Astrocyte microRNAs Welcome Metastatic Cancer Cells to the BrainNovember 12, 2015If asked what to bring on a fishing trip in winter, your answer probably wouldn’t be a bathing suit and sunblock. Likewise, when cancer cells metastasize, they need the right equipment to reside in unfamiliar organs; in other words, they must adapt their expression programs to accommodate their new microenvironment. How they do this is […]
CRISPR-Cas6 Translational ActivatorsOctober 30, 2015The CRISPR-Cas system, while originally hailing from the Domain of Bacteria, has made the biggest splashes by traveling abroad into the Kingdoms of Plantae and Animalia. There it has found great fame and fortune mostly as a tool for genome editing. Scientists back in the Bacterial Domain didn’t need CRISPR as much for gene editing, […]
Sperm miRNA Drives Intergenerational Stress ResponseOctober 30, 2015Stress is something that we’re all too familiar with, but its impact across generations has remained controversial. The distinction between intergenerational effect and transgenerational inheritance is particularly important to understand the differences between a direct effect on exposed gametes or indirect transmission to unexposed gametes. However, the molecular mechanisms behind both phenomena have received much […]
Towards Bioprinting Organs with Human Stem CellsOctober 30, 2015Printing has come a long way since the days of Johannes Gutenberg and his famous press. Nowadays, we are printing plaster casts for broken bones, replacement parts for space stations and now, a new study shows us that we are well on our way to be able to print human organs. This version of printing, […]
CRISPR as an Anti-Viral for PlantsOctober 30, 2015Home cooks know well that putting vegetables in the crisper can keep them healthy; new work shows that putting CRISPR in the vegetables works as well. Every year, plant viruses destroy tens of billions of dollars worth of crops around the world. Even worse, localized crop failures can cause food shortages and destroy family farmers. […]