Technology Networks
Here’s the skinny on fast-emerging genetic engineering tools that are rapidly improving global farming
Genetic engineering and gene-editing tools are by no means a panacea for the time-sensitive agricultural and food-related challenges we face ...
For synthetic biology, 2023 was a very opportune year
Synthetic biology is a multidisciplinary field that often draws inspiration from nature to build molecular components ...
Here’s how we can overhaul our food and farming systems to grow enough food to meet population and climate change challenges
As consumers, our relationship with food – how we grow, produce and eat it, must change in response to increased ...
A yield-boosting wheat gene could help address growing climate and food insecurity crises
Wheat, one of the most important food rations, is an inbred crop with low genetic diversity and unique evolutionary constraints ...
Future of food: Cell-based protein key to ensure sustainability of our global food supply
A 2018 meta-analysis estimated that food production releases more than one-quarter of all human-caused greenhouse gases and that agricultural irrigation accounts ...
Viewpoint: ‘CRISPR democratizes science by making gene editing available to all agricultural researchers’
According to [CasZyme founder Monika] Paulė, plant genome editing can increase the resistance of plants that are sensitive to heat, ...
Viewpoint: ‘As climate changes, we urgently need to engineer plants to withstand harsher climates’
Genome editing using CRISPR technology may be a key approach to improving agricultural production. It is already being used to ...
Magic mushroom health promise: Psilocybin’s antidepressant brain-rewiring capabilities come into focus
Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound that can be derived from over 200 species of mushroom, can remodel connections in the mouse ...
Having O blood type could offer protection against COVID-19, study suggests
However, after the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic, the company [23andMe] switched gears and looked to see how ...
A right to know? Should children be told when a parent’s genetic test reveals hereditary risks?
What are the legal, professional and ethical, duties or responsibilities of researchers and clinicians in handling genetic testing and the ...
Video: Exploring the natural events that created the coronavirus pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has changed our day-to-day life as we know it – but how did the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) ...
Cellular agriculture could replace some of the 270 million dairy cows needed to produce milk
Worldwide demand for milk is continually increasing in response to a range of factors, including global population growth and changing ...
Video: Why do people lose their hair? And can we bring it back?
What do Charles Darwin, Michael Jordan, and Yoda have in common? They, like many other historical and fictional individuals, are ...
Is being obese similar to being old? Both make the body vulnerable to life-threatening diseases, researchers say
Globally, an estimated 1.9 billion adults and 380 million children are overweight or obese. According to the World Health Organization, ...
Fertility breakthrough: First baby born from eggs matured in lab before being frozen
Fertility doctors in France have announced the birth of the first baby to be born to a cancer patient from ...
Using AI to predict life expectancy—and identify candidates for experimental trials—among glioblastoma patients
Glioblastoma is an aggressive, killer disease. While victims of this fast-moving brain tumor comprise only about 15% of all people ...
Powerful killer T-cell discovery could enable ‘one-size-fits-all’ cancer therapy
Researchers have discovered a new type of killer T-cell that, after testing in a mouse model, could help to forge ...
More science education may not quell consumer fear of GMO, gene-edited crops, Japanese study suggests
A team of researchers [in Japan] conducted a survey to explore the opinions and attitudes of both Japanese experts and ...
Geneticist Alison Van Eenennaam explains how the CRISPR gene editing ‘revolution’ can improve our food
The final instalment of Technology Networks Explores the CRISPR Revolution is an interview with Dr Alison Van Eenennaam, a livestock ...
Can a DNA test determine if your biological age matches your chronological age?
I consider myself to be a fairly healthy person, to my own standards at least. But does my DNA tell ...
Promise of treating Alzheimer’s with sensory stimulation: ‘Everybody can do it at home’
At SfN 2019, we interviewed Li-Huei Tsai, director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory in the Department of ...
Why DNA is the thumb drive of the future
DNA is designed to keep lots of data in a tiny space for an extremely long time. But the best ...
Psychiatric diagnoses scientifically meaningless? Why that criticism ‘seems meaningless’
In this opinion piece, psychiatrist Samei Huda responds to a recent journal article published in Psychiatry Research that labeled psychiatric ...
Video: Here’s what sugar does to our brains
When you eat something loaded with sugar, your taste buds, your gut and your brain all take notice. This activation ...
Video: Targeting glioblastoma and other deadly cancers with nanoparticles, chemotherapy
Nanoparticles are capable of carrying chemotherapy to areas of the body afflicted by cancer. However, what if these nanoparticles were ...
UK pushes to cut cancer rates by expanding HPV vaccinations to preteen boys
From September 2019, boys in school year 8 will be offered the free Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for the ...
Can stress be measured through a single drop of blood?
[T]he holy grail of stress diagnostics would be a reliable biomarker; a biological measuring stick that would sum up all ...
Human brains are drawn to the sound of music
In the eternal search for understanding what makes us human, scientists found that our brains are more sensitive to pitch, ...