gene
Latest
UK authorizes first gene therapy for treating sickle cell disease
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Agency approved the first-ever CRISPR-based gene editing treatment for blood disorders.
Scientists show that gene editing can 'turn off' human diseases
Gene editing has already been used to fight diseases, but there's now hope that it might eliminate the diseases altogether. Researchers have shown that it's possible to eliminate facial muscular dystrophy using a newer editing technique, CRISPR (Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) to replace the offending gene and 'turn off' the condition. The approach sends a mix of protein and RNA to bind to a gene and give it an overhaul.
Genetic 'glue' helps make 3D-printed organs
No, you're not looking at a dessert gone horribly wrong -- that might just be the future of synthetic organ transplants. Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a genetic "glue" that forms gels useful for 3D printing organic tissues. The key is using custom-designed, complementary DNA strands that bond just the way you'd like them. This flexibility would let hospitals and labs create organs that grow in a specific way, and take on specific structures. In short, it'd be relatively easy to print the exact organ you need, and even customize it for the recipient if necessary.
23andMe will offer your genetic data to researchers (with your consent)
The genetic samples you send to 23andMe aren't just useful for discovering your roots or potential illnesses -- they could soon help pharmaceutical research, too. The company has struck a deal that opens its DNA research platform to Pfizer's scientists, letting them use the data to quickly find links between genes and certain conditions or traits. The two firms will also partner on genome-level studies and trials, such as one that will ask for 5,000 volunteers to help understand the genetic properties of lupus.
Amazon stores 1,700 human genomes in the cloud
Not content with speeding up web browsing and hosting federal data, Amazon Web Services are now helping in the fight against disease. Bezos' crew is donating a chunk of free cloud storage to the 1000 Genomes project, which aims to make it easier for scientists to search for genetic variations linked to diseases. These gene-hunters can also use Amazon's Elastic Cloud Compute service to analyze data and discover patterns, although those functions won't come gratis. The DNA sequences of 1,700 mostly anonymous Homo sapiens from around the world have already been logged, but the project has to upload another 1,000 samples before it meets statistical requirements. If it ever needs fresh volunteers, perhaps a free USB gene sequencer and a Prime subscription might do the trick?
MIT researchers locate genes that help underlie memory formation, zap some mice
Over time, the neurons in your brain are going to change. And that's only natural. When you experience a new event, your brain encodes the memory by altering the connections between neurons, which is caused by turning on several genes within these neurons. Recenty, a team of neuroscientists at MIT published their findings in the Dec. 23rd issue of Science in which the group was able to pinpoint some of the exact locations of memory formation within the brain. The team, led by Yingxi Lin, found that the Npas4 gene is especially active in the hippocampus, a brain structure known to be critical in forming long-term memories. Once engaged, the Npas4 gene turns on a series of other genes that modify the brain's internal wiring by adjusting the strength of synapses, or connections between neurons. The findings were obtained by studying the neural activity of mice which underwent mild electric shocks when they entered a specific chamber. Upon receiving the shock, researchers noted that Npas4 is turned on very early during this conditioning. The research is still in its early stages and while the researchers have identified only a few of the genes regulated by Npas4, they suspect there could be hundreds more that help with the memory formation process. The lesson learned: stick to it and if you have any questions, mildly shock some mice.
Kiss releases LED HDTV, because it's criminal to view Paul's Starchild makeup any other way
Legendary rockers are releasing officially-licensed LED HDTVs, available in 55-, 46-, 42-, and 32-inch (aka "Mini Kiss," to no one else but the Engadget staff) variants, priced between $818.88 and $1,988.88 (and unless we're mistaken by the wording, buying the 55-inch model also nets you a 32-incher) and on sale now online / in-store mid-November. Each set has the Kiss logo emblazoned on each bottom corner, and you'll be rocked -- nay, rawked -- by eight seconds of the band's imagery every time you turn it on. The TVs are produced by Roundtable Concepts and specs include... wait, you've already made up your mind, haven't you? Well, alright, then, our job here is done. One more picture after the break.
Sperm gene same as it was 600 million years ago, miraculously still in fashion
We've had a thing for sperm ever since Look Who's Talking broadened our appreciation for the reproductive arts, and now scientists at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine have discovered a wealth of new information about the world's most adored swimmers. Believe it or not, we're now left thinking that they're even more hardcore. Yes, they've been rocking the exact same makeup -- called the Boule gene -- since the dawn of evolution. But as it turns out, that gene is also shared across a huge swath of organisms from humans to fish to fruit flies, and it's only ever used in sperm. This bodes interestingly for the future of reproductive sciences; researchers removed the Boule gene from mice and found that, while otherwise completely normal, they didn't produce sperm. We can almost feel that Gucci case for the male contraceptive pill in our man-purses now. [Photo courtesy of aSIMULAtor]
HTC "Gene" makes FCC appearance
After a fairly productive 3GSM last week showing off new Windows Mobile 6 wares in the form of the Vox and the Advantage, everyone's favorite Taiwanese Windows Mobile ODM has graced us with this here "Gene" (or at least we think that's what it's called, based on its model number, GENE100) via our usual Tipster Extraordinare, the FCC. The specs aren't really enough to knock our socks off -- data tops out with quadband EDGE, the cam is a simple 2 megapixel unit, plus the usual Bluetooth 2.0, 128MB of ROM, 64MB of RAM, and QVGA display atop a 201MHz TI OMAP850 -- but at this point, we're still happy to get whatever new Professional hardware we can get.
IGN's weeklong MGS feature highlights [Update 1]
We told you IGN was going to make their Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops coverage a week-long event. However, some of you may have forgotten. Here are a few highlights from the week so far: As you may already know, the story begins with Snake thrown into a South American jail six years after the events of Snake Eater. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Russia abandoned many of its soldiers, leaving one military commander named Gene very sour. He plans on sabotaging the negotiations between Russia and the US by using nuclear technology stolen from both countries. Obviously, Snake will be in the middle of all of this. The character-generation system uses data from both the access point and PSP system information. You'll want to rotate characters in your party, as they'll suffer from exhaustion, and in the worst case scenario, fall unconscious during a mission. Let them heal their wounds. There's a lot to manage: "During your mission briefings, you'll be overseeing seven separate units for your army: Sneaking, Spy, Technical, Medical, Independent, Rookies and Prisoners." You can enter a unique Sleep mode which will transfer character data to any nearby PSP that's also in Portable Ops sleep mode. There's a mode called "Cyber-Survival," which is turn-based and similar to the Metal Gear Acid series. "Real Combat" is high stakes: if a character dies in multiplayer, they're dead in singleplayer as well. For obvious reasons, Snake can't partake in this mode. Is this too much info for you? Well, don't forget that these are just highlights. The real meat of the stories can be found on IGN. Prepare to never have a life again starting December 5th.[Update 1: MGS. Yes. That's what happens when Andrew-bot writes stories. Bad, evil things. Typo corrected!]
