Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
CRISPR, disease-sensing technologies could yield a ‘cornucopia’ of healthier, tastier foods
Consumers may soon begin purchasing fun-sized fruits and vegetables, as well as processed foods that incorporate healthier ingredients .... And ...
Sleep disturbances may make you susceptible to anxiety disorders
Studies in healthy human volunteers have shown how a sleepless night can increase anxiety levels by 30%. In some participants ...
Ancient Rome was genetic crossroads for many European lineages, DNA analysis suggests
Ancient Rome was the capital city of an empire that encompassed some 70 million inhabitants. An international research team now ...
4 keys to the future of synthetic genomics, including the ability to ‘construct entire chromosomes’
We are already living in a synthetic biology world. Within that huge world is an enormous variety of ideas and ...
‘Science doesn’t align with folk beliefs’: Study refutes idea that girls don’t have minds for math
There is a widespread, not always tacit assumption that a biological gender divide in aptitude for mathematics may underpin why ...
Using synthetic biology to solve some of ‘the hardest problems in the world’, with new foods, medicines
Many of the products we use every day—plastics, cosmetics, clothing, fertilizers, and even aspirin—include molecular ingredients derived from petrochemicals. But, ...
Inside US quest to develop a ‘2020 vision for genomics’
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is nearing the halfway point of a major strategic planning process, one that ...
Gene drive alternative uses CRISPR to control insect populations by creating sterile males
Scientists at the University of California (UC) San Diego and UC Berkeley have developed a new approach to controlling disease-carrying ...
GMO houseplant traps carcinogenic chemicals that home air filters miss
[M]ost of us like to keep the air in our homes as clean as possible and we often go to ...
Saving our bacon: Gene editing could protect pigs from deadly virus
The meat and poultry industry is in need of novel methods to stave off infection. A group from the College of ...
Humans may have more genes than we thought—and why it matters
Estimates for the number of genes in the human genome have been trending downward, from 50,000–100,000 (a figure widely cited ...
Reducing HIV replication with CRISPR could lead to effective cure
Scientists in Japan have used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to stop human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication in latently infected T cells that ...
‘One shot’ treatment for hemophilia B uses CRISPR and stem cells
Scientists at the Salk Institute have combined CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing with stem cell technology to generate a one-time, autologous cell therapy for the genetic ...
Precision medicine to tackle ‘world’s biggest killer’ cardiovascular disease
While there have been significant gains against cancer, precision medicine has produced far less progress in the world’s biggest killer—cardiovascular ...
Pursuing ‘organic gene therapy’ for sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia
Scientists in Australia have solved a 50-year-old mystery that could lead to the development of new gene therapies for blood ...
Colds and other infections may trigger mutation that causes Parkinson’s
Scientists report that the most common Parkinson's gene mutation may change how immune cells react to generic infections like colds, ...
Correlation study of 71 Indiana women suggests glyphosate in urine may be linked to shorter pregnancies
In what they claim is the first prospective birth cohort study of its kind, U.S. researchers have linked likely environmental ...
FDA puts clinical hold on Solid Biosciences’ gene therapy trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy over toxicity concerns
The FDA has imposed a full clinical hold on Solid Biosciences’ Phase I/II trial for its lead candidate, the Duchenne ...
Melanoma mystery: Obese men undergoing immune-therapy survive longer than those with normal weight
Obese men with metastatic melanoma who are treated using targeted or immuno-therapies survive for more than twice as long as ...
FDA details risk-based cellular therapy and regenerative medicine guidelines
The FDA has issued two final guidances and two draft guidances, all designed to articulate the agency’s approach to developing ...
How epigenetics is linked to drug resistance
Scientists at Vanderbilt University say they have discovered a nongenetic cause of resistance to cetuximab, a therapeutic that is used ...
Big data meets CRISPR: ‘Cloud biology’ platform could speed up gene editing crop improvement
Benson Hill Biosystems, an agricultural technology company, reports the launch of Edit, which is powered by CropOS™, a computational platform ...
GMO soybean oil causes less obesity in mice than conventional oil
Long-term tests in mice indicate that a genetically modified (GM) brand of soybean oil causes less obesity and insulin resistance ...
Genetic cancer screenings based on family history may not go far enough
Simultaneous sequencing of tumor DNA and normal tissue for a broad panel of cancer-related genes may detect more potentially clinically ...
Why don’t two people with the same illness suffer equally? It’s genetic
Ever wonder why your friend, co-worker, or partner doesn’t get as sick as you, even though they caught the same ...
Gene research opens doors to drug treatments to confront the ‘fine-tuned’ malaria parasite
The single-cell parasite [malaria] has been estimated to have caused the death of almost half of the world’s population since ...
Sunburn savior? High doses of vitamin D may jumpstart skin repair
Anyone who has ever had bad sunburn understands the agonizing discomfort associated with too much sun exposure and would probably ...
Reversing Huntington’s? Brain shown to heal itself after disease source edited out — in mice
The potential of genome-editing techniques, such as CRISPR/Cas9, to alleviate disease burden has ignited the imagination for thousands of researchers ...
