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Nanorobot hand made of DNA grabs viruses for diagnostics and blocks cell entry

Science Daily: Pharmacology News

A tiny, four-fingered 'hand' folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to infect them, researchers report.

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Ancient Viruses Might Be Spurring Modern-Day Cancers

Drugs.com

FRIDAY, July 19, 2024 -- Cancer growth can be fueled by flecks of ancient viral DNA lodged into the genetics of modern humans, a new study says.Overall, about 8% of the human genome is made of bits of DNA left behind by viruses that infected our.

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An ancient RNA-guided system could simplify delivery of gene editing therapies

Broad Institute

An ancient RNA-guided system could simplify delivery of gene editing therapies By Corie Lok February 27, 2025 Breadcrumb Home An ancient RNA-guided system could simplify delivery of gene editing therapies The programmable proteins are compact, modular, and can be directed to modify DNA in human cells.

RNA 66
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Using a Function-First “Scout Fragment”-Based Approach to Develop Allosteric Covalent Inhibitors of Conformationally Dynamic Helicase Mechanoenzymes

Covalent Modifiers

3c10581 Helicases, classified into six superfamilies, are mechanoenzymes that utilize energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to remodel DNA and RNA substrates. Kapoor Journal of the American Chemical Society 2024 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c10581 Therefore, helicases are important targets for chemical probes and therapeutics.

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Researchers engineer in vivo delivery system for prime editing, partially restoring vision in mice

Broad Institute

Williams January 8, 2024 Credit: Susanna Hamilton, Broad Communications Researchers have developed virus-like particles that can deliver gene-editing cargo to cells, including those in the mouse brain. Prime editing, described in 2019 by Liu’s group, can make longer and more diverse types of DNA changes than other types of editing.

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Chemoproteomics Identifies State-Dependent and Proteoform-Selective Caspase-2 Inhibitors

Covalent Modifiers

By combining both gel-based activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) and a tobacco etch virus (TEV) protease activation assay, we then identify covalent lead compounds that react preferentially with this cysteine and afford a complete blockade of caspase-2 activity.

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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.

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