News Round-Up |
Featured
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News |
‘CRISPR babies’ are still too risky, says influential panel
The safety and efficacy of genome editing in human embryos hasn’t been proven, researchers warn.
- Heidi Ledford
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Research Highlight |
A CRISPR first produces squid as clear as glass
The creation of spotless cephalopods hints that squid could make a good model organism for applying CRISPR to brain research.
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Research Highlight |
Huge virus’s mini-enzymes boost CRISPR’s powers
The viruses called Biggiephages harbour compact enzymes that can target a broad range of DNA sequences.
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Editorial |
Mitochondrial genome editing: another win for curiosity-driven research
A promising biomedical tool began life as part of efforts to answer a different question.
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News |
Scientists make precise gene edits to mitochondrial DNA for first time
Weird enzyme enables researchers to study — and potentially treat — deadly diseases.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
CRISPR gene editing in human embryos wreaks chromosomal mayhem
Three studies showing large DNA deletions and reshuffling heighten safety concerns about heritable genome editing.
- Heidi Ledford
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Research Highlight |
Cells edited with CRISPR prove safe in humans
People with cancer show no serious side effects after treatment with gene-edited immune cells.
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Research Highlight |
All-purpose enzymes boost CRISPR’s powers
The gene-editing system could target a broad swathe of the genome with the help of versatile enzymes.
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Research Highlight |
CRISPR gene editing proves safe in a clinical trial
Immune cells whose genomes have been altered with CRISPR are well-tolerated by three people with cancer.
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News |
Quest to use CRISPR against disease gains ground
As the first clinical-trial results trickle in, researchers look ahead to more sophisticated medical applications for genome editing.
- Heidi Ledford
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Research Highlight |
A crop that feeds billions freed from blight by CRISPR
Bacteria that infect rice are thwarted by changes to rice genes involved in sugar transport.
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News |
Super-precise new CRISPR tool could tackle a plethora of genetic diseases
The system allows researchers more control over DNA changes, potentially opening up conditions that have challenged gene-editors.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Scientists use gene-edited stem cells to treat HIV — with mixed success
Modified cells survived 19 months after transplant into an HIV-positive man in China, but the dose was not enough to reduce his viral load.
- Jonathan Lambert
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News |
Many cancer drugs aim at the wrong molecular targets
Analysis using CRISPR gene-editing technology suggests that drugs’ mechanism of action are misunderstood.
- Heidi Ledford
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Letter |
Super-Mendelian inheritance mediated by CRISPR–Cas9 in the female mouse germline
In the early embryo, Cas9 expressed in the female germline induces double-stranded breaks that are corrected by homology-directed repair, biasing inheritance of a desired allele in mice.
- Hannah A. Grunwald
- , Valentino M. Gantz
- & Kimberly L. Cooper
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Article |
Accurate classification of BRCA1 variants with saturation genome editing
Germline BRCA1 loss-of-function variants are associated with predisposition to early-onset breast and ovarian cancer; here the authors use CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to functionally assess thousands of BRCA1 variants in order to facilitate the clinical interpretation of these variants.
- Gregory M. Findlay
- , Riza M. Daza
- & Jay Shendure
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Article |
Mutant phenotypes for thousands of bacterial genes of unknown function
A large-scale mutagenesis screen identifies mutant phenotypes for over 11,000 protein-coding genes in bacteria that had previously not been assigned a specific function.
- Morgan N. Price
- , Kelly M. Wetmore
- & Adam M. Deutschbauer
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Letter |
Genetic identification of leptin neural circuits in energy and glucose homeostases
A subset of neurons in the hypothalamus is identified as the primary site of action for regulating energy balance and glucose homeostasis by leptin.
- Jie Xu
- , Christopher L. Bartolome
- & Dong Kong
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Article |
Genome editing reveals a role for OCT4 in human embryogenesis
Genome editing in human zygotes shows that OCT4 is required for normal development at an earlier stage in humans than in mice.
- Norah M. E. Fogarty
- , Afshan McCarthy
- & Kathy K. Niakan
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Letter |
In vivo genome editing via CRISPR/Cas9 mediated homology-independent targeted integration
A method for CRISPR-based genome editing that harnesses cellular non-homologous end joining activity to achieve targeted DNA knock-in in non-dividing tissues.
- Keiichiro Suzuki
- , Yuji Tsunekawa
- & Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte
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Outlook |
Comparative biology: Naked ambition
A subterranean species that seems to be cancer-proof is providing promising clues on how we might prevent the disease in humans.
- Sarah Deweerdt
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Article |
Nuclear genome transfer in human oocytes eliminates mitochondrial DNA variants
Nuclear genome transfer using unfertilized donor oocytes is performed and shown to be effective in preventing the transmission of mitochondrial DNA mutations; the swapped oocytes can develop to the blastocyst stage, and produce parthenogenetic embryonic stem-cell lines that show normal karyotypes and only mitochondrial DNA from the donor oocyte.
- Daniel Paull
- , Valentina Emmanuele
- & Dieter Egli
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News |
Targeted gene modification can rewrite zebrafish DNA
New method could lead to cheaper, more effective insights into complex human diseases.
- Nicky Guttridge
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Article
| Open AccessAn expansive human regulatory lexicon encoded in transcription factor footprints
DNase I footprinting in 41 cell and tissue types reveals millions of short sequence elements encoding an expansive repertoire of conserved recognition sequences for DNA-binding proteins.
- Shane Neph
- , Jeff Vierstra
- & John A. Stamatoyannopoulos
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Article
| Open AccessAccurate whole-genome sequencing and haplotyping from 10 to 20 human cells
A new DNA analysis method termed long fragment read technology is described, and the approach is used to determine parental haplotypes and to sequence human genomes cost-effectively and accurately from only 10 to 20 cells.
- Brock A. Peters
- , Bahram G. Kermani
- & Radoje Drmanac
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Letter |
Genetic dissection of the circuit for hand dexterity in primates
A new double-infection technique with viral vectors is used to interrupt transmission through the propriospinal neurons (PNs) in macaque monkeys, and this is found to impair reach and grasp movements, revealing a critical role for the PN-mediated pathway in the control of hand dexterity.
- Masaharu Kinoshita
- , Ryosuke Matsui
- & Tadashi Isa
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News |
Fruitfly genome mapped in three dimensions
The highest-resolution map of chromosome interactions in metazoans so far marks a new era of ‘3D genetics’.
- Rebecca Hill
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Outlook |
Genetics: Profiling a shape-shifter
Unlocking the genetic secrets of multiple myeloma could reveal new ways to attack this killer disease.
- Courtney Humphries
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News |
Ancient Greek ships carried more than just wine
DNA tests of shipwrecked jars illuminate early trade markets in the Mediterranean.
- Jo Marchant
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News & Views Forum |
Triple genomes go far
A technique called somatic-cell nuclear transfer has been applied to human oocytes, resulting in the generation of personalized stem cells, albeit genetically abnormal ones. Two experts discuss the biomedical significance of this work and the ethical issues surrounding the use of human oocytes in research. See Article p.70
- George Q. Daley
- & Jan Helge Solbakk
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News |
Europe to map the human epigenome
DNA-modification studies get a multi-million euro boost.
- Alison Abbott
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Article |
The landscape of recombination in African Americans
- Anjali G. Hinch
- , Arti Tandon
- & Simon R. Myers
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Article |
A conditional knockout resource for the genome-wide study of mouse gene function
- William C. Skarnes
- , Barry Rosen
- & Allan Bradley
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Letter |
Genome-wide analysis reveals novel molecular features of mouse recombination hotspots
- Fatima Smagulova
- , Ivan V. Gregoretti
- & Galina V. Petukhova
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Article |
Mapping and analysis of chromatin state dynamics in nine human cell types
- Jason Ernst
- , Pouya Kheradpour
- & Bradley E. Bernstein
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Letter |
A cis-regulatory map of the Drosophila genome
As part of the modENCODE initiative, which aims to characterize functional DNA elements in D. melanogaster and C. elegans, this study created a map of the regulatory part of the fruitfly genome. On the basis of the developmental dynamics of chromatin modifications, polymerase and transcription factor occupancy this work defines a vast array of putative regulatory elements, such as enhancers, promoters, insulators and silencers. This resource represents the first attempt at a comprehensive annotation of cis-regulatory elements in a metazoan genome.
- Nicolas Nègre
- , Christopher D. Brown
- & Kevin P. White
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News |
Seed banks susceptible to sham samples
Genetic analysis calls into question the authenticity of older cultivars in seed collections.
- Virginia Gewin
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Article |
Mapping copy number variation by population-scale genome sequencing
Harnessing information from whole genome sequencing in 185 individuals, this study generates a high-resolution map of copy number variants. Nucleotide resolution of the map facilitates analysis of structural variant distribution and identification of the mechanisms of their origin. The study provides a resource for sequence-based association studies.
- Ryan E. Mills
- , Klaudia Walter
- & Jan O. Korbel
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News |
The birthday candles in your veins
DNA artefacts from white blood cells offer forensic clues to a person's age.
- Ewen Callaway
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News & Views |
Enter the rat
Advances in stem-cell technology have broken the barrier to gene targeting in mammals other than mice. A wide array of research opportunities now opens up, especially in studies involving the laboratory rat.
- F. Kent Hamra
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Article |
Integrating common and rare genetic variation in diverse human populations
Here, the analysis of 'HapMap 3' is reported — a public data set of genomic variants in human populations. The resource integrates common and rare single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and copy number polymorphisms (CNPs) from 11 global populations, providing insights into population-specific differences among variants. It also demonstrates the feasibility of imputing newly discovered rare SNPs and CNPs.
- David M. Altshuler
- , Richard A. Gibbs
- & Jean E. McEwen
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Research Highlights |
Genetics: Where pain lives
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Letter |
Convergent evolution of chicken Z and human X chromosomes by expansion and gene acquisition
Birds and mammals have distinct sex chromosomes: in birds, males are ZZ and females ZW; in mammals, males are XY and females XX. By sequencing the chicken Z chromosome and comparing it with the human X chromosome, these authors overturn the currently held view that these chromosomes have diverged little from their autosomal progenitors. The Z and X chromosomes seem to have followed convergent evolutionary trajectories, despite evolving with opposite systems of heterogamety.
- Daniel W. Bellott
- , Helen Skaletsky
- & David C. Page
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Review Article |
Nuclear reprogramming to a pluripotent state by three approaches
- Shinya Yamanaka
- & Helen M. Blau
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News |
Biologists tackle cells' identity crisis
DNA fingerprinting scheme aims to make sure researchers are working on the right cells.
- Alla Katsnelson
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News |
Fruitfly larvae smell the light
Genetic tweak fools flies into mistaking light for unpleasant odours.
- Lucas Laursen
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News |
Plastics hamper DNA assays
Chemicals leaching from lab plastic throw off results.
- Alla Katsnelson