The human body has been making antivirals for eons, long before scientists did. A protein in your cells called viperin produces molecules that work similarly to the COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir.
The same amino acid can be encoded by anywhere from one to six different strings of letters in the genetic code.
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Many of the amino acids that make up proteins are encoded by genetic material in more than one way. An information theorist explains how principles of nature may account for this variance.
Phosphorus is the most elusive element crucial for life as we know it – and we now have the first evidence there’s some available in the oceans of Enceladus.
New gene therapies are helping to treat certain forms of inherited blindness.
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Making sure RNA molecules are in the right place at the right time in a cell is critical to development and normal function. Researchers are figuring out exactly how they get to where they need to go.
Maybe the first life on Earth was part of an ‘RNA world.’
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Fossil evidence of how the earliest life on Earth came to be is hard to come by. But scientists have come up with a few theories based on the microbes, viruses and prions existing today.
Pox virus illustration.
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Robert Langer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Moderna co-founder Robert Langer developed the process that made COVID-19 vaccines possible. He spoke about his journey helping develop the science for various lifesaving treatments.
All COVID-19 tests start with a sample, but the scientific process goes very differently after that.
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The two types of COVID-19 tests – antigen and PCR – work in very different ways, which is why one is fast but less accurate and the other is slow and precise.
UV light at most wavelengths can kill COVID–19.
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UV lights come in a variety of different wavelengths, but not all are equally effective at disinfection. Researchers tested a number of commercially available lights to find the best.
Gene silencing drugs target the underlying causes of a disease, rather than the symptoms it causes.
The huge number of active coronavirus infections offers plenty of opportunity for mutations to occur and new variants to arise.
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When the coronavirus copies itself, there is a chance its RNA will mutate. But new variants must jump from one host to another, and the more infections there are, the better chance this will happen.
mRNA technologies for vaccine production is gaining more prominence
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Thanks to the collaborative efforts of governments, funding agencies, academia, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, large-scale manufacturing of mRNA drug products is becoming a reality.
Effective delivery of PNA therapies may offer a way to treat multidrug-resistant infections and other diseases.
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Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health threats in the world. New research, however, may have found a way to keep up with rapidly evolving bacteria.
The subtleties of how genes are transcribed into RNA molecules like the one depicted here are key to understanding the inner workings of cells.
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Shang Gao, University of Illinois Chicago and Jalees Rehman, University of Illinois Chicago
Machine learning is great at finding patterns but doesn’t know what those patterns mean. Combine it with knowledge gained from genetic research and you have a powerful view into the workings of cells.
Some long non-coding RNAs make it easier for cancer cells to multiply.
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