SynNotch: A USB Cord For CellsFebruary 23, 2016If synthetic biology is trying to make cells more like computers, one thing that has been sorely lacking is input-output. It’s hard to get arbitrary information about the outside environment into cells. We do have some sensors that we can modify to sense different inputs, like chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) for T-cells, but they only […]
Gut Cells Control Microbiome With miRNAsFebruary 13, 2016Out on the cutting edge of biology lies talk of manipulating our gut microbiome. This sounds like a bold idea, but it looks like we may already be hacking our microbiomes without even realizing it. A new paper from Shirong Liu in Howard Weiner’s lab at Harvard suggests that our gut cells have already figured […]
Towards Blood DNA Methylation as a Pan-Cancer Surveillance ScreenFebruary 5, 2016Early and less tedious cancer diagnosis can prevent future complications and improve patient outcome, however past studies have revealed that the markers of most cancers are as unique as snowflakes. An enticing solution for this heterogeneity would be to screen for any type of cancer using one detection system to ‘rule them all’. Differential DNA […]
MERA Uses a CRISPR/Cas9 Trio to Home in On EnhancersFebruary 4, 2016Mapping the dark matter of the genome is no easy chore. Enhancers love to hide and often don’t act as expected. But thankfully, there’s a handy new CRISPR/Cas9 tool to fluoresce the genomes darkest regulatory secrets. The multiplexed editing regulatory assay (MERA) is a clever system that pushes back the limits of CRISPR/Cas9 as a […]
DNA Origami For Smart Membrane ChannelsJanuary 28, 2016DNA is pretty great for a lot of reasons. There is the whole “central component of life,” of course, but DNA is also a pretty great building material. Making super-tiny, nano-scale objects seems like a really hard problem, but biology does this all the time. Life’s standard nano-brick is protein, but proteins are difficult to re-engineer, […]
