News & Commentaries

College Station, TX, USA – During the past decade, the gene editing tool CRISPR has transformed biology and opened up hopeful avenues to correct deadly inherited diseases. Now, the first human clinical trials using CRISPR have begun in the hopes of curing diseases by taking damaged cells out of patient and repairing and replacing them.

Groningen, The Netherlands – The surface on which cells are grown can affect their properties. Scientists have used molecular motors, which rotate when irradiated with light, to change the structure of a protein layer on which stem cells were seeded. These stem cells, derived from bone marrow, can form different cell types or they can remain stem cells. The movement of the motors primed the stem cells to transform more efficiently into bone cells. This technique could be used to dynamically control cellular behaviour on surfaces and create complex cell layers and tissues with different cell types by changing the properties of the protein layer at specific places.

Los Angeles, CA, USA – UCLA researchers are part of an international team that reported the use of a stem cell gene therapy to treat nine people with the rare, inherited blood disease known as X-linked chronic granulomatous disease, or X-CGD. Six of those patients are now in remission and have stopped other treatments. Before now, people with X-CGD – which causes recurrent infections, prolonged hospitalizations for treatment, and a shortened lifespan – had to rely on bone marrow donations for a chance at remission.

Cambridge, MA, USA – When Marie Antoinette was captured during the French Revolution, her hair reportedly turned white overnight. In more recent history, John McCain experienced severe injuries as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War — and lost color in his hair.