Using genome editing in liver cells, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have lowered the levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol in monkeys by up to 60 percent.
Researchers at University College London have demonstrated that prenatal gene therapy for the lysosomal storage disorder Gaucher disease was more effective than gene therapy immediately after birth.
To date, increases in healthspan have not kept up with those in lifespan, and many elderly, despite surviving cancer and cardiovascular disease that would have once killed them, are in poor health overall. Recent studies have suggested that senescent cells, which are not dying but have stopped dividing, are contributors to the frailty that accompanies aging. Now a team from the Mayo Clinic has put that idea to the test directly, transplanting senescent cells into young mice.
Researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, have developed a suitcase-sized device that is poised to disprove the old adage that of fast, cheap and good, you can pick any two.
In the course of screening for synthetic lethal interactions, researchers have identified a new mechanism for the formation of DNA lesions that trap the enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) as well as dozens of previously unknown genetic changes that could sensitize cells to PARP inhibition.
Researchers at the Japanese National Cancer Center Research Institute have identified an "epigenetic reconditioning" approach that could force liver cancer cells to differentiate, rendering them less aggressive. Epigenetic changes are a frequent feature of liver tumors, which have few therapeutic options.
