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    Category Biology/Biotechnology

    Solar-powered Moisture Harvester Collects and Cleans Water from Air

    March 17, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Fei Zhao (L), co author of the study, and Guihua Yu (R) of Yu Research Labs at UT Austin examining a sample of their newly-developed hydrogel.
    Credit: Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

    Access to clean water remains one of the biggest challenges facing humankind. A breakthrough by engineers at The University of Texas at Austin may offer a new solution through solar-powered technology that absorbs moisture from the air and returns it as clean, usable water.

    The breakthrough, described in a recent issue of the journal Advanced Materials, could be used in disaster situations, water crises or poverty-stricken areas and developing countries...

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    With Single Gene Insertion, Blind Mice Regain Sight

    March 17, 2019, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    injecting viruses into the eye

    The new therapy involves injecting inactivated viruses into the vitreous to carry a gene directly into ganglion cells. Earlier versions of viral therapy required injecting the viruses underneath the retina (bottom). The gene makes normally ‘blind’ ganglion cells light sensitive, returning sight to eyes that have lost the normal light sensors, the rods and cones. The right image shows the cell layers in a normal retina. (Image by John Flannery)

    Opsins make ‘blind’ cells light-sensitive; potential human treatment within three years. People left blind by retinal degeneration have one option: electronic eye implants. Neuroscientists have now developed an alternative: gene therapy that, in tests, restored vision in blind mice...

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    Study Uncovers Genetic Switches that control process of Whole-Body Regeneration

    March 16, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Image result for Study uncovers genetic switches that control process of whole-body regeneration
    Scientists have uncovered a DNA switch that could give humans the ability to grow back their limbs. Animals like salamanders or geckos can shed parts of their bodies to escape predators and form new parts. The study examined the genetic switches in three-banded panther worm

    Researchers are shedding new light on how animals perform whole-body regeneration, and uncovered a number of DNA switches that appear to control genes used in the process.
    Planarian worms, jellyfish, and sea anemones can actually regenerate their entire bodies after being cut in half.

    Led by Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Mansi Srivastava, a team of researchers is shedding new light on how animals pull off the feat, and uncovered a number of DNA switches that appear to control genes for w...

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    A Cosmic Bat in Flight

    March 16, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Hidden in one of the darkest corners of the Orion constellation, this Cosmic Bat is spreading its hazy wings through interstellar space two thousand light-years away. It is illuminated by the young stars nestled in its core — despite being shrouded by opaque clouds of dust, their bright rays still illuminate the nebula. Too dim to be discerned by the naked eye, NGC 1788 reveals its soft colours to ESO’s Very Large Telescope in this image — the most detailed to date.

    ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT has caught a glimpse of an ethereal nebula hidden away in the darkest corners of the constellation of Orion (The Hunter) – NGC 1788, nicknamed the Cosmic Bat...

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