What innovations are leaping out of the labs to shape the world in powerful ways? Identifying those compelling innovations is the charge of the Meta-Council on Emerging Technologies, one of the World Economic Forum’s network of expert communities that form the Global Agenda Councils, which today released its Top 10 List of Emerging Technologies for [...]
Image: 1936 Joy Oil gas station blueprints (top); sequence from human chromosome 1 (bottom). Source: from A Monkey’s Blueprint by Martin Krzywinski on SA Visual When artist Martin Krzywinski was challenged to come up with a graphic that quickly and concisely shows how the human genome is more similar to chimpanzee and bonobo genomes than [...]
For years clinicians have puzzled over the observation that people with type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop certain malignancies, such as pancreatic, breast and liver cancers.
In the past couple of months, three people have told me that they or someone they love has cancer. Fortunately in each case, the tumors were caught early and some combination of surgery and radiation was all the treatment that was likely to be needed.
New genome sequencing recommendation will enable patients to opt out of testing
"Mutants became objects of fear and hatred." — Kitty Pryde narrating in the story "Days of Future Past" found in The Uncanny X-Men #141 in January 1980 "In her DNA they found the key to her mutant power." — Professor X musing about how Mystique was used to derive special powers for the Sentinel army [...]
The genome-editing technology will be used for seed development
Using the CRISPR–Cas9 system, scientists can do much more than gene editing—they can boost gene transcription or use fluorescent proteins to paint and track a chromosome. In this Nature Video animation, several innovative uses for CRISPR are outlined and explained. This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on October 31, 2017. It is a Nature Video production.
All cancers share ten underlying principles, also known as the Hallmarks of Cancer. You can read about the first six here. The seventh is defined as genome instability and mutation.
Over the past few years a number of studies of ancient and contemporary genomes have reached the same stunning conclusion: early human species interbred, and people today carry DNA from archaic humans, including the Neandertals, as a result of those interspecies trysts.
The placenta is full of microbes, a new study finds, raising questions about how that ecosystem and mothers' oral health influence the risk of preterm birth
Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death, said the famous physicist Albert Einsteinand one of the 150-plus Nobel Prize-winning scientists who has authored a feature article in Scientific American.
For nearly a minute the sky went black. Then it was over. I was standing in a long alley between two four-story brick buildings on a clear sunny day.
Whether you're coating a baking pan or sautéing squash, you'll likely reach into your cabinet for a kitchen staple: cooking oil. One of the healthiest of these oils is canola oil, and now, a team of researchers has taken a new step in improving the oil's source: the canola plant.
Disappointed by James Watson's decision to sell his Nobel Prize medal, Lior Pachter, a computational biologist who works on genomics at the University of California Berkeley, wrote an entry on his private blog in early December protesting the decision.
Wow. Ive just spent the last couple days going through the paleoanthropology news that broke in 2013 and I must say it was a banner year. There were so many exciting new findings that bear on scientists understanding of just about every chapter of humanitys seven-million-year sagafrom our ancestors first upright steps to the peopling [...]
More than 250 attendees are meeting in New York City to discuss synthesizing genomes from scratch
Reports suggest researchers have altered DNA and made few errors
Genetic engineering, which refers to the direct manipulation of DNA, became a reality in the 1970s. In this eBook, we take a look at how far the field has come, starting with a revolutionary gene-editing tool called CRISPR that’s taking the research world by storm. We then examine how CRISPR and other approaches are being investigated to treat disease, the fantastic-sounding research being done in synthetic biology, controversial efforts in modifying crops and saving species, as well as the numerous ethical issues raised in these areas.
