Lab Automation and Bioinformatics News and Research

Latest Lab Automation and Bioinformatics News and Research

Adapting the equipment and expertise of agtech labs could help combat pandemics

Just as redeploying a fleet of small British fishing boats helped during the Battle of Dunkirk, marshalling the research equipment and expertise of the many agtech labs around the world could help combat pandemics, say the authors of a just-published article in Nature Biotechnology.

11 Aug 2020

Using genetic engineering to study evolutionary assimilation of foreign DNA in a new host

All life is subject to evolution in the form of mutations that change the DNA sequence of an organism's offspring, after which natural selection allows the 'fittest' mutants to survive and pass on their genes to future generations.

11 Aug 2020

Researchers use genome editing to facilitate drug discovery based on natural fungus

Rice University scientists have won federal support for their pursuit of novel drugs to treat human disease.

11 Aug 2020

Mathematical model shows how stability inherently arises in the brain

Whether you are playing Go in a park amid chirping birds, a gentle breeze and kids playing catch nearby or you are playing in a den with a ticking clock on a bookcase and a purring cat on the sofa, if the game situation is identical and clear, your next move likely would be, too, regardless of those different conditions.

11 Aug 2020

$1.2 million NIH grant awarded to create humanized mice susceptible to COVID-19

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a grant of $1.2 million to the Mouse Biology Program at the University of California, Davis, to create mice that are susceptible to the COVID-19 virus, and to distribute them to researchers.

11 Aug 2020

UC Riverside physicist receives NIH grant to study how pathogens evolve

For several years, physicist John Barton at the University of California, Riverside, has been working on developing models to understand and predict how pathogens, such as HIV, evolve. This research pursuit has just received support from the National Institutes of Health.

11 Aug 2020

Finned nanoporous materials can speed up molecular transport

Thousands of chemical processes used by the energy industry and for other applications rely on the high speed of catalytic reactions, but molecules frequently are hindered by molecular traffic jams that slow them down.

11 Aug 2020

Oxytocin can help control and prevent osteoporosis

Oxytocin, produced by the hypothalamus and sometimes known as the "love hormone" for its involvement in pair bonding and orgasm, can be a strong ally in the control and prevention of osteoporosis, according to a study by scientists at São Paulo State University in Brazil.

11 Aug 2020

Increased blood lead levels in children are linked to reduced expression of genes

Researchers have revealed a connection between methylation of genes implicated in heme synthesis and carcinogenesis and high blood lead levels in children, signifying a previously unfamiliar mechanism for lead poisoning.

10 Aug 2020

New method targets hidden HIV viral reservoirs during antiretroviral therapy

Scientists at The Wistar Institute may have discovered a new way of identifying and targeting hidden HIV viral reservoirs during treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART).

10 Aug 2020

Study shows how DNA from ancient ancestors was passed down to modern humans

According to a new study of ancient genomes, different branches of the human family tree could have interbred numerous times, and certain human beings carry DNA from an unfamiliar and ancient ancestor.

7 Aug 2020

Agricultural Research Service releases genomic data of Asian giant hornets

The first complete genome of the Asian giant hornet has been released by a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.

7 Aug 2020

Study shows how neurons communicate when confronted with stroke

Research led by Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Boyd Professor and Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, and Ludmila Belayev, MD, LSU Health New Orleans Professor of Neuroscience, Neurology and Neurosurgery, has unlocked a key fundamental mechanism in the communication between brain cells when confronted with stroke.

7 Aug 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 device can help grow human gut bacteria that protect against inflammation

Several thousand strains of bacteria live in the human gut. Some of these are associated with disease, while others have beneficial effects on human health.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 7 Aug 2020

Study may point to new therapeutic options for COVID-19

Contrary to what has been generally assumed so far, a severe course of COVID-19 does not solely result in a strong immune reaction - rather, the immune response is caught in a continuous loop of activation and inhibition.

7 Aug 2020

Study: Amyloid-beta alters cholesterol biosynthesis in early stages of Alzheimer’s

Korea Brain Research Institute (headed by Suh Pann-ghill) announced on July 24 the discovery that an increase in amyloid-beta in the brain alters cholesterol biosynthesis, which was found by Dr. Cheon Mookyung of KBRI through RNA-seq analysis data (omics) using AI.

7 Aug 2020