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Gene editing extends lifespan in mouse model of prion disease

Broad Institute

The treatment, which uses base editing to make a single-letter change in DNA, reduced levels of the disease-causing prion protein in the brain by as much as 60 percent. When I received my genetic test report in 2011, the world had never heard of base editing. The findings appear in Nature Medicine.

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A Visual Guide to Genome Editors

Codon

Certain CRISPR components can add short DNA sequences from the genomes of defeated viruses into the bacterium’s own genome, creating a type of protective “memory.” If the same virus invades the cell a second time, the gRNA’s spacer sequence will bind to the matching viral DNA sequence, then be cut by the Cas protein.

DNA
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PRITELIVIR MESYLATE

New Drug Approvals

Key Aspects of Pritelivir Mesylate Synthesis: Targeted Mechanism: Pritelivir mesylate inhibits the herpes simplex virus by targeting the viral helicase-primase complex, essential for DNA replication, unlike traditional antivirals that target DNA polymerase. First-line treatment is generally acyclovir or its prodrug valacyclovir.

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Evolved prime editors are smaller and more efficient for therapeutic applications

Broad Institute

Their new editors are more efficient and specialized than previous versions, and are able to modify DNA in cultured cells and in animals that have been difficult to edit, including in immune system cells and inside the brain. In the new work, they focused on improving the heart of the prime editing system—the reverse transcriptase.

DNA
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DNA Analysis Finds New Target for Diabetes Drugs

NIH Director's Blog: Drug Development

Credit: Jane Ades, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH Type 2 diabetes (T2D) tends to run in families, and over the last five years the application of genomic technologies has led to discovery of more than 60 specific DNA variants that contribute to risk. Plenge RM, Scolnick EM, Altshuler D. Nat Rev Drug Discov.

DNA
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Phages could help to tackle antimicrobial resistance

Drug Target Review

In an infected animal, cGAS senses viral DNA in cytoplasm whilst in an uninfected organism, DNA is confined in the nucleus. Bacteria must take a different approach as they do not have nuclei and if CBASS reacted to the presence of DNA, it would cause autoimmunity or the bacterium to attack itself, Banh said. Phages in nature.

RNA
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TEST: The Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research - History

Broad Institute

Together, our researchers and collaborators have harnessed and advanced DNA mapping and sequencing technologies, and have assembled the world’s largest collection of DNA samples in psychiatric research — including samples for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, other psychiatric disorders, and healthy control samples.