Genetic Engineering News and Research

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Johns Hopkins researchers discover group of nerve cells in the skin responsible for ‘active touch’

Working with genetically engineered mice -- and especially their whiskers -- Johns Hopkins researchers report they have identified a group of nerve cells in the skin responsible for what they call "active touch," a combination of motion and sensory feeling needed to navigate the external world.

21 Apr 2017

Environmental 'memory' can be passed on in genes for many generations

Led by Dr Ben Lehner, group leader at the EMBL-CRG Systems Biology Unit and ICREA and AXA Professor, together with Dr Tanya Vavouri from the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute and the Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol, the researchers noticed that the impact of environmental change can be passed on in the genes for many generations while studying C. elegans worms carrying a transgene array - a long string of repeated copies of a gene for a fluorescent protein that had been added into the worm genome using genetic engineering techniques.

20 Apr 2017

MGH researchers provide direct link between ‘leaky gut’ and chronic inflammatory disease

With the help of genetically engineered mice, scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital are moving closer to establishing the role that increased intestinal permeability, sometimes called a "leaky gut," plays in chronic inflammatory conditions.

20 Apr 2017

Scientists find new way to measure tau protein levels in the blood

Damaging tangles of the protein tau dot the brains of people with Alzheimer's and many other neurodegenerative diseases, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which plagues professional boxers and football players.

20 Apr 2017

TSRI scientists reveal important role of genetics in brain circuits

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla have revealed new clues to the wiring of the brain. A team led by Associate Professor Anton Maximov found that neurons in brain regions that store memory can form networks in the absence of synaptic activity.

19 Apr 2017

LIH scientists discover unknown immune activation mechanism to ward off pathogens

Scientists of the Luxembourg Institute of Health have discovered a so far unknown molecular mechanism by which the human immune system activates its immune cells: T cells, a particular type of white blood cells, effectively ward off pathogens if a gene known as Gclc is expressed within them.

19 Apr 2017

Nanoparticle-programmed immune cells can slow progression of leukemia in mouse model

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have developed biodegradable nanoparticles that can be used to genetically program immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells -- while the immune cells are still inside the body.

17 Apr 2017

Study may provide insight into how R-LA promotes death of hepatoma cells

A new study that measured metabolite levels over time in starved rat liver cancer cells showed that treatment with a form of alpha-lipoic acid (LA) inhibited glucose uptake and glycolysis, and led to decreased cellular glucose production from non-carbohydrate sources, which may help explain how the naturally occurring R enantiomeric form of LA (R-LA) promotes the death of hepatoma cells.

12 Apr 2017

Viral trigger may underlie development of celiac disease

Reovirus, which commonly infects humans without causing any symptoms, may trigger an immune response to gluten that causes celiac disease, report US researchers.

10 Apr 2017

Synthetic biologists engineer gut bacteria capable of sensing colitis

Synthetic biologists at Rice University have engineered gut bacteria capable of sensing colitis, an inflammation of the colon, in mice.

6 Apr 2017

Switching off glucocorticoid signaling in bone could protect against diet-induced metabolic disturbances

A high-calorie diet, even without a high amount of fat, causes bone loss, and both high-calorie and high-fat diets induce excessive fat gain and insulin resistance, a new study conducted in mice finds.

4 Apr 2017

Rubber-like fibers may help combat spinal cord injuries

Implantable fibers have been an enormous boon to brain research, allowing scientists to stimulate specific targets in the brain and monitor electrical responses.

4 Apr 2017

Novel technique helps researchers to study function of neurons that innervate adipose tissue

A research team led by Ana Domingos, from Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, developed a new genetic technique that allows the elimination of specific neurons of the peripheral nervous system without affecting the brain.

3 Apr 2017

Researchers enhance safety, effectiveness of potential HIV vaccine using on/off genetic switch

By engineering an on/off switch into a weakened form of HIV, University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have enhanced the safety and effectiveness of a potential vaccine for the virus that has killed approximately 35 million people during the past 35 years.

30 Mar 2017

Researchers identify key hormone critical for preventing spread of bacterial pneumonia

Researchers have found that a hormone responsible for controlling iron metabolism helps fight off a severe form of bacterial pneumonia, and that discovery may offer a simple way to help vulnerable patients.

29 Mar 2017

TSRI researchers reveal how viruses incapacitate bacterial defense system

Picture bacteria and viruses locked in an arms race. For many bacteria, one line of defense against viral infection is a sophisticated RNA-guided "immune system" called CRISPR-Cas.

28 Mar 2017

City of Hope researchers to highlight basic cancer research and population studies at AACR meeting

City of Hope, a world-renowned independent research and cancer and diabetes treatment center, will highlight a variety of basic research and population studies at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., April 1 to 5.

28 Mar 2017

Shutting down key protein could slow or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, study shows

In experiments with a protein called Ephexin5 that appears to be elevated in the brain cells of Alzheimer's disease patients and mouse models of the disease, Johns Hopkins researchers say removing it prevents animals from developing Alzheimer's characteristic memory losses.

28 Mar 2017

Scientists grow transgenic plants to double production of artemisinin for fighting against malaria

Since the ancient times, mankind has used plants to treat diseases. An example is the plant Artemisia annua, used for over 2,000 years in traditional Chinese medicine to treat intermittent fevers.

28 Mar 2017

Treatment with microRNA re-insulates ravaged nerves, restores limb mobility in mouse models of MS

Scientists partially re-insulated ravaged nerves in mouse models of multiple sclerosis (MS) and restored limb mobility by treating the animals with a small non-coding RNA called a microRNA.

27 Mar 2017

Genetic Engineering News and Research

Johns Hopkins researchers discover group of nerve cells in the skin responsible for ‘active touch’

Environmental 'memory' can be passed on in genes for many generations

MGH researchers provide direct link between ‘leaky gut’ and chronic inflammatory disease

Scientists find new way to measure tau protein levels in the blood

TSRI scientists reveal important role of genetics in brain circuits

LIH scientists discover unknown immune activation mechanism to ward off pathogens

Nanoparticle-programmed immune cells can slow progression of leukemia in mouse model

Study may provide insight into how R-LA promotes death of hepatoma cells

Viral trigger may underlie development of celiac disease

Synthetic biologists engineer gut bacteria capable of sensing colitis

Switching off glucocorticoid signaling in bone could protect against diet-induced metabolic disturbances

Rubber-like fibers may help combat spinal cord injuries

Novel technique helps researchers to study function of neurons that innervate adipose tissue

Researchers enhance safety, effectiveness of potential HIV vaccine using on/off genetic switch

Researchers identify key hormone critical for preventing spread of bacterial pneumonia

TSRI researchers reveal how viruses incapacitate bacterial defense system

City of Hope researchers to highlight basic cancer research and population studies at AACR meeting

Shutting down key protein could slow or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, study shows

Scientists grow transgenic plants to double production of artemisinin for fighting against malaria

Treatment with microRNA re-insulates ravaged nerves, restores limb mobility in mouse models of MS

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