DNA is not new. A pairs with T, G pairs with C, and these 4 nucleotides are organized into genes and intervening sequences that twist up into the famous double helix that ultimately explains all of life and heredity. But what if this settled science was reimagined as something new? https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2019/01/19/adding-new-dna-letters-make-novel-proteins-possible
A very strange but crucial phenomenon occurs in the DNA of B and T cells that comprise the adaptive immune system: their DNA is cut and pasted in different, random combinations during a very complex process that ultimately helps to fights infection. Nowhere else in the body at any stage of development has this been [...]
The immune system differentiates between “self” and “non-self”, and attacks any entity it perceives as foreign. Microorganisms like bacteria and viruses are obviously recognized as foreign, but the immune system also recognizes tissue from different individuals within the same species as foreign, which can cause major problems for organ transplantation. But why doesn’t the maternal [...]
Summer 2019 workshops will be scheduled soon, but first we would like to announce the annual winter break Medical and Translational Bioinformatics workshop to be held 12/26-12/29 in Berkeley, California. This is a great workshop for anyone who is interested in doing research out of general interest or for a science fair project. Email info@rosettainstitute.org [...]
Metastasis – the process by which cancer cells leave their tumor-of-origin, enter the blood stream and colonize distant tissues – is responsible for 90% of cancer deaths. The first step in this complex process is invasion into surrounding tissue and blood vessels, which requires the degradation of connective tissue (extracellular matrix) that compartmentalizes these sub-regions. [...]
Congratulations to James Allison and Tasuko Honjo for winning the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine. Specifically, they discovered the CTLA-4 and PD-1 proteins, and found that inhibiting these proteins allowed the immune system to attack tumors. These discoveries were instrumental in launching the cancer immunotherapy revolution. 2018 Nobel Prize
How does Zika virus cause birth defects? This study demonstrates that the birth defects associated with Zika virus infection arise due to the detrimental effects of type 1 interferon, which (paradoxically) is produced by your immune system to protect you from viral infections. This is a story that is interesting in its own right, but [...]
Ketamine is used clinically as a sedative, but also abused recreationally due to its hallucinogenic properties. Here, researchers describe the amazing ability of ketamine to rapidly reduce suicidal thoughts. What is the molecular mechanism? And how can we use that information to prevent these thoughts from appearing in the first place? Ketamine Reduces Suicidal Thoughts
The process of developing and evaluating new drugs is time-consuming, expensive, logistically challenging and potentially dangerous to patients involved in the studies. It would therefore be refreshing to find a new way to advance a drug through this difficult process. Repurposing existing FDA-approved drugs for new uses is one way this can be accomplished. Here, [...]
Hey everyone! Summer 2018 science workshops on Molecular Biology of Cancer, Molecular Neuroscience, Molecular Immunology and our newest camp Molecular Biology of Development and Aging are now set at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego. Workshops held at UC Berkeley are 6/3-6/16 and 6/17-6/30. Workshops held at UCSD are 7/8-7/21. Our Biomedical Research camp is [...]