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Mice born to two dads: how much is true?

2023-03-18T18:29:11+01:0018 March 2023|Categories: Medicine and Research|Tags: , , |

According to the latest news, everything seems possible for genetic engineering, also procreation by beings of the same sex. The news of the birth of offspring from two fathers was recently reported in several newspapers. But how much truth is there in this news? It is really possible to give birth to a life from the natural mating of two male beings? As told by the biologist Katsuhiko Hayashi on the occasion of the conference dedicated to genome editing in London, his team in the laboratory at Kyushu University in Japan generated new lives from two same-sex parents using a model of [...]

The genetic profile in male infertility

2022-04-25T10:54:34+02:0024 April 2022|Categories: Medicine and Research|Tags: , , |

Over the last 20 years we have witnessed a decrease in the birth rate also due to a decrease in fertility, as demography shows. In fact, an increase in the percentage of aging is estimated by 2050 worldwide. According to the data, one in five couples cannot procreate naturally. The reasons could be many, but, among these, it affects a lot than in the last 30 years, the average age of conception in both sexes has increased by almost 10 years and lifestyles have changed to the point of damaging fertility. Often, mistakenly, they tend to [...]

Unexpected mutations in gene editing

2022-02-08T18:59:56+01:008 February 2022|Categories: Medicine and Research|Tags: , , |

Many of you will have already heard of CRISPR-Cas9, the so-called molecular scissors that serve to modify the DNA of many organisms. This technique has represented a revolution in the field of genetic engineering in recent years due to its ability to "cut and sew" a specific DNA sequence to make corrections in target genes. So much so that it has opened new avenues and new possibilities for gene therapy, that is, the possibility of treating or preventing diseases by intervening directly on the patient's genome. But how advanced are these techniques today? And what are the risks? The use of CRISPR which created more [...]

Mario Capecchi, from the street to the Nobel Prize

2022-01-21T16:44:09+01:0020 January 2022|Categories: Curiosity|Tags: , , , , |

alicemosconi, as well as a model to inspire all those people who want to make science their mission. In the interviews he has given, he presents himself as a humble man, although the incredible goals achieved, and does not deny his difficult childhood, at the time of war and misery. It is striking that he calls himself one "good student, but not serious" back in school and that in high school he was more interested in sports (especially wrestling), than to study. alicemosconi [...]

On the tracks of oncoviruses with Renato Dulbecco

2024-07-26T23:19:17+02:009 December 2021|Categories: Medicine and Research|Tags: , , , |

Certainly, nowadays, hunting for viruses may not seem like the best of ideas but, for Renato Dulbecco, following step by step the Polyomavirus was the solution to understand how some of these pathogens are capable of inducing the formation of tumors. We are talking about the category of oncoviruses, today responsible for about 1 tumor on 6 in the world, and that among its ranks includes the Papillomavirus (cause of cervical cancer), Hepatitis B and C (which instead attack the liver). Dulbecco discovered that the integration of the viral genome with that of the host is responsible for the generation of tumors, [...]

The epigenetic supersimilarity of monozygotic twins

2021-07-14T21:41:06+02:0014 July 2021|Categories: Medicine and Research|Tags: , , |

Monozygotic twins are identical individuals born from the fertilization of a single egg cell from a sperm that have the same genetic makeup. The common elements between two identical twins do not only concern genetics but also involve epigenetics, that is the set of molecular mechanisms that regulate the expression of genes without modifying the DNA. A type of epigenetic modification studied in twins is methylation which consists in the addition of a methyl group (-CH3) to a nitrogenous base. Through the study of metastable epialleles (ME), epigenetic variants set up in the early embryo and maintained during subsequent cell differentiation, it was possible to observe that [...]

The genetics of roses

2021-07-09T17:40:23+02:008 July 2021|Categories: Nature|Tags: , , |

Roses are the most widely grown ornamental plants in the world, also important from an economic point of view in the cosmetic industry. The ornamental features, the therapeutic and cosmetic value have contributed to its domestication but the evolution of the Rosa genus is very complex. The genus Rosa, belonging to the Rosaceae family, contains approximately 200 species, many of which are polyploid, that is, they have multiple chromosomal sets, but only from 8 all 20 species are involved in the cultivation of hybrid roses (Rosa hybrida), among these there is a very important Chinese species known as "Rosa chinensis". These crossings gave birth to the "Rosa tea", [...]

DNA come biomateriale

2021-07-02T16:22:46+02:001 July 2021|Categories: Medicine and Research|Tags: , , , |

Our genetic instructions are invaluable: DNA not only determines who we are, but it can also be used in medicine for gene therapy. It's not all: looking at it from a structural and physical point of view, a team of biotechnologists and materials physicists has developed the so-called "DNA hydrogels", antigenico. These can be used in various biomedical applications: in the formulation of drugs, in gene therapy and cell therapy approaches. DNA as a biomaterial shows qualities such as biocompatibility and biodegradability, that [...]

Rice production with CRISP-Cas9

2021-07-14T13:13:05+02:0021 March 2020|Categories: Medicine and Research, Technology|Tags: , |

CRISPR-Cas9 is a gene editing technique capable of modifying the genome or the complex of genes of a cell. It works like a molecular scissor that can cut and stitch DNA very precisely, eliminating harmful sequences or replacing them and correcting the mutations present. To date, this technique has been used in various fields ranging from biology to agriculture and indeed, a group of scientists used the CRISPR system to be able to increase rice production in some areas of Africa, subject to adverse weather conditions. The study carried out by some researchers of the University of Milan together with the University of [...]

The Sapiens brain: The Sapiens brain!

2022-02-10T19:13:21+01:006 February 2018|Categories: Medicine and Research, No Category|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

The Sapiens brain, The Sapiens brain. The Sapiens brain, The Sapiens brain, The Sapiens brain, The Sapiens brain. The Sapiens brain (The Sapiens brain) of specimens of various species of Homo: The Sapiens brain, indeed, The Sapiens brain [Note 1], and therefore indirectly deduce behavioral traits e [...]

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