Mouse modified to give a “mammoth-like” coat
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There is Estimated genetic differences of 1.5 million Between wool mammoth and an Asian elephant. Colossal Biosciences, a company that seeks to revive extinct species through genetic engineering, now makes mice with “mammoth-like” fur, each with up to five genetic changes. It seems there's still a way to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq9mvp_gg9y
Certainly, these mice have long, curly hair and blonde hair. In that way, it resembles a wool mammoth coat stored in permafrost. However, it is not clear that bringing the same genetic alterations in Asian elephants with far fewer hairs per area of the skin will result in similar results.
“The work done with these mice doesn't mean there's a solution ready to regain the huge phenotype,” says team members. I love Darren At Stockholm University in Sweden, on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Corosal. “As you point out, we also need to understand how to grow more fur.”
Creating an Asian elephant with these genetic changes would also be much more difficult than doing it in a mouse. “Engineering mutations in mice are an established process and are not particularly challenging.” Dusko Ilic King's College London.
Mouse that has been fixed and unfixed
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Techniques that work in mice often fail in other species, and the size of elephants and their slow breeding significantly increases the time and cost involved. “These methods have not been developed for elephants. They are not easy based on anatomy.” Vincent Lynch At Buffalo University, New York. “That's probably the biggest challenge.”
However, Lynch is undoubtedly achievable. surely, Thomas Hildebrandt At the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany – Another giant advisor – New Scientist His team is the first time they've collected eggs from elephants, but the results have not yet been made public. Egg collection is an important step in IVF and is a genetic modification of mammals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGT8SOKDSXO
So how did Colossal make a “mammoth” mouse? Researchers began by looking for known mutations in mice that looked like fur. “[T]The majority of these genes were selected based on previous observations of the coat phenotype in mice,” read in a paper published today, which has not been peer-reviewed.
They identified eight genes that affect patterns (curse), color and hair length when disabled in mice. According to Colossal, one of these eight is a mammoth and is naturally disabled.
From the mammoth genome, the team identified small mutations that are thought to affect hair patterns, along with another disordered gene involved in fat metabolism.
The company then tried to modify these genes in mice. For example, one experiment used CRISPR gene editing to attempt to disable five of these genes in fertilized eggs. From 134 edited eggs, 11 puppies were born, and one of these puppies invalidated copies of both five genes.
Fur stored in frozen mammoth rank
Arami Stock Photo
In another study, the researchers used a form of CRISPR called base editing to abolish several genes in embryonic mouse stem cells. They combined this with another technique called homologous recombination to create the exact mutations found in the mammoth genome. Make accurate changes is much more difficult than disabling genes, but the recombination method works well only in the mouse.
The team then sequenced the cells to identify cells with the desired change and injected into mouse embryos to create chimeric mice. Of the 90 injected embryos, seven mice were born with four intended changes.
These experiments can be said to be successful in producing several mice with desirable physical changes in the fur, but only one genetic change is in exact agreement with what is found in the mammoth genome. It takes more work to achieve Colossal's stated purpose With the creation of “a cold-resistant elephant with all the core biological properties of wool mammoths,” and the elephant pregnancy lasting for about two years, Colossal is in time for a spontaneous 2028 deadline.
“Elephants with fur are not mammoths in the way we think of them.” Juan Antonio Rodriguez At the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He says many of the 1.5 million differences between the mammoth and the Asian elephant genome may not be effective, but it is not clear which is more important.
Even if we did, it's dangerous to make broader changes, says Rodriguez. “The more things change in organisms, the more likely they are to tinker with major metabolic pathways and genes.”
Rodriguez, Lynch and Irik are all
Source: www.newscientist.com
Could two genetically engineered mice save Valentine’s Day?
love time
Valentine's Day celebrates coupling. Alan McWilliam told Feedback about an offer he received from a US-based biotech company before the most recent Valentine's Day. It combines charm with other qualities.
Alan says: “I received the following marketing email. I have never before been offered a “free breeding pair of genetically modified mice” for Valentine's Day. What could be more romantic than staring into the eyes of a mouse over the flame of a Bunsen burner before implanting a tumor and humanely euthanizing it a few weeks later? ”
Here are the notes:
“Dear Alan,
love is in the air, [REDACTED]share the love with a special Valentine's Day promotion just for you.
Theme: The perfect combination in research
Promotion: This Valentine's Day, we're giving away a free breeding pair of genetically modified mice using our genetic targeting service.
Coupon code: FREECOUPLE
This limited time offer is designed to enhance your studies and provide you with the perfect study companion. ”
Regardless of the romantic or commercial effects of this offer, its most powerful use may be as a psychological test. How would a person seemingly react to this opportunity?
political restraint
With a growing trove of top-notch data, British psychology researchers are keen to sift through it for lessons about leadership. Feedback infers this from news accounts.
of BMJ (formerly known as this) british medical journal) create medical care Note It has been reported that Chancellor Rishi Sunak is “fasting for 36 hours at the beginning of every week''. Sunak's past and current medical data may be of interest and inspiration to physicians, psychologists, and nutritional researchers. Over time, does the body of evidence expand or contract? How much of that inflation or deflation is due to leaders' first-person food control?
More complete data may already be available about the effects and effectiveness of self-regulation (or basically self-asserted restraint) by former Prime Minister David Cameron, who served as Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016. There is sex.
new scientistA 2015 report on Cameron Fluid Engineering explains: While this technique may be effective, it also appears to help people tell more convincing lies. ”
(By a happy coincidence, the 2011 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Award It was given to researchers in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and the US to test the effectiveness of the delayed voiding technique. The award was announced naked weeks before Prime Minister David Cameron went public with his penchant for peeing. )
If it someday turns out that other British prime ministers have also exercised restraint, researchers will have even more data available.
Under the tarantula hole
Fascinating and surprising delights about living things can linger in the bibliography section of scientific papers about things that went extinct long ago.
Trilobite researchers still chat about their research. ”Frontal auxiliary impression of the Ordovician trilobite Darmanitina reed, 1905, from Varandian region, Czech Republic.' was published a few years ago. Earth Science Bulletin.
But only the most diligent researchers discovered something unexpected deep in the bibliography section at the end of the paper. It was a reference to the paper “''.Connection between heart and sucking stomach during tarantula ingestionWritten by Jason Dunlop, John Altringham, and Peter Mill, published in 1992 Journal of Experimental Biology.
And deep within that heart- and stomach-sucking paper lurks a different kind of surprise, a reminder that scientists must always proceed with caution. “In the absence of detailed information about the tarantula's body fluid flow, any model is speculative.”
gentle youth
Dave Kirby noticed another cookbook: anarchist cookbookperhaps a warning is needed (feedback suggested something like “If you don't cook the anarchist to the correct temperature, you may run into problems”).
Dave says: “In addition to the books you mentioned, you can also add the following. River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook. My local restaurant's bookshelf is full of cookbooks, and I found this one there a few months ago.
“I was hesitant to look at the fine print on the menu.”
Depending on the cat
This is probably reassuring news for people who fear being temporarily separated from their cats.
A study conducted in California titled “Comparing people's attachment to romantic partners and pet cats'' was published in the journal anthropozoanAccording to a report, some people “don't necessarily need the reassurance from a cat or feel distressed in its absence, as would be the case with a romantic partner.”
Mark Abrahams hosted the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and co-founded the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Previously, he was working on unusual uses of computers.his website is impossible.com.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
Harnessing Nature: Releasing Billions of Engineered Mosquitoes into the Wild to Combat Disease
Dengue fever is currently endemic in 100 countries, putting half of the world’s population at risk. The threat has increased dramatically, with the number of dengue fever cases increasing tenfold between 2000 and 2019, and the number of cases hitting an all-time high in 2023.
Bangladesh, Peru and Burkina Faso have all seen record outbreaks in the past 12 months, while France, Italy and Spain have also reported cases of mosquito-borne dengue fever.
What’s causing this? Scientists say global warming is making space more hospitable to insects, and that climate change is fueling the rise in this mosquito-borne viral disease. As mosquitoes become more common, we expect the time to outbreak of dengue fever to shorten and the transmission season to lengthen.
This is a worrying situation.But that’s what the sponsoring team decided world mosquito program There is a possible solution. They suggest treating mosquitoes with bacteria that can prevent the development of viruses in the body.
read more:
What are the symptoms of dengue fever?
There’s a good reason dengue fever has been labeled “breakbone fever.” 80% of cases are asymptomatic, but when symptoms develop, symptoms include high fever, muscle and joint pain, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, nausea, and vomiting.
Symptoms begin 4 to 10 days after infection and can last from 2 days to up to a week. DHF (severe dengue fever) manifests as severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding gums or nose, blood in the stool or vomit, pale, cold skin, and fatigue. Doctors can only alleviate these symptoms because antiviral drugs are not available.
How does dengue spread?
Dengue fever is spread through the bite of an infected female mosquito. Aedes aegypti, typically found in tropical and subtropical regions. Originating from the forests of West Africa, Aedes aegypti They spread around the world during the African slave trade and have continued to hitchhike as a means of human transportation ever since.
other Aedes Other species can also transmit dengue fever, although to a lesser extent. The highly invasive Asian tiger mosquito is the likely cause of dengue infections in Europe. Unlike malaria mosquitoes, which usually bite at night and can be prevented with insecticide-treated bed nets, dengue mosquitoes bite during the day and are very difficult to control.
Mosquitoes are now highly urbanized creatures, admirably adapted to coexist with humans, their preferred blood source. In cities, stagnant water is key to survival, providing spawning grounds and habitat for aquatic larval and pupal development. Mosquitoes breed in small puddles in garbage, used tires, and man-made containers such as flower pots. Thus, humans have been the main driving force behind the success of the dengue mosquito.
How can we fight the spread of infection?
Dengue prevention requires a multipronged attack on mosquitoes, with a focus on insecticide spraying. However, insecticide resistance is developing in mosquito populations around the world, threatening their effectiveness.
what else? Control strategies also include adaptations to eliminate breeding sites or prevent reproduction. Aedes aegypti Prevent spawning in stagnant water (remove debris that could trap water and install covers on water storage containers).
Bacterial toxins are also applied to bodies of water to kill mosquito larvae. These strategies are labor intensive because it is difficult to identify, treat, and eliminate all breeding sites. Therefore, new methods of mosquito control are desperately needed.
The World Mosquito Program (WMP) has devised a non-chemical and non-GMO-based approach for dengue control. Bacteria called Wolbachia which occurs naturally in many insect species; Aedes aegypti.
WMP was found to be “infected”. Aedes aegypti and Wolbachia Prevented the onset of dengue virus in adult women. From a logistical point of view, this method is self-sustaining. Wolbachia It can spread to wild populations because it infects eggs through mating.
WMP reports a significant decrease in dengue cases. Aedes aegypti carry Wolbachia has been released.given that Aedes aegypti Since Zika and Chikungunya viruses are also transmitted, WMP has developed a potential “three-for-one” method of disease control.
It’s no exaggeration to say that mosquitoes are the most hated insects, but despite their notoriety, only a handful of the 3,500 species of mosquitoes transmit disease. They are also important to the ecosystem.
Mosquitoes are a food source for fish, frogs, reptiles, bats, and birds, and they are also pollinators, as male insects suck nectar from flowers (only females drink blood). The WMP approach is species-specific and targeted only. Aedes aegyptiThis is in contrast to the “blunt force” approach with insecticides, which can affect insects other than the target.
The climate change trajectory we are currently on is leading to rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns, which will benefit this terrifying little insect and her viral cargo. Therefore, we need as many weapons as possible in our arsenal to combat the growing global dengue threat.
read more:
Source: www.sciencefocus.com
