Newly engineered CRISPR enzyme for editing DNA is more compact yet just as efficient as current popular tool, and could improve patient treatment. A new CRISPR-based gene-editing tool has been developed which could lead to better treatments for patients with genetic disorders. The tool is an enzyme, AsCas12f, which has been modified to offer the same effectiveness but at one-third the size of the Cas9 enzyme commonly used for gene editing. The compact size means that more of it can…

MPI scientists reveal how phosphate escapes from actin filaments – a key signal that primes older filaments for disassembly. Actin filaments are dynamic protein-fibres in the cell built from single actin proteins. Many cellular functions, including cell movement, are regulated by constant filament assembly and disassembly. The disassembly phase is initiated by the release of a phosphate group from inside the filament, but the details of this process have puzzled scientists since decades. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of…

A microbial enzyme inspires electrochemistry. Humans continuously emits greenhouse gases, worsening global warming. For example, carbon dioxide (CO2) accumulates dramatically over the years and is chemically very stable. Yet, some microbes capture CO2 using highly efficient enzymes. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen together with the Universities of Geneva and Radboud isolated one of these enzymes. When the enzyme was electronically branched on an electrode, they observed the conversion of CO2 to formate with perfect…

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have illuminated one of the important ways that cells respond to stress. The findings could also be relevant to Alzheimer’s, ALS and other diseases in which this mechanism may be abnormally active. When stressed by heat, toxins or other potentially damaging factors, cells gather many of their messenger RNAs (mRNAs), molecules that carry the instructions for making proteins, into droplet-like compartments called stress granules. These granules sequester affected mRNAs, preventing them from being translated into…

A UNIGE team shows that disruptions to the circadian clock increase the risk of developing a neurodegenerative disease. Disturbances in sleep patterns and the internal biological clock are frequently associated with Parkinson’s disease. However, the link between biological rhythm and neuronal degeneration remains unclear. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) investigated the destruction of neurons at different times of the day, using the fruit fly as a study model. The scientists discovered that the type of cellular stress…

Direct conversion of methane (CH4) to high value-added chemicals at room temperature, by directly using abundant and low-cost molecular oxygen (O2) as an oxidant, is an ideal route for CH4 utilization. But it remains a challenge owing to the chemical inertness of methane and low activity of O2. Recently, a research group led by Prof. DENG Dehui and Assoc. Prof. YU Liang from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) realized direct CH4 conversion to C1 oxygenates (CH3OH,…

… is feasible, safe in people. Sonobiopsies generate genetic, molecular data to inform treatment decisions for brain diseases. The blood-brain barrier, the body’s way of shielding sensitive brain tissue from viruses, toxins and other harmful substances in the blood, can pose a problem for physicians caring for patients with suspected brain diseases such as cancer. Molecular and genetic information would be invaluable for confirming a diagnosis and guiding treatment decisions, but such molecules are normally confined to the brain by…

Edges cause cilia to quickly synchronize their beating pattern. Border regions can cause cilia to coordinate their motion creating a unidirectional wave that is essential for biological functions. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) in Göttingen proposed a new model describing this synchronized pattern driven by the border region. What do the crowd at a football stadium, the feet of a centipede, and the inside of your lungs have in common? All of these systems…

Animals possess specialized networks of neurons in the brain that receive signals about the outside world from the retina and respond by initiating appropriate behavior. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence studied a genetic mutation in zebrafish that eliminates all connections between retina and brain throughout development. The team found that in these ‘deep-blind’ fish the brain circuits are fully functional, as direct brain stimulation with optogenetics can drive normal visual behavior. This shows that the assembly…

Using an innovative new approach to sampling corals, researchers at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa are now able to create maps of coral biochemistry that reveal with unprecedented detail the distribution of compounds that are integral to the healthy functioning of reefs. Their study was published today in Communications Biology. “This work is a major step in understanding the coral holobiont [the coral animal and all of its associated microorganisms], which is critical for reef restoration and management,”…

How are environmental changes, loss of biodiversity, and the spread of pathogens connected? The answer is a puzzle. Scientists from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in cooperation with the Leibniz-IZW have now described one piece of that puzzle in a study on the effects of rainforest clearing on mosquitoes and the viruses they carry the journal “eLife”. They show that the destruction of tropical rainforests harms the diversity of mosquito species. At the same time, more resilient species of mosquitoes become…

Researchers at Münster University take a deep look at peroxisomal processes. Every system has its waste disposal system. The cell organelles known as “peroxisomes” dispose toxic substances and fats in the human body, among other things, and, in doing so, they prevent serious illnesses. The “Pex” group of proteins (peroxisomes biogenesis factors) keep these “detox units” functioning properly – and a team of researchers at Münster University headed by Prof. Christos Gatsogiannis have now been the first to show, at…

Scientists from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, both Germany, have successfully developed nanomaterials using a so-called bottom-up approach. As reported in the scientific journal ACS Nano, they exploit the fact that crystals often grow in a specific direction during crystallisation. These resulting nanostructures, which appear as “worm-like and decorated rods,“ could be used in various technological applications. “Our structures could be described as worm-like rods with decorations,” explains Prof. Felix Schacher. “Embedded in these…

… to improve accuracy of breast cancer tumor removal. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools have received a lot of attention recently, with the majority of discussions focusing on proper use. However, this technology has a wide range of practical applications, from predicting natural disasters to addressing racial inequalities and now, assisting in cancer surgery. A new clinical and research partnership between the UNC Department of Surgery, the Joint UNC-NCSU Department of Biomedical Engineering, and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive…

Discovered for the first time: New deep-sea enzyme breaks down PET plastic. Plastic pollution is increasingly affecting the health of coasts and oceans. One well-known problem is plastic bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. A new study involving scientists from Professor Ruth Schmitz-Streit’s research group at Kiel University has shown for the first time, using microorganisms from the deep sea, that polymers such as PET are continuously degraded by an enzyme. Researchers from the University of Hamburg and the…

Discovery of oil-forming yeast species boosts hope for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Not all yeasts are created equally. Unlike the yeast used by bakers and beer brewers for converting sugars to carbon dioxide and fermentation, oleaginous yeasts convert sugars from inedible biomass into fats and oils. A research group jointly led by Kyoto University and Ryukoku University has discovered two new species of oil-forming yeast in the soil of Shiga Prefecture. Their study also examines the relationship between the prefecture’s diverse climate…