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Embryonic and adult stem cells Stem cells are cells that provide new cells during growth, and replace cells that are damaged or lost during life. They have the following two important properties that enable them to do this: The ability to develop (differentiate) into many other, different cell types, for Read More…
To repurpose drugs is to find new ways that they can be applied to treat other conditions and illnesses. Although our knowledge of diseases is greater than ever before, the development of novel therapies has yet to catch up. Drug development is slow, expensive and risky. These challenges have made Read More…
The CRISPR gene-editing toolbox expanded with the addition of prime editing. Prime editing has astounding potential for both basic biology research and for treating genetic diseases by theoretically correcting ~89% of known disease-causing mutations. What is prime editing? Prime editing is coined as a “search-and-replace” editing technique that builds on Read More…
The instructions our bodies need to grow and function are contained in our genes. These instructions are made up of tiny structures called nucleobases. There are four types of nucleobases in DNA: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), thymine (T). By putting these four nucleobases in different orders and patterns, Read More…
Research is rapidly moving from the bench to the bedside to treat neurological inherited disorders of all types, including spinocerebellar ataxias. SCAsource has previously gone over the science behind ASO therapy. These diseases share a common theory that the DNA mutation leads to the formation of an altered protein that is Read More…
What is a recessive disorder? A recessive disorder is one that has a specific disease mechanism. For a recessive disorder to occur, both copies of the causative gene must be mutated for a patient to show symptoms. Ataxias that follow this disease mechanism are known as recessive ataxia. However, having Read More…
What is it? Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a type of technology used to take detailed pictures of the body. It is commonly used to detect abnormalities in the body, diagnose diseases, and to regularly monitor patients who are undergoing treatments. It can generate three-dimensional images of non-bony tissues, such Read More…
RNA interference, or RNAi, is a natural biological process that inhibits the expression of a specific gene. In medicine, targeted RNAi therapies can be used to silence the expression of a disease-causing gene. To understand RNAi, you first have to understand RNA. An overview of RNA is the messager between Read More…
In many diseases caused by repeat expansion mutations in the DNA, harmful proteins containing repetitive stretches are found to build up in the brain. The repeat expansion mutation, when translated into a protein, results in an abnormally expanded repeat tract that can affect the function of the protein and have Read More…
A common nuisance for bacteria is the bacteriophage: a virus that uses the internal machinery of a bacteria to replicate its own genetic material. Bacteriophages do this by latching onto bacteria and injecting their DNA into the cell. As the cell grows and divides, the bacteriophage’s hope is that their Read More…
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