genetic engineering
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3D-printed 'living ink' could lead to self-repairing buildings
Scientists have developed a 'living ink' that could be used to print organic materials, possibly including buildings that repair themselves.
Gene-modified viruses rescue patient from drug-resistant 'superbug'
Doctors normally resort to bacteriophages (bacteria-killing viruses) to kill antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" only when they've run out of options, in part because it's difficult to find the ideal example. It can take months or more just to find a viable candidate. However, they might have a faster solution -- researchers have successfully used genetically modified viruses to treat a chronic, resistant infection in a teenage girl who otherwise faced a bleak prognosis following a lung transplant.
FDA removes restrictions on genetically modified salmon
Genetically modified fish are about to become more of a practical reality in the US. The Food and Drug Administration has lifted an import alert on AquaBounty's genetically modified AquAdvantage salmon eggs, allowing the fish to reach the US over three years after they received initial approval. Congress told the FDA in 2016 to block modified salmon until it issued labeling guidelines, and the Administration believes Congress' newly-enacted National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard meets that criteria.
Infant is world's first to have three biological parents
It sounds like the setup of a wacky science fiction comedy, but this is actually real life. A five-month old baby boy was just revealed to be the first kid in the world with three biological parents, according to New Scientist. The infant was created by a technique that has only been legally approved in the UK, and it lets parents with genetic disorders have healthy babies. The study is believed to fast track progress in the field, and is the latest in a series of advances in genetic science we've seen recently.
Americans are optimistic about technology, except drones... and robots... and...
If you asked the average American what they think about the coming crop of technologies, you'd probably get some generic optimism. According to a recent Pew Research survey found that 59 percent of Americans expected that technology would make our lives better, only 30 percent worried that we'd be worse off because of scientific progress. More than eight in 10 even expect us to be growing replacement organs in labs within the next 50 years. But when dig into specific technologies, opinions start to turn a little more sour.
UCSB engineers proteins that make silicon, leads hipsters to insist on organically-grown computers
Organic circuits have been in development for awhile, but it's still rare that the organics are producing the circuitry themselves. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara plan to break that silence with genetically engineered proteins that can make silicon dioxide or titanium dioxide structures like those used in the computer chips and solar cells that we hold dear. The trick, the university's Daniel Morse found, is to attach silica-forming DNA to plastic beads that are in turn soaked in the silicon or titanium molecules they're looking for: after some not-so-natural selection for the best genes, the thriving proteins can produce not only substantial minerals, but whole fiber sheets. Much work is left to get the proteins producing the kind of silicon or titanium dioxides that could run a computer or power your house, but the dream is to have synthetic creations that organically produce what would normally need a mining expedition -- imagine something akin to the glass-like Venus' Flower Basket sponge (pictured above) sitting in an Intel factory. We're half-expecting organically-grown smartphones at Whole Foods, right next to the kale chips and fair trade coffee. [Image credit: Ryan Somma, Flickr]
The Repopulation's end-of-April update includes genetic engineering, bug fixes, and lore updates
Last month, we got our first look at the gameplay of Above and Beyond Technologies' upcoming sandbox title, The Repopulation. Today, the studio released its end-of-April 2012 update notes for the game, giving players a look at the ongoing tweaks and changes being made as Above and Beyond slowly ramps up to the beta stage. For the most part, the notes are your standard patch note fare: bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, some UI tweaks, and so forth. But there are a couple of gems that stand out among the rest. For instance, players with the Genetic Engineering skill can do some gene-splicing to create their own unique pets. Currently there are 40 different hybrid and pure-species pets that can be genetically engineered, so the mad scientists in the crowd should have many options when it comes to playing God. The site's lore and bestiary sections have also been updated for the lore junkies out there. The full, rather expansive April update notes can be found on The Repopulation's official site, so if you're interested in all of the minutiae, just head on over there and check it out. [Thanks to Halldorr for the tip!]
Scientists produce laser light from human kidney cells, we get in touch with our inner Cyclops
Scientists have just created living laser light out of a human cell and some jellyfish protein, but it's not quite as terrifying as it sounds. Developed by Malte Gather and Seok Hyun Yun at Massachusetts General Hospital, the new technique revolves around something known as green fluorescent protein (GFP) -- a naturally glowing molecule found in jellyfish that can be used to illuminate living material. After genetically engineering a human kidney cell to express this protein, Gather and Yun wedged it between two mirrors in an inch-long cylinder, filled with a GFP solution. Then, they infused the system with blue light, until the cell began to emit its own pulses of bright green laser light. Researchers also noticed that the cell could regenerate any destroyed fluorescent proteins, potentially paving the way for scientists to conduct light-based therapy and medical imaging without an external laser source. Hit the source link for more information, though you'll need a subscription to Nature Photonics to access the full article.
Research shocker: genetically engineered viruses seek out, kill cancer
New research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Center seeks to turn the human body into a genetically engineered cancer-killing machine. The fact that the human body doesn't see cancer as a threat to be destroyed naturally is part of what makes treating it so difficult, so this research uses a harmless, HIV-like virus as the vehicle to direct T-cells (which fight disease) to lymphocytes, and simultaneously carry a reporter gene, which show up in positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, as you can see in the photographs above. So far the researchers have injected the cells into the bloodstreams of melanoma-infected mice, and they began to see evidence of their work within two or three days, and by ten days, it was obvious that in most cases, the cells were indeed fighting the cancer. The process, they admit, could take longer in human beings, and would require about one billion tumor seeking lymphocytes per person treated. They are currently working on creating a vehicle to safely direct the lymphocytes in the human body, and expect the human trial leg of the study to begin within one year.
Genetic engineering lets fruit flies 'smell' light
Scientists in Germany have genetically engineered fruit fly larva to 'smell' blue light -- and apparently it smells like bananas! According to a paper published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, researchers at Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum were able to splice a gene for a light-activated protein into cells in the olfactory system. Depending on which cell was spliced, the larva perceived the blue light as smelling like anything from bananas to marzipan or even glue. The scientists used thin electrodes to detect the light-activated neurons, and it is hoped that research in this area will lead to similar procedures that don't harm living animals. Now that they've perfected modding Drosophila larvae, the scientists say they'd like to move on to adult fruit flies. Which is cool with us -- just as long as they don't repeat Seth Brundle's mistakes.
