News by Subject Biology

Public Release: 19-Oct-2018

Scientists identify critical cancer immunity genes using new genetic barcoding technology

The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Mount Sinai Scientists developed a novel way to barcode and track different CRISPRs by utilizing synthetic proteins built from combinations of smaller proteins, called epitopes. By being able to mark each CRISPR with a unique identifier, the protein barcodes, or Pro-Codes for short, enable hundreds of CRISPRs to be used together to knockout a multitude of genes.

Journal: Cell
Funder: NIH/National Cancer Institute, NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation

Public Release: 19-Oct-2018

Father's nicotine exposure may cause problems in future generations of his children

Florida State University

A new Florida State University College of Medicine study in mice produced results that suggest nicotine exposure in men could lead to cognitive deficits in their children and grandchildren. Further studies will be required to know if the same outcomes seen in mice would apply to humans.

Journal: PLOS Biology
Funder: Jim and Betty Anne Rodgers Chair Fund, Florida State University, Escher Fund for Autism, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse

Public Release: 19-Oct-2018

Why some cancers affect only young women

Université de Genève

Among several forms of pancreatic cancer, one of them affects specifically women, often young, even though the pancreas is an organ with little exposure to sex hormones. This pancreatic cancer, known as 'mucinous cyst,' has strange similarities with another mucinous cancer, affecting the ovaries. By conducting large-scale analyses of genomic data, researchers at the University of Geneva and at the University Hospitals of Geneva have provided an answer: both tumors originate from embryonic germ cells.

Journal: Journal of Pathology

Public Release: 19-Oct-2018

Src regulates mTOR, a major player in cancer growth

Baylor College of Medicine

This study shows that Src is necessary and sufficient to activate mTORC1 and offers the possibility to develop novel approaches to control cancer growth.

Journal: Nature Communications

Public Release: 19-Oct-2018

En route to custom-designed natural products

Goethe University Frankfurt

Microorganisms often assemble natural products similar to industrial assembly lines. Certain enzymes, non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) play a key role in this process. Biotechnologists at Goethe University have now been able to discover how these enzymes interact with each other. This brings them one step closer to their goal of engineering the production of such peptide natural products.

Journal: Nature Communications

Public Release: 18-Oct-2018

With a microbe-produced toxin, bacteria prove old dogs can learn new tricks

University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine

In the ongoing chemical battles among bacteria and their microbial neighbors, a new toxin has been uncovered. This unfamiliar toxin behaves in a familiar way. Its actions against other bacteria resemble the mechanisms of cholera, pertussis and diphtheria toxins. Some bacteria deploying this toxin have safeguards against self-poisoning.

Journal: Cell
Funder: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 18-Oct-2018

Pathogens may evade immune response with metal-free enzyme required for DNA replication

Penn State

New study shows that some bacterial pathogens, including those that cause strep throat and pneumonia, are able to create the components necessary to replicate their DNA using a ribonucleotide reductase enzyme that does not require a metal ion cofactor.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Searle Scholars Program, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 18-Oct-2018

Elucidating cuttlefish camouflage

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Computational image analysis of behaving cuttlefish reveals principles of control and development of a biological invisibility cloak.

Journal: Nature

Public Release: 18-Oct-2018

Advanced sequencing technology provides new insights into human mitochondrial diseases

University of Helsinki

Researchers have for the first time been able to investigate the abundance and methyl modifications of all mitochondrial tRNAs in patients suffering from one of the most common inherited mitochondrial tRNA mutations. The analysis pipeline revealed quantitative changes that had dramatic effects on protein synthesis within mitochondria.

Journal: Nature Communications

Public Release: 18-Oct-2018

Allergy research: Test predicts outcome of hay fever therapies

Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Allergen-specific immunotherapy can considerably improve everyday life for allergy sufferers. It is unclear, however, what exactly happens during this treatment. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Helmholtz Zentrum München investigated the processes taking place in the body over the course of a three-year allergen-specific immunotherapy. The researchers found clues as to why the allergy immunization takes so long and how the chances of success can be determined at a very early stage.

Journal: EBioMedicine
Funder: Allergopharma GmbH & Co. KG, German Center for Lung Research

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