Feature Channels: Biotech

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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. In a study published online March 27 in Developmental Cell, researchers report that treatment with a microRNA called miR-219 restarted production of a substance called myelin that is critical to normal function of the central nervous system.

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In a publication in the journal Nature released today (March 27, 2017), scientists from the Department of Biochemistry and Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have solved the structure of an enzyme caught in the act of attacking toluene — a chemical derived from wood and oil.

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In a Phase I clinical study, researchers were able to transform the immune system by taking cells damaged in Parkinson’s disease and making them cells that protect and defend against brain injury.

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The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) opens its new building: IMP sponsor Boehringer Ingelheim has constructed a new flagship for the Vienna Biocenter, the Life Science cluster in Vienna, with an investment of 52 million euros. Representatives from politics, industry and science celebrated the opening.

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The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce that Richard C. Lewontin, PhD is the 2017 recipient of the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for lifetime achievement in the field of genetics. This award recognizes Lewontin’s extensive impact on our understanding of evolution, a broad and deep influence that has shaped the field. An unprecedented 160 distinguished biologists co-signed a letter of support to nominate Lewontin for the Morgan Medal. Lewontin is the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Emeritus and a Professor of Biology Emeritus in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.

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Results from experiments and computational modeling studies that definitively identify the "active site" of a catalyst commonly used for making methanol from CO2 will guide the design of improved catalysts for transforming this pollutant to useful chemicals.

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Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM)—which enables the visualization of viruses, proteins, and other biological structures at the molecular level—is a critical tool used to advance biochemical knowledge. Now Berkeley Lab researchers have extended cryo-EM’s impact further by developing a new computational algorithm instrumental in constructing a 3-D atomic-scale model of bacteriophage P22 for the first time.

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The Open Philanthropy Project has awarded a $3.5 million grant to the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center to support research focused on improving U.S. and international biosecurity and pandemic preparedness policy.

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Instead of oil, coal, or even solar energy, self-sustaining bacterial fuel cells may power the future. Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed the next step in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with the first micro-scale self-sustaining cell, which generated power for 13 straight days through symbiotic interactions of two types of bacteria.

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Since a couple of decades, metal-containing drugs have been successfully used to fight against certain types of cancer. The lack of knowledge about the underlying molecular mechanisms slows down the search for new and more efficient chemotherapeutic agents. An international team of scientists, led by Leticia González from the University of Vienna and Jacinto Sá from the Uppsala University, have developed a protocol that is able to detect how metal-based drugs interact with DNA.

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The IGI has selected two scientists for its one-of-a-kind "Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program," pushing transformative scientific products to the market by supporting vital foundational research and professional networking for two years. Awardees are pursuing CRISPR genetic engineering applications.

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When Globus Genomics launched five years ago, biologists were just getting used to the idea of being a “big data” science. At that time, the rapidly falling costs of next-generation sequencing suddenly made large-scale genetics more accessible to life scientists. However, these new methods also brought new challenges, as researchers used to working with small datasets on their desktop computer were faced for the first time with the kind of hard-drive flooding data streams more commonly seen by physicists and astronomers.

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The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce that Jonathan Hodgkin, PhD (Oxford University) is the 2017 recipient of the Edward Novitski Prize in recognition of his extraordinary creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving significant problems in genetics research. Hodgkin uncovered the sex determination pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans, an important and widely used model for animal development and genetics. His innovations and contributions to genetic analysis, including the use of suppressor screens and epistasis analyses, helped advance the field in many ways. Hodgkin is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford.

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Standard antidepressant medications don’t work for everyone, and even when they do they are slow to kick in. In an effort to find better depression treatments, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine discovered that inhibiting an enzyme called Glyoxalase 1 (GLO1) relieves signs of depression in mice. Moreover, inhibiting GLO1 worked much faster than the conventional antidepressant Prozac.

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Genetic mutations that cause cancer also weaken cancer cells, allowing researchers to develop drugs that will selectively kill them. This is called “synthetic lethality” because the drug is only lethal to mutated (synthetic) cells. Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Jacobs School of Engineering developed a method to search for synthetic-lethal gene combinations. The technique, published March 20 in Nature Methods, uncovered 120 new opportunities for cancer drug development.

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UPTON, NY—Even plants have to live on an energy budget. While they’re known for converting solar energy into chemical energy in the form of sugars, plants have sophisticated biochemical mechanisms for regulating how they spend that energy. Making oils costs a lot. By exploring the details of this delicate energy balance, a group of scientists from the U.

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A discovery, several years in the making, by University at Buffalo researchers proves that adult skin cells can be converted into neural crest cells (a type of stem cell) without any genetic modification, and that these stem cells can yield other cells that are present in the spinal cord and the brain. The applications could be significant, from studying genetic diseases in a dish to generating possible regenerative cures from the patient’s own cells.

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Natural carbon dioxide production from deep subsurface soils contributes significantly to emissions, even in a semiarid floodplain.

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Built using Apple’s ResearchKit, the Asthma Mobile Health Study demonstrates utility, security, and validity of smartphone-based research to engage broader patient population

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A new study from the University of Chicago suggests that while proteins that control organ growth accumulate around the edges of cells, they actually function at a different cellular site.