Sea pineapples are a delicacy in Japan and the Tohoku region is renowned for its extensive sea pineapple industry. Soon they might not only be fueling our appetites, but helping power our future too. A research group demonstrated that the carbonization of cellulose nanofibers within sea pineapple shells produces high-quality carbon that, when mixed with…

Scientists developed a highly efficient, targeted method for delivering gene editing machinery to specific tissues and organs, demonstrating the treatment of high cholesterol by targeting genes in the liver of mice, reducing cholesterol for over 3 months (and potentially more) with one treatment. The problem of high cholesterol plagues more than 29 million Americans, according…

A new study demonstrates ‘species agnostic’ screening of lipid nanoparticles, which could significantly accelerate the development of cutting edge mRNA targeted therapies. Long before the Covid-19 pandemic put a global spotlight on mRNA-based vaccines, these two researchers in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University were combining their…

Scientists have created a new technology that rapidly detects the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The new SENSR was developed using CRISPR gene-editing technology as a rapid diagnostic that eventually could be used in homes, airports and other locations. The new SENSR (sensitive enzymatic nucleic acid sequence reporter), described in a paper published in the journal ACS Sensors,…

Researchers have identified an evolutionarily conserved pathway responsible for ‘closing down’ gene activity in the mammalian cell. The finding is closely related to the Polycomb pathway defined decades ago by a set of classic genetic experiments carried out in fruit flies. They repor the BAHCC1 protein is critically involved in silencing genes and acts as…

Researchers report on the development of a low-cost, portable, non-invasive device that uses light and saliva to test COVID-19 patients in less than 30 minutes. The results have shown that the device can detect very low concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 with a sensitivity of 91.2 percent and a specificity of 90 percent, similar to that of…

Researchers have developed a device that detects viruses in the body as fast as and more accurately than current, commonly used rapid detection tests. The optical sensor uses nanotechnology to accurately identify viruses in seconds from blood samples. Researchers say the device can tell with 95 percent accuracy if someone has a virus. The optical…