Genetics, CRISPR, synthetic biology and biomanufacturing.
Updated
Chinese researchers engineered an aerobic bacterium to form metal sulfides in the root zone, removing 30% of cadmium and 63% of lead. Field tests are still needed.
Bacteria moving through a microfluidic network explored candidate solutions in parallel and multiplied as extra processors, the authors report. It is a proof of concept.
Triplex-forming oligonucleotides with the synthetic base Z bound GC-rich MYC promoter elements and reduced promoter activity in laboratory experiments, the authors report.
Nagoya University researchers read membrane proteins and microRNAs in intact extracellular vesicles. In lab and patient samples, the method linked inflammation to its tissue of origin.
Cryo-EM showed phage protein L05 assembles into a 9.5-megadalton particle, which could give researchers a simpler way to study vaults in human cells.
Edited cacao plants without T-DNA showed 42% smaller lesions after Phytophthora challenge in the lab. Field trials are now underway.
Researchers report a toothbrush with piezoelectric bristles that damages oral bacteria. In a three-month trial with 115 adults, plaque and gum inflammation were lower.
Authors found that specific codon pairs cause −1 ribosomal frameshifting mainly in cancer cells and used it to switch on a pyroptosis gene in mouse tumour models.
In blood samples from 34 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, Nature authors found 271 splicing events absent in controls; peptides from them activated T cells in vitro.
Italian teams (Niguarda, IFOM, INGM) linked early-onset colorectal cancer to reactivated HERVH sequences; in organoids, ATR inhibitors reduced viability. The result is preclinical.
Spanish researchers placed 219 engineered circuits of four types in bacteria and found that chromosomal position alone modulates performance and switches dynamics, via expression noise.
Portuguese and UK groups deleted the EMC3 subunit in mouse and Drosophila tissues. Lipid droplet homeostasis was disrupted and levels of the protein FITM2 fell.
Authors showed that endosomal Gs/cAMP signaling from one activated receptor outweighs concurrent plasma membrane RhoA activation, and in parathyroid cells suppresses hormone secretion.
Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong compared stool microbiomes of 720 children with ASD and 151 controls. Associations with severity were significant but explained little variance.
In mice, deleting IRE1α or XBP1 in hepatocytes worsened liver metastasis, while the IRE1α inhibitor MKC8866 did not control metastases in the liver.
Researchers anchored a TAM-targeted STING nanoagonist to adoptive T cells so that the agonist is activated only where both are present. The results were obtained in mice.
Weill Cornell and Yonsei researchers describe a photocatalytic labeling method that identifies protein–protein interactions in human tissue without model organisms in the first discovery step.
In 1,480 untreated participants, higher total cell-free DNA came with more cancer-associated methylation and higher early-stage detection sensitivity, the authors report.
Repeated binge alcohol in APP/PS1 mice, a model of Alzheimer's disease, caused liver injury and raised inflammatory markers in liver and brain. The authors link this to vesicles from hepatocytes.
Evolution-informed and rational design were combined to engineer PET hydrolases; in vitro, many variants approached the LCC-ICCG benchmark in partial conversion.
