genetics
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Researchers control fruit flies' hearts with a laser
Scientists have directly controlled animals before, but these approaches tend to either require surgery or only work with critters at certain stages in their lives. Researchers might have a more powerful technique in store, however: they've managed to control fruit flies' heartbeats through laser pulses. The approach relies on optogenetics, or modifying the genes of animals to produce materials that respond to light. In this case, the team tweaked flies' heart cells to produce light-sensitive proteins. After that, it was just a matter of zapping the hearts to make them beat on command, whether the flies were larvae or full-grown insects.
Chinese firm wants to sell you genetically modified pet pigs
The concept of buying pets with custom genes may soon become a reality. Beijing Genomics Institute has divulged plans to sell genetically modified pigs whose DNA will keep them small, weighing in at a modest 31 to 44 pounds. The tweak was originally meant to produce ideal subjects for disease modeling research, but the healthy first generation is reportedly well-suited to pet buyers who don't want large hogs in their living rooms. While it's too soon to know exactly how long these "micro pigs" will live, they're expected to last 15 to 20 years.
3D-printed DNA 'bunnies' could deliver drugs into your body
"DNA origami" is nothing new -- in fact, IBM once considered it as a way to make microchips. However, Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have become ridiculously good at folding the building blocks of life, and built a bunny to prove it. The point was not to do a party trick, of course, though rabbit-shaped DNA is delightful. Rather, the team wanted to develop a fully-automated, 3D-printing-like method for folding DNA. Researchers could one day use the technique to create structures that don't break down in the human body in order to precisely deliver drugs.
Gene-modded mosquitoes will fight Dengue Fever in Brazil
The Brazilian city of Piracicaba has a potent new weapon in the ongoing fight against Dengue Fever, which infects more than a million people annually: genetically modified mosquito lotharios Created by Oxitec of Abingdon, UK and bred locally within Brazil, these GM mosquitoes (all of which are male) are designed to crash the local population before they can spread the tropical disease. More than six million have been released throughout Piracicaba since April. When a GM male mates with a wild female, his sapper genetics cause the resulting larvae to die before they can reach adulthood. What's more, the larvae also carry a genetic mutation that causes them to glow red under UV light, giving researchers an easy way to identify them on sight. "It gives an instant readout of how successfully you're driving down the native population," Hadyn Parry, chief executive of Oxitec, told New Scientist.
DNA sequencing shows how woolly mammoths got that way
In what is being called the "most comprehensive" study of its kind, a team from the University of Chicago claims that it has revealed the massive amount of genetic change needed for woolly mammoths to adapt to their arctic environment. The study, which was published on July 2 in Cell Reports, shows that genes controlling everything from skin and hair development to fat metabolism, insulin signaling -- even skull shape -- differed from their contemporary elephant kin.
Human gene sequencing gets an official yardstick
Gene sequencing, once a rare feat, is pretty common these days... but how do you know that your DNA data is up to snuff? As of now, there's an easy way to find out. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released reference genetic material that serves as a "measuring stick" for human gene sequencing. Researchers have tested this sample genome so thoroughly that it'll tell labs whether or not they're making typical mistakes, and ensure that their results are trustworthy. The hope is that you'll see bulletproof sequencing devices that take the anxiety out of pinpointing genetic conditions or understanding your ancestry. [Image credit: Gerald Barber, Virginia Tech University (with permission of the National Science Foundation)]
Scientists create chickens with dinosaur snouts to study evolution
How do scientists study the evolutionary transformation from snouts to beaks as those winged dinosaurs became birds? By putting dinosaur snouts on chickens, of course. A team of researchers at Yale were able to modify the chickens' genetic make up in a way that would make then grow a snout like their ancestors (similar to the Anchiornis model above) rather than the beaks we're all familiar with. The modification allows scientists to study the molecular foundations of the evolution. More specifically, they can examine the difference in bone structure and the genetic pattern birds exhibit that reptiles and mammals don't -- the one that causes a beak to form. Despite how awesome it would be, the research had nothing to do with building a real-life Jurrasic Park. [Image credit: Lou-Foto/Alamy]
Apple reportedly wants to help test your DNA
Now that Apple has launched a platform for medical research, it's apparently ready to expand what that platform can do. MIT's sources understand that the Cupertino crew is working with academics on ResearchKit apps that let iPhone users get DNA tests. Apple wouldn't directly scoop up DNA, as you might imagine -- rather, it would make it easier for you to collect genes and share them with scholars. You could see some findings within the app, too, so you might know whether or not a condition is genetic.
NIH bans funding for genetic engineering of human embryos
Researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China made headlines late last month upon announcing that they had successfully edited the genes of a human embryo. This revelation set off a firestorm of controversy as the scientific community took sides in the ethical debate of genetic manipulation. Now, the National Institute of Health has weighed in on the issue and is denying funding to research that involves meddling with the human germline.
Police can spot differences between identical twins by melting DNA
Believe it or not, police have a real problem with identifying suspects who are identical twins -- unless you're willing to spend a month sequencing genes, DNA samples are all but useless. They may be far more effective in the future, though, as British researchers have developed a technique that melts DNA to identify what few differences exist. The team has determined that heating genes will break hydrogen bonds that form due to a person's environment and habits. Unless the twins live eerily similar lives, those bonds will snap at different temperature points and quickly identify who's who.
Scientists create first genetically modified human embryo
For the first time in history, a team of researchers have successfully edited the genes of a human embryo. The researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou reportedly used the CRISPR/Cas9 technique to knock a gene called HBB, which causes the fatal blood disorder β-thalassaemia, out of donor embryos. This marks the first time that the CRISPR technique has been employed on an embryonic human genome. The CRISPR/Cas9 method utilizes a complex enzyme (aka a set of "genetic scissors") to snip out and replace faulty gene segments with functional bits of DNA. The technique is well-studied in adult cells, but very little published research has been done using embryonics. And it's the latter application that has bioethicists up in arms.
Stanford scientists make leukemia 'grow up' and eat itself
A team at Stanford's School of Medicine has reportedly uncovered a potent new treatment method for combating one of leukemia's most aggressive forms -- and they did it pretty much by accident. While survival rates for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a particularly nasty form of white blood cell cancer, have risen to about 85 percent over the past decade thanks to the advent of stem cell therapies, the prognosis for this disease in the presence of a Philadelphia chromosome mutation remains quite poor. But thanks to a chance observation by Dr. Scott McClellan, the Stanford team believes it's figured out way to neutralize the disease using its own cancerous cells against it.
23andMe gets FDA approval, but only to test rare Bloom syndrome
For over a year now, 23andMe has been effectively banned from offering its US customers health-related genetic tests. The company is still selling its personal DNA kits, but the information it can provide is limited to ancestry-related reports and raw genetic data. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was behind the original clampdown in 2013, but this week it's given the company its blessing for a new test. With the fresh approval, 23andMe can now offer to look for signs of Bloom syndrome, a rare disorder which is characterized by short stature, sun-sensitive skin and increased cancer risk. While this is a specific test, rather than the broader health reports it offered before, 23andMe calls it an "important first step" to offering detailed genetic advice in the US once more.
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.
Russia wants to collect the DNA of every creature
Institutions have already been amassing huge DNA collections to catalog the world's creatures, but Moscow State University might just top them all. It's planning to build "Noah's Ark," a repository for the genes of every creature, living or extinct -- as long as the genes are readable, they'll either be cryogenically frozen or stored as pure data. Not surprisingly, it's going to be a massive undertaking in more ways than one. The Russian government is spending the equivalent of $194 million on the facility, which should occupy an enormous 166 square miles when it's finished in 2018.
The UK will decode the genes of 100,000 people to help fight cancer
The UK is about to launch one of the more ambitious attempts at using genetic research to fight cancer and other nasty diseases. The National Health Service's England branch plans to collect and sequence the genomes of 100,000 people in hopes of understanding both how DNA affects these sicknesses (such as gene-specific causes or symptoms) and what doctors can do to test and treat patients. The strategy will see the NHS run 11 specialized Genomic Medicine Centres across England, with more due in the future. So long as everything goes smoothly, the first recruits will sign up in February.
23andMe's £125 DNA testing service launches in the UK
While more and more technology companies are shifting their focus to include health tracking, none go quite as in-depth as 23andMe. The self-branded "personal genetics company" made its name in the US and Canada for mail-order DNA test kits that provide customers with an overview of their genetic ancestry and provide a risk assessments for certain diseases based on genetic data. That was until its very public spat with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which told 23andMe to stop offering disease analysis until it received the medical device classification it needed. The ban is still in place, but 23andMe has continued to offer (with approval) its ancestry-related reports and "uninterpreted raw genetic data" to customers.
Genome testing is now easy, fast and pretty
Genome testing gear doesn't get a lot of love. Like a lot of lab equipment, it tends to be ugly and unwieldy -- it's not designed with the same elegance as the smartphone in your pocket. Mercifully, the crew at Fluidigm appears to have solved those problems in one shot with its Juno genotyping machine. The Yves Behar-designed device is (dare we say it) pretty, and wouldn't look out of place sitting on a desk. It's also more intuitive, relying on a large, simple touchscreen interface instead of keyboards and tiny displays.
If you're part of the 'younger set with high income,' you might like this purple potato
Potato breeding programs at Michigan State University and Texas A&M have been churning out modified spuds for the better part of a decade, if not longer, but thanks to A&M's Creighton Miller, we now have a better idea of the 'designer' potato's target market. "What we're doing now is developing unique varieties that appeal to the younger set that is high-income that are willing to try something different," he explained in an interview with AgriLife Today, holding a variety of product, including a "gourmet" potato sporting "red flesh with splashes of yellow." Michigan State's program, meanwhile, has developed a variety called "Raspberry." According to a report in Txchnologist, that potato has vibrant red flesh and a skin that's flavored like the fruit. You might get a good feel for how it tastes by taking a bite while it's still garden-fresh, but that particular potato, along with another simply referred to as "MSQ558-2RR," are likely destined to end their lives as thin-cut chips. De-licious. [Photo credit: Texas A&M AgriLife Communications]
