Bringing extinct animals back to life is really happening — and it’s going to be very, very cool. Unless it ends up being very, very bad.
Great article in the NYT
Month: February 2014
F.D.A. Weighs Fertility Method That Raises Ethical Questions
New York Times: The Food and Drug Administration is weighing a fertility procedure that involves combining the genetic material of three people to make a baby free of certain defects, a therapy that critics say is an ethical minefield and could lead to the creation of designer babies.
http://nyti.ms/1kaaLZm
A malaria breakthrough by Scots researchers could pave the way to new drug treatments able to prevent transmission of the disease.
A study by scientists at Glasgow University and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, near Cambridge, has unlocked the long-standing mystery of how the malaria parasite initiates the process of passing from human to human.
Read the full story in Herald Scotland
Prostate cancer gene test nearer for identifying high-risk men
Interesting article in The Guardian on: Screening for mutations would distinguish between aggressive cancer and less harmful forms of disease say scientists
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/21/gene-test-breakthrough-identifying-men-prostate-cancer
Prickly Protein
http://now.uiowa.edu/2014/02/prickly-protein
Prickly protein prevents bacteria from forming clumps, reduces their ability to cause disease.
A genetic mechanism that controls the production of a large spike-like protein on the surface of Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria alters the ability of the bacteria to form clumps and to cause disease, according to a new University of Iowa study.
MIT robot may accelerate trials for stroke medications
MIT robot may accelerate trials for stroke medications
The development of drugs to treat acute stroke or aid in stroke recovery is a multibillion-dollar endeavor that only rarely pays off in the form of government-approved pharmaceuticals. Drug companies spend years testing safety and dosage in the clinic, only to find in Phase III clinical efficacy trials that target compounds have little to no benefit. The lengthy process is inefficient, costly, and discouraging, says Hermano Igo Krebs, a principal research scientist in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Revealing the inner workings of a cellular nanomotor
Our cells produce thousands of proteins, but more than one-third of these proteins can fulfill their function only after migrating to the outside of the cell. While it is known that protein migration occurs with the help of various ‘nanomotors’ that push proteins out of the cell, little is known about their precise mechanical functioning. New research by Anastassios Economou (Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology – Rega Institute) and his team reveals the inner workings of one such nanomotor, called SecA, with new clarity.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/272290.php
A Medical Mystery Solved
New York Times
A medical mystery solved using the TV series ‘House’