Differences in the genes of the immune system sculpt the assortment of bacteria that colonize the digestive system, new research[1] by scientists at the University of Chicago indicates. “When the input is standardized, you can compare mice of different genetic strains and see what these genetics do to the microbiome in recipient mice. This approach…
Category: Biology
Gut Microbes Can Be Picky Eaters – Here’s Why It Matters
We choose our food for a variety of reasons, including personal preference, availability, cost and healthiness. But we should also take our gut microbes’ preferences into account, a new study published in Cell suggests. The bacteria in our guts, collectively known as the microbiota or microbiome, live on the fibre and other chemicals that come…
This Microbe Is Spreading Antibiotic Resistance To Other Bacteria
Antibiotic resistance is spreading fast all over the world. When infectious bacteria mutate in a certain way and then multiply, they can become resistant to even the most powerful drugs. But research has revealed a worrying alternative way that antibiotic resistance can spread: an organism that passes on its resistance on to other living bacteria.…
Brain Tissue Kept Alive For Weeks On Artificial Membrane
A new system for keeping tissue viable for long-term study once transferred from an animal to a culture medium has been developed by researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Japan. The new system[1] uses a microfluidic device that can keep tissue from both drying out and from drowning in fluid. A…
Now In Development: Off-the-shelf Stem Cells
It’s the promise of stem cell medicine: Someday soon, clinics will rebuild diseased or broken hearts, kidneys, pancreases or blood by growing and reprogramming human cells, then adding them back to the bodies of the patients they came from. If only it were that easy. After two decades of human stem cell research, researchers have…
In Collecting Genetic Data, An Ethical Catch-22
In 2009, researchers collected DNA from four elderly men in Namibia, each from one of the many San indigenous communities scattered across southern Africa. A year later, analyses of the men’s DNA were published in the journal Nature — alongside that of South African human rights activist Desmond Tutu. The intention, in part, was to…
The Mystery Of How One Gene Contributes To Parkinson’s, Crohn’s And Leprosy
Researchers have struggled for years to understand how mutations in one gene, called LRRK2, can increase the risk of three very different diseases: Parkinson’s (a brain disease), Crohn’s (a gut disease) and leprosy (a peripheral nervous system disease). Now, a Canadian team has found that inflammation is the likely culprit. “Everyone thought that LRRK2’s primary…
Genetically Modified Humans Are Possible, But Do We Really Want Them?
We are entering a new era as a species. For the first time, we are not only able to read our genetic code but also edit it. This will revolutionise our ability to treat disease and it will improve the lives of millions if not billions of people. But it means that, if we want…
New CRISPR Strategy Adds To The RNA Editing Toolbox
A new RNA editing technique, named RESCUE (RNA Editing for Specific C to U Exchange), has been developed by investigators at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research. The team, led by core member Feng Zhang, and including first co-authors Omar Abudayyeh and Jonathan Gootenberg (both now McGovern Fellows), made use of a deactivated Cas13 to…