WIKIMEDIA, DCRJSRThe blood disorder β-thalassemia is caused by a mutation in the HBB gene, which results in a severe hemoglobin deficiency. Using the CRISPR genome-editing technique coupled with the piggyBac transposon, a team led by investigators at the University of California, San Francisco, successfully corrected the mutation in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Their work was published in Genome Research this week (August 5).
“What’s exciting about it is there’s a combination of CRISPR technology and the piggyBac system to enable seamless gene correction” in iPSCs, T.J. Cradick, the director of the protein engineering core facility at Georgia Tech, told The Scientist.
GERLINDE METZStress experienced by female rats during pregnancy can leave microRNA (miRNA)-mediated marks on subsequent generations, researchers from the University of Lethbridge and their colleagues have found. The results of the team’s study spanning three generations appeared online in BMC Medicine this week (August 7).
“In the future, we could map an individual’s epigenetic signature to understand exposure to prior stress and the history of stress of one’s ancestors, which can show susceptibility to a disease,” said Washington State University’s Michael Skinner, who was not involved in the work.
PLOS BIOLOGY, EUGENE RUSSOBuilding upon their previous work showing that rat neural stem cells (NSCs) can form axons that travel long distances within rodent brains and spines, researchers led by Mark Tuszynski and Paul Lu of the University of California, San Diego, this week (August 7) showed that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) reprogrammed from aging human cells into NSCs similarly formed long axons that migrated to the site of spinal cord injuries in rats. The group’s work was published in Neuron this week (August 7).
