Collaborate Disseminate
Back in 2018, scientists in Japan made the key discovery of a bacterium with a natural appetite for PET plastics. This raised the prospect of a low-cost solution to some of the most common forms of plastic pollution, and now scientists have used this b… Continue reading Engineered “super-enzyme” gobbles plastic waste at six times the speed
Body odor is an unpleasant fact of life that we’ve all experienced in some way. Bacteria in the armpit have long been known to be the stinky culprits, and now scientists have discovered a “BO enzyme” in these bugs that’s responsible for the worst of it… Continue reading “BO enzyme” found in armpit bacteria could be new deodorant target
The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system is an extremely powerful tool, but there are still a few kinks to iron out. One of the main problems is off-target edits, which can have serious consequences. Now, researchers have found a particular mutation of the … Continue reading New CRISPR enzyme mutation proves almost 100 times more precise
How cancer develops is a complex puzzle, involving untold moving parts and chemical reactions. Now, scientists have found how two of these pieces work together to prevent cancer forming, which could unlock new types of cancer treatments.Continue Readin… Continue reading Scientists identify two protein pieces of the cancer puzzle
DNA damage is common to our cells, but when we’re young our bodies can fix it pretty easily. Unfortunately we lose that ability over time, leading to many of the symptoms of aging that we know all too well. A new study from MIT has found that reactivating a certain enzyme improves repair of DNA damage in neurons, which helps Alzheimer’s patients and others with cognitive decline.
Tags: Brain, Neuroscience, MIT, Alzheimer’s Disease, Enzyme, Aging, New Atlas Audio
Continue reading DNA-repairing enzyme reverses age-related cognitive decline
A new paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience is adding weight to the growing hypothesis suggesting the toxic protein clumps that cause Parkinson’s Disease begin aggregating in the gut before travelling to the brain. The study, led by scientists from Caltech, points to a particular enzyme that may prevent these proteins from initially clustering in the gut.
Tags: Parkinson’s Disease, Brain, Neurological, Caltech, Enzyme, New Atlas Audio
Continue reading New evidence of gut-brain connection in Parkinson’s disease
Technology frequently looks at nature to make improvements in efficiency, and we may be nearing a new breakthrough in copying how nature stores data. Maybe some day your thumb drive will be your actual thumb. The entire works of Shakespeare could be stored in an infinite number of monkeys. DNA …read more
Continue reading DNA Now Stands for Data and Knowledge Accumulation
When the first thermal cyclers for the polymerase chain reaction came out in the 1980s, they were as expensive as a market driven by grant money could make them. Things haven’t got much better over the years, largely shutting STEM classes and biohackers out of the PCR market. That may …read more
Continue reading Put the Power of PCR in Your Pocket with this Open-Source Thermal Cycler
Join us on Wednesday at noon Pacific time for the open-source biology and biohacking Hack Chat!
Justin Atkin‘s name might not ring a bell, but you’ve probably seen his popular YouTube channel The Thought Emporium, devoted to regular doses of open source science. Justin’s interests span a wide range, literally from the heavens above to the microscopic world.
His current interest is to genetically modify yeast to produce spider silk, and to perhaps even use the yeast for brewing beer. He and the Thought Emporium team have been busy building out a complete DIY biology lab to support the effort, …read more
Continue reading Open-Source Biology and Biohacking Hack Chat
Everyone starts their day with a routine, and like most people these days, mine starts by checking my phone. But where most people look for the weather update, local traffic, or even check Twitter or Facebook, I use my phone to peer an inch inside my daughter’s abdomen. There, a tiny electrochemical sensor continuously samples the fluid between her cells, measuring the concentration of glucose so that we can control the amount of insulin she’s receiving through her insulin pump.
Type 1 diabetes is a nasty disease, usually sprung on the victim early in life and making every day a …read more
Continue reading Why is Continuous Glucose Monitoring So Hard?