Scientists have developed a new gene-therapy technique by transforming human cells into mass producers of tiny nano-sized particles full of genetic material that has the potential to reverse disease processes.

Though the research was intended as a proof of concept, the experimental therapy slowed tumor growth and prolonged survival in mice with gliomas, which constitute about 80 percent of malignant brain tumors in humans.

The technique takes advantage of exosomes, fluid-filled sacs that cells release as a way to communicate with other cells.

While exosomes are gaining ground as biologically friendly carriers of therapeutic materials – because there are a lot of them and they don’t prompt an immune response – the trick with gene therapy is f...

Researchers have demonstrated how kirigami-inspired techniques allow them to design thin sheets of material that automatically reconfigure into new two-dimensional (2D) shapes and three-dimensional (3D) structures in response to environmental stimuli. The researchers created a variety of robotic devices as a proof of concept for the approach.

“This is the first case that we know of in which 2D kirigami patterns autonomously reshape themselves into distinct 3D structures without mechanical input,” says Jie Yin, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University and correspondi...

Astronomers found that not all exoplanets in habitable zones will be able to maintain hospitable conditions for life. Exoplanets in close proximity to stars are subject to radiation bursts which can disrupt habitable conditions unless the exoplanet has significant atmospheric or magnetic shielding.

The discovery of terrestrial exoplanets, planets that orbit stars outside the solar system, has been one of the most significant developments in modern astronomy...

Neuroscientists at Lund University in Sweden have developed a new technology that engineers the shell of a virus to deliver gene therapy to the exact cell type in the body that needs to be treated. The researchers believe that the new technology can be likened to dramatically accelerating evolution from millions of years to weeks.

Several of the new revolutionary treatments that have been used clinically in recent years to treat complex diseases – such as spinal muscular atrophy and enzyme deficiency – are based on gene therapy.

With gene therapy, the genetic material is controlled or altered using biological drugs...