Category Biology/Biotechnology

Raúl Méndez and Eulàlia Belloc from the Translational Control of Cell Cycle and Differentiation Lab at IRB Barcelona.
Credit: IRB Barcelona

The protein CPEB4, which coordinates the expression of hundreds of genes required for neuronal activity, is altered in the brains of individuals with autism, according to new research. Recent years have brought about important breakthroughs in autism research through the genetic analysis of thousands of these individuals. Researchers have been able to find correlations between defects in the expression and/or function of about 200 genes and susceptibility to autism. However, the bases underlying the dysregulation of these genes in subjects with autism were unknown.

An international team headed by José Lucas, researcher at the Spanish National Researc...

Sagar Doshi (left) and Erik Thostenson test an elbow sleeve outfitted with one of their novel sensors.
Credit: Kathy F. Atkinson

Engineers use carbon nanotube composite coatings. A team of engineers at the University of Delaware is developing next-generation smart textiles by creating flexible carbon nanotube composite coatings on a wide range of fibers, including cotton, nylon and wool. Their discovery is reported in the journal ACS Sensors where they demonstrate the ability to measure an exceptionally wide range of pressure – from the light touch of a fingertip to being driven over by a forklift.

Fabric coated with this sensing technology could be used in future “smart garments” where the sensors are slipped into the soles of shoes or stitched into clothing for detecting human motion...

An artist’s rendering incorporates the images of the Müller glia-derived rod photoreceptors. These photoreceptors were structurally no different from real photoreceptors and they became integrated within the circuitry of the visual pathway, from the retina to the brain. Credit: Bo Chen, Ph.D.

New technique generates rod photoreceptors that integrate into the retina and brain. Researchers funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) have reversed congenital blindness in mice by changing supportive cells in the retina called Müller glia into rod photoreceptors. The findings advance efforts toward regenerative therapies for blinding diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

“This is the first report of scientists reprogramming Müller glia to become functional...

Three generations. Women whose mothers lived into their ninth decade enjoyed 25 percent increased likelihood of also doing so without suffering from serious or chronic illness, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, hip fractures or other debilitating disabilities. Credit: © highwaystarz / Fotolia

Results show a 25% increased likelihood of living longer and healthier if mom lived to age 90 and a 38% increase if both parents did. The study, published in Age and Ageing, found women whose mothers lived into their ninth decade enjoyed 25% increased likelihood of also doing so without suffering from serious or chronic illness, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, hip fractures or other debilitating disabilities.

“Achieving healthy aging has become a critical public he...