Researchers Invent New Gene Editing Tool March 3, 2021
Specially engineered guide RNA molecules called “proGuides” may allow scientists to program sequential gene edits over time.
Researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) have discovered a new gene editing technique that allows for the programming of sequential cuts or edits over time.
The new process developed by UIC s Bradley Merrill, lead author of the paper published in Molecular Cell, involves using special molecules called guide RNA that ferry the Cas9 enzyme within the cell and determine the precise DNA sequence at which Cas9 will cut. They call their specially engineered guide RNA molecules proGuides, and the molecules allow for the programmed sequential editing of DNA using Cas9.
Transforming immune killer T-cells into super soldiers to fight against cancer
Creating super soldiers of specific white blood cells to boost an anti-tumor response has been shown in a series of elegant experiments by Princess Margaret researchers.
Research led by Ph.D. candidate Helen Loo Yau, Post-doctoral fellow Dr. Emma Bell and Senior Scientist Dr. Daniel D. De Carvalho describes a DNA modifying epigenetic therapy that can transform immune killer T-cells into super soldiers by boosting their ability to kill cancer cells.
Their findings could potentially enhance immunotherapy, a new paradigm in cancer treatment currently effective for a minority of cancer patients. Some patients respond well to immunotherapy, with their tumours drastically shrinking in size, but others respond only partially or not at all. Clinicians and scientists around the world are working to understand why immunotherapy only helps some patients.
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Study shows that human hormones also follow a seasonal pattern
Our minds may be affected by winter s long nights or spring s flowers, but what about our bodies? A new study at the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals that our hormones also follow a seasonal pattern.
By analyzing data on several types of hormones from millions of blood tests, the researchers discovered that some hormones peak in winter or spring and others in summer.
This research, which was published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (
PNAS), provides a broad, dynamic picture of hormone production – covering those connected to fertility, for example, but also hormones such as cortisol, which are mostly short-lived and not thought to be seasonal.