CRISPR-based Strategy Edits Multiple Genes and could Treat Polygenic Diseases

Rice University engineers introduce DAP, a streamlined CRISPR-based technology that can perform many genome edits at once to address polygenic diseases. In experiments, DAP, for “drive-and-process,” enabled up to 31 edits with the base editor and three edits with the prime editor. Illustration by Qichen Yuan

A genome-editing strategy developed at Rice University can correct dozens of errors at the same time with high precision and efficiency, a possible breakthrough for those who suffer from diseases caused by a combination of mutations.

The “drive-and-process” array, DAP for short, also appears to be highly adept at avoiding off-target edits, errors that have plagued earlier gene-editing strategies.

Engineer Xue Sherry Gao and graduate student and lead author Qichen Yuan of ...

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Component for Brain-Inspired Computing

Scientists aim to perform machine-​learning tasks more efficiently with processors that emulate the working principles of the human brain. (Visualisations: Adobe Stock)

Researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and Empa have developed a new material for an electronic component that can be used in a wider range of applications than its predecessors. Such components will help create electronic circuits that emulate the human brain and that are more efficient at performing machine-​learning tasks.

Compared with computers, the human brain is incredibly energy efficient. Scientists are therefore drawing on how the brain and its interconnected neurons function for inspiration in designing innovative computing technologies...

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Physicists explain how Type of Aurora on Mars is Formed

Researchers led by the University of Iowa have learned how a type of aurora on Mars is formed. In a new study, the physicists report discrete aurora form through the interaction of the solar wind and the crust at Mars’ southern hemisphere. Photo by CU/LASP.

Physicists led by the University of Iowa have learned how a type of aurora on Mars is formed.

In a new study, the physicists studied discrete aurora, a light-in-the-sky display that occurs mostly during the night in the red planet’s southern hemisphere. While scientists have known about discrete aurora on Mars-which also occur on Earth – they did not know how they formed...

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Researchers create Photonic Materials for Powerful, Efficient Light-based Computing

The UCF-developed, new photonic material overcomes drawbacks of contemporary topological designs that offered less features and control, while supporting much longer propagation lengths for information packets by minimizing power losses. Image credit: Adobe Stock

University of Central Florida researchers are developing new photonic materials that could one day help enable low power, ultra-fast, light-based computing. The unique materials, known as topological insulators, are like wires that have been turned inside out, where the current runs along the outside and the interior is insulated.

Topological insulators are important because they could be used in circuit designs that allow for more processing power to be crammed into a single space without generating heat, thus avoiding the...

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