The fight against the many forms of cancer has been a long and ongoing battle, with each different type requiring a novel and targeted solution to defeat. Generalized treatments have arisen over time, with the likes of CAR T-cell therapy, but there are still numerous hurdles depending on the cancer being dealt with. Before that […]
There are, always, too many pathogens in the world. Often too many to catalog and keep track of and they are constantly changing, whether bacterial, viral, fungal, or even other options. When it comes to plants and agricultural output, the worst kinds of pathogens are those that can infect a variety of important crops grown […]
Scientists and scientific publications often discuss CRISPR as a tool that, once inserted successfully into a cell, just gets to work on modifying the host cell genome. Its efficiency and accuracy may vary, but it is often thought of in conversation as a highly effective gene modifying device. That as it turns out is only […]
While the effects of a singular gene and its protein output can be measured and quantified, many traits of organisms are part of far more complex regulatory pathways involving dozens of genes that turn on and off different systems. Mapping out how these pathways interact and what genes make them up has been a key […]
If one is trying to find new and unique traits and abilities in any organism, then the regular span of generations takes far too long in the natural world. Instead of relying on evolution by natural selection, directed evolution by human hands works much better and can be accelerated in multiple ways. So far, the […]
When dealing with pathogens of plants, it is those of the viral kind in conjunction with their vector pests that can prove to be the biggest threats. Aphids, especially, are known for transmitting dozens of dangerous viral diseases while also themselves managing to kill a host plant outright through sucking up too much sap. Therefore, […]
While genetic modification technologies have been expanding rapidly in the biological and medical spheres, there is an obvious limitation in how this sort of research is applied. For the microscopic level and the macro beyond it, only a select number of organisms have proven to be amenable to such modification techniques. Others have either shown […]
Plant-based oils make up an incredibly important part of agricultural research on both a food and fuel level. While we use many different kinds of oils from plants, they each have a meaningful niche in our food supply and, for some, as bioenergy fuel sources that are far cleaner to produce than other electricity generating […]
When it comes to using CRISPR on a broad scale, different types of applications have to be utilized for different systems. If modifying bacterial genomes are the focus, then a viral vector to get the CRISPR complex into the cell is efficient enough for most purposes. But on multicellular organisms, there can be a number […]
For all the advances we’ve made in medical science toward treatment of dangerous disorders and diseases, along with recent announcements such as a secondary success in long-term HIV remission, there are still plenty of conditions that we have a long way to go toward any sort of viable treatment. Spinal cord injuries are one such […]
