OCT News and Research

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New DNA-cutting tool could advance gene editing for novel treatments

Gene editing for the development of new treatments, and for studying disease as well as normal function in humans and other organisms, may advance more quickly with a new tool for cutting larger pieces of DNA out of a cell's genome, according to a new study by UC San Francisco scientists.

21 Oct 2020

Researchers identify “silent” mutations in the genetic code of COVID-19 virus

We know that the coronavirus behind the COVID-19 crisis lived harmlessly in bats and other wildlife before it jumped the species barrier and spilled over to humans.

19 Oct 2020

New technology rapidly diagnoses sickle cell disease

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have developed a new way to diagnose diseases of the blood like sickle cell disease with sensitivity and precision and in only one minute.

16 Oct 2020

Climate experts release assessment of carbon dioxide emissions

An international team of climate experts, including Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine, today released an assessment of carbon dioxide emissions by industry, transportation and other sectors from January through June, showing that this year's pandemic lockdowns resulted in a 9 percent decline from 2019 levels.

16 Oct 2020

Scientists find sensor protein which enables normal functioning of bladder

A team co-led by scientists at Scripps Research has found that the main sensor protein enabling our sense of touch also underlies the feeling of having a full bladder and makes normal bladder function possible.

15 Oct 2020

Treatment using immune system T cells preserves vision of mice with retinoblastoma

A treatment that uses immune system T cells, combined with an immune-boosting drug packaged in an injectable gel, was found to preserve the vision of mice implanted with tissue from a human eye cancer known as retinoblastoma.

13 Oct 2020

Gene variations that regulate dopamine levels may influence the mobility of elders

Variations in a gene that regulates dopamine levels in the brain may influence the mobility of elderly and frail adults, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

13 Oct 2020

Enzyme SSH1 impairs disposal of damaged tau and mitochondria leaking toxins

In a healthy brain, the multistep waste clearance process known as autophagy routinely removes and degrades damaged cell components - including malformed proteins like tau and toxic mitochondria.

13 Oct 2020

Study offers new insights how the plant tips stay free of virus

Plants are able to keep growing indefinitely because they have tissues made of meristems--plant stem cells--which have the unique ability to transform themselves into the various specialized cells that make up the plant, dividing whenever appropriate and producing new cells of whatever type as needed.

9 Oct 2020

Too many genetic exchanges impede chromosome segregation into eggs

The exchange of DNA between chromosomes during the early formation of sperm and egg cells normally is limited to assure fertility.

9 Oct 2020

Deep learning-based technique could boost drug development

When you take a medication, you want to know precisely what it does. Pharmaceutical companies go through extensive testing to ensure that you do.

6 Oct 2020

80-year-old antibiotic redesigned for new medical uses

Physicians and scientists have long searched the natural world for chemicals that can improve human health.

5 Oct 2020

Study unravels how immunotherapy is 'uniquely suppressed' by liver cancers

Though cancer immunotherapy has become a promising standard-of-care treatment--and in some cases, perhaps a cure--for a wide variety of different cancers, it doesn't work for everyone, and researchers have increasingly turned their attention to understanding why.

5 Oct 2020

4D optical coherence tomography offers insight into embryonic heart development

How a valveless embryonic heart tube pumps blood is a long-standing scientific mystery. Thanks to innovations in light-based technology, fresh insights are now available into the biomechanics of mammalian cardiogenesis-;and in particular, the pumping dynamics of the mammalian tubular embryonic heart.

7 Aug 2020

New canine study can benefit diagnostics and treatment of retinitis pigmentosa

A study performed on canines at the University of Helsinki characterizes a gene variant in the regulatory region of the retina that causes abnormal functioning of retinal genes and, ultimately, leads to loss of vision in dogs.

11 Mar 2020