Gene Transfer News and Research

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Gene Transfer is the insertion of genetic material into a cell.

Successful gene therapy trial in patients with X-linked Chronic Septic Granulomatosis

American and British teams led by Drs Kohn (University of California, Los Angeles), Malech (NIH), Williams (Boston Children's) and Trasher (Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) published yesterday in Nature Medicine the conclusive results of a gene therapy trial conducted in the United States and Great Britain in 9 patients with X-linked Chronic Septic Granulomatosis (X-CGD), a rare and severe immune dysfunction. Six of them are free of treatment for complications generated by the disease.

28 Jan 2020

Indoor dust carrying bacteria that could be harbouring antibiotic resistance

Bacteria enter our homes on our the skin, or through the air, but once inside they may transfer antibiotic resistance traits to other bacteria residing in the indoor dust, a possibility raised by a new study

26 Jan 2020

Researchers identify novel cellular entry factor for AAV vector types

Researchers led by a team at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have identified a novel cellular entry factor for adeno-associated virus vector (AAV) types--the most commonly used viral vectors for in vivo gene therapy. AAVs are vectors-or vehicles--that are created from a virus that is made harmless by molecular engineering, and have shown promise transporting genetic therapy treatments to affected tissues.

23 Jan 2020

A controlled phage therapy to target drug-resistant pathogens

The fight against drug-resistant pathogens remains an intense one. While the Centers for Disease Control's 2019 "biggest threats" report reveals an overall decrease in drug-resistant microbe-related deaths as compared to its previous report (2013) the agency also cautions that new forms of drug-resistant pathogens are still emerging.

13 Jan 2020

Caution: blood infections traced to probiotics

Probiotics aren’t harmless, says a new study published on November 7, 2019 in the journal Nature Medicine. In fact, some patients may be put at serious risk by the bacteria in probiotics. Doctors should weigh the risks of probiotics in severely ill or immunocompromised patients before prescribing them, as their benefits may be significantly smaller than the danger in such situations.

13 Nov 2019

New light on the essential reproductive role of the clitoris

A new study focuses on the role of the clitoris in females, showing that when it is stimulated, it triggers a wave of changes within the rest of the reproductive tract. The outcome of these changes confers on the clitoris not only recreative but also reproductive importance, according to the studies.

10 Nov 2019

Researchers make progress toward gene-based strategies to treat inherited neurometabolic diseases

Researchers are making great strides toward developing gene-based strategies to treat a variety of inherited neurometabolic diseases characterized by severe neurological involvement.

29 Oct 2019

Glycans in mucus are responsible for microbe-taming, study reveals

More than 200 square meters of our bodies -- including the digestive tract, lungs, and urinary tract -- are lined with mucus. In recent years, scientists have found some evidence that mucus is not just a physical barrier that traps bacteria and viruses, but it can also disarm pathogens and prevent them from causing infections.

14 Oct 2019

The language of metabolites can be decoded with new genome technology

A team of microbiologists and genomicists has invented a genetic engineering tool that advances the study of secondary metabolites, which will expand our understanding of how microbes evolve.

14 Oct 2019

Cholera pathogen can acquire large stretches of genetic material from neighboring bacteria

In 2015, EPFL researchers led by Melanie Blokesch published a seminal paper in Science showing that the bacterium responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholerae, uses a spring-loaded spear to literally stab neighboring bacteria and steal their DNA.

8 Oct 2019

Cholera-causing bacteria steal large stretches of intact DNA to become more efficient

A new paper shows that the cholera germ is an inveterate and rapacious gene stealer, robbing other competing bacteria of up to 150 genes (over 150,000 base pairs) in a single attack. To put this in perspective, the cholera pathogen carries only about 4,000 genes altogether.

8 Oct 2019

Study finds prevalence of antibiotic-resistant genes in groundwater

With climate change comes increasing water shortages, and potentially longer periods of drought. As policymakers look urgently to wastewater recycling to stem the gap in water resources, the question is-- how best to reuse water and ensure public safety.

4 Oct 2019

Phage engineering gives antibacterial therapy a new lease of life

Researchers have been identifying and modifying known phages to fight against infectious bacteria.

4 Oct 2019

Novel viral vector improves gene therapy for sickle cell disease

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed a unique, improved lentiviral vector for use in gene therapy for sickle cell disease.

3 Oct 2019

Researchers make breakthrough in gene therapy for sickle cell disease

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have developed a new and improved viral vector--a virus-based vehicle that delivers therapeutic genes--for use in gene therapy for sickle cell disease.

2 Oct 2019

Faster, cheaper, better: improved gene therapy tool production

The heart of modern therapy is increasingly personalized and targeted at specific cellular or genetic deficits. This requires gene therapy, in many cases. A new study, published on 19 September 2019 in the journal Nature, describes an improved way to produce purified gene carrier viruses called AAVs cheaply and quickly, from the culture medium.

22 Sep 2019

Superbugs spread in the absence of antibiotics

Scientists have discovered a new mechanism by which antibiotic resistance spreads between superbug species, and say that stopping antibiotics is not enough.

12 Sep 2019

Newly discovered resistance-spreading mechanism is independent of the use of antibiotics

Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to common antibiotics. Often, resistance is mediated by resistance genes, which can simply jump from one bacterial population to the next.

5 Sep 2019

Researchers discover pivotal role for bacterial sex in evolution of mammalian microbiome

In a pioneer study now published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science - USA, the research team led by Isabel Gordo, from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, in collaboration with researcher Michael Lässig of Cologne University, used healthy mice to study real-time gut colonization and discovered a pivotal role for bacterial sex in the evolution of the mammalian microbiome.

25 Aug 2019

New method prevents the release of synthetic DNA from genetically modified cells

The method prevents a gene that encodes a synthetic protein from spreading into the wild and stabilizes it so that it cannot mutate and lose its function.

21 Aug 2019