HarvardMedicalSchool
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Atomic 'photos' help make gene editing safer
Believe it or not, scientists haven't had a close-up look at CRISPR gene editing. They've understood its general processes, but not the minutiae of what's going on -- and that raises the risk of unintended effects. They'll have a much better understanding going forward. Cornell and Harvard researchers have produced snapshots of the CRISPR-Cas3 gene editing subtype (not the Cas9 you normally hear about) at near atom-level resolution. They used a mix of cryo-electron microscopy and biochemistry to watch as a riboprotein complex captured DNA, priming the genes so the namesake Cas3 enzyme can start cutting. The team combined hundreds of thousands of particles into 2D averages of CRISPR's functional states (many of which haven't been seen before) and turned them into 3D projections you can see at the source link.
ICYMI: NASA is going to colonize a space rock
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Nasa launched the OSIRIS-Rex craft this week to begin its long and lonely mission to visit the Bennu asteroid. It'll return to Earth in seven years full of space rocks and hopefully nothing else. Meanwhile, Harvard Medical School has devised a way to see how bacteria evolves to become resistant to antibiotics.
Scientists held a secret meeting to debate creating synthetic human genes
On Tuesday, about 150 scientists, lawyers and entrepreneurs gathered at Harvard Medical School to discuss a future project to improve techniques to synthesize human DNA from chemicals. But they held the meeting behind closed doors, with explicit instructions not to contact the media, getting the scientific community in a tizzy. At the top of their worry pile is that the project will end up innovating new ways to make synthetic human genes, which could lead to them being used to artificially create humans.
Harvard lets human minds control rats, private rodent armies remain distant (video)
Sure, we've seen rats control other rats, but that won't give us a legion of mind-controlled creatures to unleash upon an innocent public, will it? Harvard Medical School may unwittingly assist with solving our (rather misguided) plight, as it just experimented with a system that lets a human mind trigger actions in a rat's motor cortex. The test had sensor-equipped humans watch a screen that flashed in sync with their EEG brain patterns for visual stimulation; as soon their attention shifted to controlling the rat, they triggered an ultrasonic pulse that twitched the rodent's tail. There's a few problems with the implementation beyond the obvious lack of autonomy for the poor target creature, though. The rat's anaesthetized state likely affected the results, and the system isn't currently sophisticated enough to map specific thoughts to corresponding actions. The Harvard team is working to refine the technology, however, and there may be a day when we can satisfy our megalomania... or at least, put the Pied Piper on notice.
Harvard Medical School content to be part of HeartDecide
Orca Health's HeartDecide app is now powered by data from Harvard Medical School, thanks to a newly formed partnership. As AllThingsD reports, the new union has already yielded a wealth of new content for iOS devices. The app, which is designed to help educate users, is offered free of charge. A litany of heart ailments can be simulated using the app's 3D heart model, including rheumatic heart disease, atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. You can also use the app's directory to find heart specialists and browse tips on staying healthy. The partnership between Orca and Harvard doesn't end there; A total of four iBooks from the pair are also now available covering various topics -- angina, angioplasty, atherosclerosis and cardiac catheterization -- in greater depth. However, unlike the free app, these interactive tomes will set you back US$4.99 each.
Harvard scientists reverse aging in mice, laugh maniacally at human possibilities
The reversal of aging has been one of the great dreams of humanity, but it seems like our rodent overlords have beat us to it. The Harvard Medical School has demonstrated "a dramatic reversal" in the aging process when reintroducing the enzyme telomerase into old and feeble mice. What happened was that their naturally worn out organs started to regenerate, instead of degenerating further, bringing them back to a youthful state of health. Sadly, while the results of this study are hugely important, there are a couple of caveats to make: firstly, the mice in question were genetically modified to suffer from a lack of telomerase, which might have inflated the results of the tests relative to regular mice, but more importantly, an increase in telomerase in humans is "a hallmark of most human cancers." So, if you want a shot of Benjamin Button brew, you'll have to be very patient indeed. For now, let's just be happy that Algernon and his buddies have found their fountain of youth. [Thanks, Vygantas]
Self-assembling nanodevices could advance medicine one tiny leap at a time
Seems like Harvard wasn't content with making robotic bees, and has taken its quest for miniaturization right down to the nanoscale level. One nanometer-wide, single-stranded DNA molecules are the topic of the university's latest research, which sets out a way they can be used to create "3D prestressed tensegrity structures." Should these theoretical scribblings ever pan out in the real world, we could see the resulting self-assembled nanodevices facilitating drug delivery targeted directly at the diseased cells, and even the reprogramming of human stem cells. Infusing a nanodevice with the relevant DNA data passes instructions on to your stem cells, which consequently turn into, for example, new bone tissue or neurons to augment your fleshy CPU. Yes, we're kinda freaked out, but what's cooler than being able to say you're going to the doctor for a shot of nanotransformers?
Augmented vision device may aid tunnel vision sufferers
As people age and develop ocular diseases such as glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa, an unfortunate side effect is the gradual inability to locate and recognize objects not directly in front of them -- a condition more commonly known as tunnel vision. Previous gadgets designed to combat this problem, such as so-called reverse binocular glasses, have indeed been successful in providing patients with additional visual data; however, their miniaturizing effect took much of the detail away from peripheral objects, making them uncomfortable and ultimately ineffective for everyday use. Fortunately for tunnel vision sufferers, a new, higher-tech option may soon be available to aid them in their plight, in the form of an innovative device designed by a team at Harvard Medical School affiliate Schepens Eye Research Institute. Developed in conjunction with MyVu HMD manufacturer MicroOptical Corp., the augmented vision device consists of a video camera and transparent display attached to a pair of glasses and tethered by wire to a small computer. The computer processes the incoming visual data from the camera and projects a real-time outline of the wearer's surroundings right onto the center of the glasses, effectively "filling in the blanks" for the peripheral objects that would not normally be viewable. In tests conducted by the team, affected patients with only an hour of training were able to significantly increase the directness of their searches, while at the same time reducing the amount of time necessary to locate an object by about 22%. Further long term studies are necessary to determine how effective the device would be with more training and regular usage, but with such promising initial results, tunnel vision sufferers may finally be able to step out of the shadows and literally see the light.[Via Medgadget]
Protein-coated discs could enable 50TB capacities
We know that it shouldn't come as a shock anymore when researchers announce new storage technologies that promise to hold tantalizingly large amounts of data, but we were still pretty stoked to learn that a recent breakthrough at Harvard Medical School may eventually lead to DVD-size discs whose capacities approach an eye-popping 50TB. Unlike traditional optical or magnetic solutions, the disc developed by Professor V Renugopalakrishnan and his colleagues is coated with thousands of light-activated proteins called bacteriorhodopsin which are found in the membrane of a particular salt marsh microbe -- and which temporarily convert to a series of intermediate molecules when exposed to sunlight. That property allows the proteins to act as individual bits in a binary system, but since they have a tendency to return to their grounded state after mere hours or days, Renugopalakrishnan and his team modified the requisite microbes' DNA to produce proteins capable of maintaining that intermediary state for several years. Unfortunately we won't see this technology come to market anytime soon, and even when it does, 50TB capacities will still be a ways off, so it looks like we'll have to settle for those disappointing 200GB Blu-ray discs for the foreseeable future.[Via Gotakon]
