Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed a new database search technique that allows to find DNA sequences in minutes instead of days. The method specializes in finding short reads generated by high-throughput sequencing. The findings were published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. The amount of genetic data with potentially important clinical information is growing very […]
Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics have developed a new software that predicts antibiotic resistance in bacteria by analyzing their genome. The new tool, called Mykrobe Predictor, was tested in Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the results were similar to common phenotypic tests. The study has been published in Nature Communications. The increase in bacterial […]
Scientists from the Australian research center CSIRO have developed a new coating method based on the prebiotic materials that generated the first biomolecules. The cell-friendly polymer allowed the researchers to coat medical devices and implants to reduce the incidence of infection and rejection. The findings were published in the journal Asia Materials. Prebiotic chemistry studies the chemical reactions that gave […]
A team of scientists from four top American universities have developed a smartphone attachment that allows to detect sickle cell disease. The 3D printed device uses the phone´s camera and an application. Composed of magnets, a microcapillary and optical components, it can detect the density of red blood cells in deoxygenated conditions and thus identify the […]
Researchers from the Massachussets General Hospital (MGH) have engineered the Cas9 nuclease from Staphylococcus aureus (SaCas9) to recognize more targets. The prokaryote RNA-guided immune system, used as a genome editing tool, can target now a broader range of nucleotide sequences. The study has been published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and […]
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have printed 3D models of hearts, bones, arteries and brains using soft biological materials. The models were based on 3D high-resolution images of real organs. The new technique solves the problems in using gels for bioprinting. The study has been published in the journal Science Advances. 3D printing has progressed […]
I was fortunate to meet Pere Estupinyà in person few years ago. I was always attracted by science outreach, and Pere was and remains a leader in a country where science has never been popular. He very kindly agreed to meet me, a postdoctoral researcher who was considering quitting research and following his steps. We met at a bar on […]
Scientists at the Janelia Research Campus at Howard Hughes Medical Institute have developed new imaging methods that vastly improve resolution in structured illumination microscopy (SIM), a very advanced live cell imaging technique. The researchers have generated two new technologies based on SIM that improve the speed and non-invasiveness of image acquisition. These techniques surpass the previous resolution of 100 nm and overcome the 250 nm diffraction barrier that […]
