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    DNA tagged posts

    Engineers tap DNA to create ‘Lifelike’ Machines

    April 19, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Cornell professor of biological and environmental engineering Dan Luo and research associate Shogo Hamada have created a DNA material capable of metabolism, in addition to self-assembly and organization.
    Credit: John Munson/Cornell University

    Tapping into the unique nature of DNA, Cornell engineers have created simple machines constructed of biomaterials with properties of living things. Using what they call DASH (DNA-based Assembly and Synthesis of Hierarchical) materials, engineers constructed a DNA material with capabilities of metabolism, in addition to self-assembly and organization – three key traits of life.

    “We are introducing a brand-new, lifelike material concept powered by its very own artificial metabolism...

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    Exoplanets where Life could develop as it did on Earth

    August 3, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist’s concept depicting one possible appearance of the planet Kepler-452b.
    Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle

    Scientists have identified a group of planets outside our solar system where the same chemical conditions that may have led to life on Earth exist. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB), found that the chances for life to develop on the surface of a rocky planet like Earth are connected to the type and strength of light given off by its host star.

    Their study, published in the journal Science Advances, proposes that stars which give off sufficient ultraviolet (UV) light could kick-start life on their orbiting planets in the same way it likely developed on Earth, where the UV light powers a s...

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    You’ve heard of String Theory. What about Knot Theory?

    February 10, 2016, Categories  Physics

    UB knot theorist Bill Menasco. The whiteboard in the background depicts drawings of mathematical knots and surfaces that Menasco created from memory. Credit: Douglas Levere - See more at: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2016/02/017.html#sthash.1rCiO0em.dpuf

    UB knot theorist Bill Menasco. The whiteboard in the background depicts drawings of mathematical knots and surfaces that Menasco created from memory. Credit: Douglas Levere – See more at: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2016/02/017.html#sthash.1rCiO0em.dpuf

    But take it from Bill Menasco, a knot theorist of 35 years: This field of mathematics, rich in aesthetic beauty and intellectual challenges, and has applications. It involves the study of mathematical knots, which differ from real-world knots in that they have no ends. Each one is a string that crosses over itself a number of times, then reconnects with itself to form a closed loop. Today, we know the study of knots could have applications in surprising areas...

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    Discovered: How to Unlock Inaccessible Genes

    January 29, 2016, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology

    This image shows the binding profile of chromatin remodelers on 12,000 distinct genes. The researchers used bioinformatics tools to visualize a great number of genes, here aligned by their promoters and arranged according to their nucleosome distribution. Remodelers attached to nucleosomes (dark blue verticals lines) are present on each side of the gene promoter. The researchers identified two distinct nucleosomal architectures (represented by drawings at top and bottom). Researchers demonstrated that remodeler activity depends on this nucleosome organization: some are more specifically required for expression of genes at nucleosome-dense promoters (upper part), whereas others act preferentially on promoters with a low nucleosomal density (bottom part). Credit: Matthieu Gérard, University of Paris-Sud

    This image shows the binding profile of chromatin remodelers on 12,000 distinct genes. The researchers used bioinformatics tools to visualize a great number of genes, here aligned by their promoters and arranged according to their nucleosome distribution. Remodelers attached to nucleosomes (dark blue verticals lines) are present on each side of the gene promoter. The researchers identified two distinct nucleosomal architectures (represented by drawings at top and bottom). Researchers demonstrated that remodeler activity depends on this nucleosome organization: some are more specifically required for expression of genes at nucleosome-dense promoters (upper part), whereas others act preferentially on promoters with a low nucleosomal density (bottom part)...

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