Weekly science reads: CRISPR, stem cells, cell size & space, more

Maybe we can use science as an escape from politics during the last week or so before the election? I hope so. Here are my weekly recommended reads. Several papers ended up relating to nucleus, cell and embryo size and space as well as chromatin, which is very interesting.

DNA origami, goniometers
Fig. 1h. “A mixture containing BurrH and goniometers (at a 10:1 molar ratio) is deposited on a gold quantifoil grid with an amino-graphene-oxide support. A cropped region from one of 15,658 micrographs is shown. Circles indicate typical bound BurrH (yellow circle) and unbound BurrH (white circle).” Scale bar, 100 nm. Aksel, et al. Nature Biotechnology, 2020.

Cell and chromatin biology pubs, media

CRISPR

bioRxiv preprint, Comprehensive deletion landscape of CRISPR-Cas9 identifies minimal RNA-guided DNA-binding modules

About that potential new human organ…

Tubarial salivary glands: A potential new organ at risk for radiotherapy. I teach histology including a lab with salivary glands so this, if real, would be a new addition to the course.

Knees

Why Don’t Runners’ Knees Fail More Often? Outside Online. In part I think this is because of the chondrogenic potential of the perichondrium, the capsule around the cartilage. But once a knee or other joint has an injury to cartilage then that’s not easily fixable so still not wise to over do it to the point of injury while running.

I did a post where I took a look at stem cells for knee arthritis and other arthritis and the data so far are not compelling. Not much has changed in the last few years. So do stem cells or PRP work for arthritis? Maybe, maybe not. It probably depends on the prep, the health care provider’s expertise, and the patient.

Congrats to the Robertson Investigators

Blast from the past

Only 4 months ago, but this may be useful now: Research lab ramp-up plan & real-world tips to lower COVID-19 risk.

Leave a Reply