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  Originally p ublished b By Heather McKenzie on May 24, 2023   Pictured: Illustration of amyloid-beta oligomers accumulating into plaques on neurons/iStock, selvanegra In January, the FDA approved Eisai  and Biogen ’s Leqembi (lecanemab) to treat Alzheimer’s disease based on the antibody’s ability to reduce the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques in the brain. Now, a recently published study has further clarified the drug’s mechanism of action, with potential implications for the future of Alzheimer’s drug development. Antibodies such as Leqembi work by binding to and neutralizing amyloid-beta protein oligomers, free-floating clumps of the amyloid-beta (Aβ) protein. These oligomers further aggregate into the notorious amyloid plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Original article  

Marina Sanaki-Matsumiya figured out how to grow human somites in a dish through a process that mirrors the tissue’s development in the embryo. Originally published by Nele Haelterman, PhD on Aug 5, 2022 Marina Sanaki-Matsumiya, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Synthetic Developmental Biology, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Barcelona For as long as she can remember, Marina Sanaki-Matsumiya wanted to understand the mechanisms shaping the bones that form our skeletons . Born with a genetic skeletal disease, the developmental biologist first established an in vitro model to study the transient mouse embryonic tissues called somites that form the spine. 1 She then joined Miki Ebisuya ’s laboratory at the EMBL campus in Barcelona as a postdoctoral fellow to continue this work with human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) . 2 In a recent Nature Communications study, Sanaki-Matsumiya described how to create human somite organoids, or somitoids , that mimic t...

  Originally published by Stephanie Pappas on May 15, 2023 The discovery of a gene variant that protects against an early, insidious form of Alzheimer's could lead to new treatments for the disease.   A man carried a genetic mutation that set him up to develop early-onset Alzheimer's disease, but another gene kept him healthy for many years. (Image credit: byakkaya via Getty Images) A newly discovered genetic variant protects against a particularly devastating form of early Alzheimer's disease , raising scientists' hopes of finding treatments that can prevent or slow the progression of this and other forms of the disease.  Read more

 Originally published by University of California, Irvine on May 8, 2023   A hairpin loop from a pre-mRNA. Highlighted are the nucleobases (green) and the ribose-phosphate backbone (blue). Note that this is a single strand of RNA that folds back upon itself. Credit: Vossman/ Wikipedia Researchers from the University of California, Irvine have developed a DNA enzyme—or DNAzyme—that can distinguish between two RNA strands inside a cell and cut the disease-associated strand while leaving the healthy strand intact. This breakthrough "gene silencing" technology could revolutionize the development of DNAzymes for treating cancer, infectious diseases and neurological disorders. Read more

 Originally published in Frontiers on May 10, 2023 Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Finding, cultivating, and bioengineering organisms that can digest plastic not only aids in the removal of pollution, but is now also big business. Several microorganisms that can do this have already been found, but when their enzymes that make this possible are applied at an industrial scale, they typically only work at temperatures above 30°C. The heating required means that industrial applications remain costly to date, and aren't carbon-neutral. But there is a possible solution to this problem: finding specialist cold-adapted microbes whose enzymes work at lower temperatures. Read more

Originally published by Stephanie Pappas on May 10, 2023 published 1 day ago   A new version of the human reference genome incorporates genetic data from 47 individuals from around the globe, deepening scientists' view into how genes work.     A new human reference "pangenome" includes DNA data from 47 people. (Image credit: Darryl Leja, NHGRI) Scientists have published the first human "pangenome" — a full genetic sequence that incorporates genomes from not just one individual, but 47.  These 47 individuals hail from around the globe and thus vastly increase the diversity of the genomes represented in the sequence, compared to the previous full human genome sequence that scientists use as their reference for study. The first human genome sequence was released with some gaps in 2003 and only made "gapless" in 2022 . If that first human genome is a simple linear string of genetic code, the new pangenome is a series of branching paths. Rea...

  by University of Tokyo     The researchers studied honey bees exhibiting different behaviors: foragers, nurse bees, and queens. Honey bees in general have been a key insect model for better understanding learning and memory for more than 100 years. Credit: Hiroki Kohno Researchers have proposed a new model for the evolution of higher brain functions and behaviors in the Hymenoptera order of insects. The team compared the Kenyon cells, a type of neuronal cell, in the mushroom bodies (a part of the insect brain involved in learning, memory and sensory integration) of "primitive" sawflies and sophisticated honey bees. Read more

 This article outlines the development of the first cardiac implant made from graphene, which is thinner than a single strand of hair yet still functions like a classical pacemaker. It melds softly to the heart to simultaneously sense and treat irregular heartbeats, making it ideal for conforming to soft, dynamic tissues. The heart is essentially a pump made of muscle, which is controlled by electrical signals. When these signals can become disrupted for several reasons, it can lead to a number of potentially dangerous heart conditions, such as cardiac arrest . Traditionally, a pacemaker can solve a disrupted heartbeat. It consists of a pulse generator, which emits electrical impulses through the wires to your heart. If the pacemaker senses that your heart has missed a beat or is beating too slowly, it sends signals at a steady rate. However, new research suggests that a new implant can replace the traditional pacemaker. Read more

 Originally published by by Bob Yirka , Phys.or, on April 28, 2023    Microscopy of Cryptomonas gyropyrenoidosa SAG 25.80 with bacterial endosymbionts. (A) DIC; (B) DAPI; (C) FISH-M. polyxenophila probe; (D) FISH-G. numerosa probe; (E) overlay of (C) and (D); (F) endosymbionts clustered in the host cytoplasm, including endosymbionts with virus-like particles (Sv); (G) endosymbiont with virus-like particles within the bacterial cytoplasm and attached to the bacterial cell’s surface (arrowhead); and (H) bacterial endosymbionts and a membrane-like structure (i.e., putative autolysosome vacuole) that potentially contains virus-like particles (arrowhead). Credit: Current Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.010 An international team of oceanographers, parasitologists and biologists has found that the single-celled alga Cryptomonas gyropyrenoidosa harbors seven genomes in its one cell. In their study, repo...