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In a novel use of gene knockout technology, researchers tested the same gene inserted into 90 different locations in a yeast chromosome - and discovered that while the inserted gene never altered its surrounding chromatin landscape, differences in that immediate landscape measurably affected gene activity.
Jan 3rd, 2013
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New method allows scientists to insert multiple genes in specific locations, delete defective genes.
Jan 3rd, 2013
Read moreResearchers have demonstrated a way to easily distinguish undifferentiated embryonic stem cells from later-stage stem cells whose fate is sealed.
Jan 3rd, 2013
Read moreAdvances in bio-technologies and computer software have helped make genome sequencing much more common than in the past. But still in question are both the accuracy of different sequencing methods and the best ways to evaluate these efforts. Now, computer scientists have devised a tool to better measure the validity of genome sequencing.
Jan 2nd, 2013
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How can bacteria protect themselves from lethal infection by viral parasites? One extreme way is for individual cells to commit suicide when infected, thereby preventing or limiting viral replication and protecting the rest of the bacterial population from subsequent infections.
Jan 2nd, 2013
Read moreQuestions loom for bioethics, laws of war, military operations, and broader society.
Jan 2nd, 2013
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Insights into cellular productivity could boost generation of proteins with valuable research and medical applications.
Jan 2nd, 2013
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Researchers have fabricated an artificial protein in the laboratory and examined the surprising ways living cells respond to it.
Dec 27th, 2012
Read moreScientists have believed that microscopic organisms in the gut, microbiota, might play a crucial role in gaining weight but were never able to prove it. Groundbreaking research by a Chinese scientist has revealed a precise link.
Dec 27th, 2012
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Growing new blood vessels in the lab is a tough challenge, but a Johns Hopkins engineering team has solved a major stumbling block: how to prod stem cells to become two different types of tissue that are needed to build tiny networks of veins and arteries.
Dec 27th, 2012
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The hunt for the perfect Christmas tree may soon become a lot easier: just pick a nice clone.
Dec 22nd, 2012
Read moreAn international consortium with representatives from most of the world's major cotton-producing countries, led by Regents Professor Andrew Paterson of the University of Georgia and including Candace Haigler, a North Carolina State University professor of crop science and plant biology, has described the first 'gold-standard' genome sequence for cotton.
Dec 21st, 2012
Read moreAs proof of principle, team creates molecule that corrects myotonic dystrophy in living cells.
Dec 21st, 2012
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Bielefeld's Center for Biotechnology and the Joint Genome Institute, USA, decipher genetic information of microbes in biogas plants.
Dec 21st, 2012
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Nylon, Kevlar and other synthetic fabrics: Step aside. If new scientific research pans out, people may be sporting shirts, blouses and other garments made from fibers modeled after those in the icky, super-strong slime from a creature called the hagfish.
Dec 19th, 2012
Read moreCedars-Sinai Heart Institute researchers have reprogrammed ordinary heart cells to become exact replicas of highly specialized pacemaker cells by injecting a single gene (Tbx18) - a major step forward in the decade-long search for a biological therapy to correct erratic and failing heartbeats.
Dec 19th, 2012
Read moreThe software, which will be used to control Organovo's NovoGen MMX bioprinter, will represent a major step forward in usability and functionality for designing three-dimensional human tissues, and has the potential to open up bioprinting to a broader group of users.
Dec 19th, 2012
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A protein that contributes to cancer vulnerability also plays a surprising role in cardiovascular health and illuminates a promising target pathway for drug treatments for cardiovascular diseases.
Dec 19th, 2012
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