Lifeboat Foundation

A team of researchers from Nanjing and Xiamen Universities in China has developed an alternative to using viruses to transport CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tools into a desired cell—and it involves two types of light. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their new type of carrier and how well it worked with test mice.

CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tools are a coming revolution in treating genetic conditions, and scientists continue to test their abilities in a variety of applications. One area of study has involved looking for a replacement carrier system—the current approach uses a virus to carry the gene editing tool into a particular cell. Early on, researchers knew that the virus approach was not viable because of possible responses from the immune system, or worse, the threat of initiating tumors. In this new effort, the team in China has come up with an entirely new way to deliver the gene editing tool using two kinds of light.

Their carrier system consists of nanoparticles that are sensitive to low-energy near–infrared radiation (NIR) and that emit UV light. When NIR is shone on the nanoparticles, the light is absorbed and converted to UV light, which is emitted. Inside of a cell, the package is activated by shining NIR onto the skin, where it penetrates into the body and makes its way to the gene editing tool. When the NIR is converted to UV light, it cuts molecules in the carrier package, releasing the gene editing tool to do its work.

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Artificial cells created inside the lab have taken another major step forward, with scientists developing cells that are able to produce their own chemical energy and synthesise parts of their own construction.

That makes these artificial cells a lot more like real, biological cells – cells that can construct and organise their own building blocks naturally.

Not only could this help us understand how real cells work and come into being in the first place, it could also be vital for a host of other areas of research – such as ongoing efforts to produce artificial organs and other body tissue to fight back against disease.

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But the technology could also, theoretically, be used to develop placid super-soldiers.

Hundreds of giant viruses that infect bacteria have been discovered. Some seem to deploy CRISPR – the system used for gene editing – to fight their hosts.

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This video is a book review of Telomere Lengthening: Curing all diseases including cancer & aging by Dr. Bill Andrews and Jon Cornell.

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Researchers from Yale and a medical company called Humacyte have published the results of a long term study that shows engineered blood vessels that are implanted into humans eventually evolved into living tissue. The vessels are known as bioengineered acellular human vessels (HAVs).

Prof Jennifer Doudna, one the pioneers of Crispr-Cas9 gene editing, explains how this revolutionary discovery enables precise changes to our DNA, which can be used to correct mutations that cause genetic diseases and eradicate them from a germ line. Doudna raises the key issues of debate around gene editing and suggests what will have the most immediate impact.