Category Biology/Biotechnology

Micrograph showing prostatic acinar adenocarcinoma (the most common form of prostate cancer) Credit: Wikipedia

A new study led by scientists from TSRI, Florida sheds light on a signaling circuit in cells that drives therapy resistance in prostate cancer. Targeting the components of this circuit suppresses advanced prostate cancer development. Prostate cancer—which, according to the American Cancer Society, affects 1 in 6 American men—is the second-leading cause of death after lung cancer in American men.

Currently, the most effective treatment of advanced prostate cancer is to deprive the cancer of what feeds it—androgen hormones such as testosterone...

Highlights •Bacteriophage anti-CRISPR proteins inactivate Listeria monocytogenes CRISPR-Cas9 •Half of L. monocytogenes isolates possess inhibited CRISPR-Cas9 systems •AcrIIA2 and AcrIIA4 prevent target binding by dCas9 in bacteria •AcrIIA2 and AcrIIA4 inhibit Cas9-mediated gene editing in human cells

UCSF researchers have discovered a way to switch off the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system using newly identified anti-CRISPR proteins that are produced by bacterial viruses. The technique has the potential to improve the safety and accuracy of CRISPR applications both in the clinic and for basic research...

Professor Ken Stark taking a sample of blood in Waterloo’s Laboratory of Nutritional and Nutraceutical Research to determine the levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Credit: Light Imaging

Taking certain omega-3 fatty acid supplements during pregnancy can reduce the risk of childhood asthma by almost one third, according to a new study from the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) and the University of Waterloo. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that women who were prescribed 2.4 grams of long-chain omega-3 supplements during the third trimester of pregnancy reduced their children’s risk of asthma by 31%...

Therapeutic microparticles functionalized with biomimetic cardiac stem cell membranes and secretome

Researchers have developed a synthetic version of a cardiac stem cell which offer therapeutic benefits comparable to those from natural stem cells and could reduce some of risks associated with stem cell therapies. These cells also have better preservation stability and the technology is generalizable to other types of stem cells.

Stem cell therapies work by promoting endogenous repair; that is, they aid damaged tissue in repairing itself by secreting “paracrine factors,” including proteins and genetic materials. While stem cell therapies can be effective, they are also associated with some risks of both tumor growth and immune rejection...