light-inducible transgene expression tagged posts

Kelly Huffman: Charles W. Abbott et al. Prenatal Ethanol Exposure and Neocortical Development: A Transgenerational Model of FASD, Cerebral Cortex (2017). DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx168

Soon-to-be mothers have heard the warning – don’t drink while pregnant. CDC has issued numerous statements about the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, as it can lead to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) in newborns. Despite this, many women drink during pregnancy, a choice that scientists have known for years could hurt these mothers’ children. Today, there is a new reason to stop – drinking alcohol during pregnancy will not only affect her unborn child, but may also impact brain development and lead to adverse outcomes in her future grand- and even great-grandchildren.

“Traditionally, p...

This is the delivery and activation of genes by gold nanorods. Gold nanorods coated with charged lipids efficiently bind to DNA and penetrate cells. The team designed an artificial gene that is turned on by heat generated by the gold nanorods upon exposure to near infrared light illumination.
CREDIT
Kyoto University iCeMS

A new method efficiently transfers genes into cells, then activates them with light. This could lead to gene therapies for cancers. Mineko Kengaku, Tatsuya Murakami, and their colleagues from Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) have developed a new method that modifies the surface of nanorods, making them more efficient in transporting cancer-killing genes into cells.

The method involves coating gold nanorods, which produce heat when e...