Cloning News -- ScienceDaily: Recent Episodes
None
Cloning articles. Uncover cloned animal abnormalities, discover cloned pigs with benefits such as omega-3 fatty acids and much more in our current research news on cloning.
A new technique to clone and reassemble DNA, dubbed CReATiNG, could simplify and lower the cost to make synthetic chromosomes. Potential applications are numerous, including pharmaceutical production, biofuel generation, cancer therapies, and environmental cleanup using modified organisms. The method adds a powerful, versatile tool to the burgeoning field of synthetic biology.
Experts in cloning and stem cell science are reporting that five lung stem cell variants dominate the lungs of patients with advanced cystic fibrosis, and that these variants drive key aspects of CF pathology including inflammation, fibrosis and mucin secretion.
The DNA sequence of a gene in wheat responsible for resisting a devastating virus has been discovered, providing vital clues for managing more resistant crops and maintaining a healthy food supply.
An international team has succeeded in propagating a commercial hybrid rice strain as a clone through seeds with 95 percent efficiency. This could lower the cost of hybrid rice seed, making high-yielding, disease resistant rice strains available to low-income farmers worldwide.
A team led by investigators has overcome a major constraint for cutting and editing DNA by CRISPR-Cas enzymes and other technologies.
Researchers have cloned mini-pigs with mutations in a gene that has recently been identified as a direct cause of Alzheimer's disease. The results are particularly interesting for the pharmaceutical industry.
A groundbreaking study has uncovered 14,000 unique sites in DNA that together form the most elementary blueprint for embryogenesis -- the creation of embryos.
Researchers have succeeded in understanding the biosynthetic mechanisms for the production of the natural product cyanobacterin, which is produced in small quantities by the cyanobacteria Scytonema hofmanni. In the process, they also discovered a new class of enzymes for building carbon-carbon bonds. The (bio)chemists are thus significantly expanding the biocatalytic repertoire currently known from Nature and are opening up new, sustainable biotechnological applications in medicine and agriculture.
An obscure species of wild grass contains 'blockbuster' disease resistance that can be cross bred into wheat to give immunity against one of the deadliest crop pathogens.
Researchers have built a machine learning framework that can define the mathematical equations describing a cell's trajectory from one state to another, such as its development from a stem cell into one of several different types of mature cell. The framework, called dynamo, can also be used to figure out the underlying mechanisms -- the specific cocktail of gene activity -- driving changes in the cell.
The findings will be used to help researchers determine how traits, characteristics and color impact behavior.
A research team led by Dr Karen Wing Yee YUEN, Associate Professor from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), revealed the mechanism of artificial chromosome (AC) formation in the embryos of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, a 1-mm long, transparent nematode.
If necessity is the mother of invention, frustration is the father. When scientists kept running into aggravating problems with the existing tools and methods they were using to perform genetic engineering experiments, they decided to make better ones. They teamed up and created an integrated pipeline called STAMPScreen that combines novel algorithms, a new gene cloning technique, and powerful next-generation sequencing technology to help scientists get from a database to results quickly, easily, and frustration-free.
Molecular geneticists have known for about a decade that genomic structural variants can play important roles in the adaptation and speciation of both plants and animals, but their overall influence on the fitness of plant populations is poorly understood. That's partly because accurate population-level identification of structural variants requires analysis of multiple high-quality genome assemblies, which are not widely available.
For 30 years, University of Tokyo Associate Professor Hisayoshi Nozaki has visited the Sagami River to collect algal samples to understand how living things evolved different sexes. The threes sexes of the Pleodorina starrii algae are male, female, and a third sex called bisexual in reference to the fact that it can produce both male and female sex cells in a single genotype and exists due to normal expression of the species' genes.
Microorganisms possess natural product biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that may harbor unique bioactivities for use in drug development and agricultural applications. However, many uncharacterized microbial BGCs remain inaccessible. Researchers previously demonstrated a technique using transcription factor decoys to activate large, silent BGCs in bacteria to aid in natural product discovery.
Researchers discovered a new enzyme, closely related to the CSyGT family of enzymes involved in producing cellulose in plant cell walls. Unexpectedly, they found the new enzyme is responsible for a key step in the biosynthesis of saponins, bioactive products with high-value applications in medicine and the food industry. The new enzyme opens up novel routes for commercial production of these valuable compounds in microbial cells.
Plants can be infected by multiple viruses at once. However, the composition of the pathogen community varies, even if individuals belong to the same species and the same population. Ecologists have now shown that these differences are primarily due to genetic variation among the hosts. The loss of genetic diversity could thus render species more vulnerable to infections and extinction.
The identity of wild cloning sea star larvae has been a mystery since they were first documented in the Caribbean. The most commonly collected cloning species was thought to belong to the Oreasteridae, on the basis of similarity with sequences from Oreaster reticulatus and Oreaster clavatus.
Researchers have found that that a mutant strain of sake yeast produces high levels of the amino acid ornithine. Ornithine has been found to reduce fatigue and improve sleep quality, and the non-genetically modified mutant yeast strain discovered in this study could be easily applied to brewing sake, a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage, as well as wine and beer.
The invasive population of Asian longhorned ticks in the United States likely began with three or more self-cloning females from northeastern Asia, according to a new study. Asian longhorned ticks outside the U.S. can carry debilitating diseases. In the United States and elsewhere they can threaten livestock and pets. The new study sheds new light on the origin of these exotic ticks and how they are spreading across the United States.
What is and is not possible for natural evolution may be explained using models and calculations from theoretical physics, say researchers. To explain this the limits of evolution, researchers simplified the natural world to fit idealized physics models and searched for any mathematical structure within biological complexity.
Scientists have discovered a gene that can be used to develop varieties of wheat that will be more resistant to a disease that is a major threat both overseas and to the nation's $10 billion annual wheat crop.
Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), one of the leading causes of honey bee colony losses, is much more genetically diverse in the United States than previously thought. The diverse lineages of this virus are all equally bad for bees, and they make it more complicated to develop antiviral therapeutics, which could be the basis for developing a vaccine for the virus.
An inter-disciplinary team of researchers has unraveled how a toxin released by Escherichia coli (E. coli) - a human gut bacteria, is connected to colorectal cancer, offering new insights to the health impact of this prevalent bacteria and facilitating future research on the prevention of this third most common cancer worldwide.
Scientists have found a way to make single-celled bacteria behave like stem cells, differentiating into genetically unique individuals as they divide.
Aggressiveness among animals may increase the longer individuals live together in stable groups. The study used the Amazon molly, a naturally clonal fish species that produces genetically identical individuals to isolate the effects of familiarity on behavior.
Researchers used the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to optimize a new technique, leading to the development of the method called Nested CRISPR. This cloning-free method involves the insertion of long DNA fragments in two steps.
A global alliance of researchers has pioneered a new method to rapidly recruit disease-resistance genes from wild plants for transfer into domestic crops. The technique promises to revolutionize the development of disease-resistant varieties for the global food supply.
In discovering a mutant gene that 'turns on' another gene responsible for the red pigments sometimes seen in corn, researchers solved an almost six-decades-old mystery with a finding that may have implications for plant breeding in the future.
A new way to diagnose, treat and protect against stealth fungal infections that claim more than 1.5 million lives per year worldwide has been moved a step closer.
Researchers were able to produce healthy mice with two mothers that went on to have normal offspring of their own. Mice from two dads were also born but only survived for a couple of days. The work looks at what makes it so challenging for animals of the same sex to produce offspring and suggests that some of these barriers can be overcome using stem cells and targeted gene editing.
Scientists discovered that polyps have no qualms about treating a nonrelated individual like part of the family. This goes way beyond sharing meals or even a roof. Polyps of the marine hydrozoan Ectopleura larynx allow nonrelated individuals to fuse their bodies to the familial colony and share what is essentially skin and a stomach.
A cell's membrane is composed of a bilayer of lipids, and the inside-facing layer is made of different lipids than the outside-facing layer. Because different lipids create membranes with different physical properties, researchers wondered whether different lipid compositions in the bilayer could also lead to different physical properties.
Clonal ants appear to be diverse in responding to sweetened water, suggesting epigenetic regulation in behavioral variation and colony survival.
They reproduce through gynogenesis. Their offspring are clones of the mother. According to established theories, the Amazon molly should have become extinct a long time ago. A new study shows how the fish avoids this fate.
In 2015, biologists developed a breakthrough technology known as "active genetics," which results in parents transmitting a genetic trait to most of their offspring (instead of 50 percent receiving the trait under standard inheritance). Immediate targets of active genetics included gene-drive systems for immunizing mosquitoes against vector borne diseases such as malaria. Researchers also proposed using active genetics for a variety of other potential human health and agricultural benefits.
About 6 percent to 12 percent of the babies born from mothers infected with the Zika virus during pregnancy will have the CZS.
The first primate clones made by somatic cell nuclear transfer are two genetically identical long-tailed macaques have recently been born. Researchers named the newborns Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua after the Chinese adjective 'Zhonghua,' which means Chinese nation or people. The technical milestone makes it a realistic possibility for labs to conduct research with customizable populations of genetically uniform monkeys.
Original concerns that cloning caused early-onset osteoarthritis (OA) in Dolly the sheep are unfounded, report experts.
Many brightly colored birds get their pigments from the foods that they eat, but that's not true of parrots. Now, researchers reporting a study of familiar pet store parakeets -- also known as budgies -- have new evidence to explain how the birds produce their characteristic yellow, blue, and green feathers.
Researchers have created a chimera virus that allows the study of molecules to treat cancers caused by human herpes virus infection in mice models of disease.
Farmers can grow big, juicy tomatoes thanks to a mutation in the cell size regulator gene that occurred during the tomato domestication process.
A gene that helps some people and animals fend off persistent viral infections has now been discovered by a team of scientists.
Scientists have edited the pig genome to deactivate a family of retroviruses. The results hold important implications for transplant medicine in humans.
Meiosis takes a heavy toll on the viability of offspring, new research shows. And not just for humans. Creatures from geckos to garlic and cactuses to cockroaches pay a price to undergo sexual reproduction.
For some developmental genes one allele must stay silent, otherwise debilitating syndromes and cancers can arise. Scientists have now uncovered a new imprinting mechanism cells use to keep these genes quiet in mice.
A new unique biosynthetic pathway for D-Glutamate has been discovered, an important cell wall component in pathogenic bacteria, which could lead to the development of medicines and agricultural chemicals.
Discovering the function of a gene requires cloning a DNA sequence and expressing it. Until now, this was performed on a one-gene-at-a-time basis, causing a bottleneck. Scientists have invented a technology to clone thousands of genes simultaneously and create massive libraries of proteins from DNA samples, potentially ushering in a new era of functional genomics.
Researchers have generated both novel and existing antibiotic resistance mechanisms on experimental farmland, by exposing the soil to specific antibiotics.
A gene that confers resistance to the important broad-spectrum antibiotic, fosfomycin, has been discovered by scientists. The researchers found the gene in isolates of the pathogen, Salmonella enterica, from broiler chickens.
The resurrection of vanished species -- through cutting-edge technologies such as gene-editing -- should be targeted towards recently extinct species rather than ancient ones, according to a conservation biologist. He suggests that long-gone species such as the woolly mammoth would not be the best focus for de-extinction efforts.
Why is sex so popular among plants and animals, and why isn't asexual reproduction, or cloning, a more common reproductive strategy?
Culminating a nearly 10 year effort, researchers have determined the atomic resolution structure of a key molecule that translates signals from a cell’s local environment into a language that the cell can understand and use. The determination of the architecture of the Inositol Tris-Phosphate Receptor (IP3R) had long been considered a major goal in biomedical research because of its strategic role inside cells as a molecular train station for transferring signals that control many cell functions. The structure is expected to contribute to the development of better therapeutic approaches for many diseases.
Since Dolly the Sheep was cloned, the question of whether human reproductive cloning should be banned or pursued has been the subject of international debate. Researchers argue that a robust global governance framework on human cloning should draw on recent successes in climate change and business ethics for inspiration.
Why does sex exist when organisms that clone themselves use less time and energy, and do not need a mate to produce offspring? Researchers aiming to answer this age-old question have discovered that sex can help the next generation resist infection.
Most salamanders are homebodies when it comes to mating. But some of the beasts hit the road, traversing miles of rugged terrain unfit for an amphibian in pursuit of a partner from a far-away wetland.
It has been 20 years since Dolly the sheep was successfully cloned in Scotland, but cloning mammals remains a challenge. A new study of gene expression in developing clones now shows why most cloned embryos likely fail.
Difficulty seeing in bright light, which can be linked to a genetic mutation, can also increase baleen whales' susceptibility to fatal entanglements in fishing gear, say researchers.
Eggs can be 'tricked' into developing into an embryo without fertilization, but the resulting embryos, called parthenogenotes, die after a few days because key developmental processes requiring input from sperm don't happen. However, scientists have developed a method of injecting mouse parthenogenotes with sperm that allows them to become healthy baby mice with a success rate of up to 24 per cent.
The field of genetics has seen astonishing breakthroughs and the development of world-changing technologies in the past half century.
Three weeks after the scientific world marked the 20th anniversary of the birth of Dolly the sheep, new research has shown that four clones derived from the same cell line -- genomic copies of Dolly -- reached their 8th birthdays in good health.
Look into any nutrient-rich pond almost anywhere in the world and you will find Daphnia pulex, a tiny crustacean (also called a water flea) that is a source of food for fish and fascination for scientists. A new study offers insights into this creature's ability to disperse and its remarkable success in the wild.
Scientists have developed a new technique to unleash silenced genes and change cell fates using CRISPR/Cas9.
The lady salamander that shuns male companionship may reap important benefits. For instance, when a predator snaps off her tail .New research compared an all-female population of mole salamanders to a related heterosexual species and found they grew their tails back 36 percent faster. The unisexual salamanders (part of the Ambystoma genus) contain DNA of up to five species and reproduce primarily by cloning themselves.