienna) with grid openings only a few micrometers in size, making them ideal for holding cells and allowing living tissue to grow in a very specific shape. This new field of research is called biofabrication. In a collaboration with Stanford University, the researchers introduced nerve...
Plant virus nanoparticles pitched as treatment for autoimmune diseases
8.5.2020 | Press monitoring
Viruses are getting a pretty bad rap lately, but they’re not always our enemy. In a new study led by the University of Verona, researchers have used plant viruses to make new nanoparticles that show promise in mice for treating autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Using viruses for good is nothing new. One type known...
Viruses gleaned from healthy feces fight obesity in mice
6.5.2020 | Press monitoring
Altering the gut microbiome by transplanting the stool contents from a healthy donor is emerging as a promising way to treat a variety of conditions, including everything from autism to inflammatory bowel disease to cancer. Scientists looking to this technique as a way of treating obesity have found some early success in mice, after implanting...
Nanostimulators boost stem cells for muscle repair
4.5.2020 | Press monitoring
In regenerative medicine, an ideal treatment for patients whose muscles are damaged from lack of oxygen would be to invigorate them with an injection of their own stem cells.
