DNA

A group of academic institutions has granted a license for SHERLOCK, the highly-sensitive, low-cost CRISPR-based diagnostic, for commercial uses in the developed world, while reserving rights to enable its broad use by organizations to serve developing nations as well as unmet public health needs in the developed world.

Academic institutions grant commercial license for CRISPR-based SHERLOCK diagnostic technology in developed world

Rights are protected for broad use in developing world and for public health needs.

March 21, 2019

MIT engineers have developed a way to deliver genes to the chloroplasts of plant cells. In these images, mesophyll cells (right) and epidermal cells (left) in an arugula leaf have been engineered to express a yellow fluorescent protein in their chloroplasts. Cell walls are stained red and chloroplasts are stained blue.

An easier way to engineer plants

MIT-led team uses nanoparticles to deliver genes into plant chloroplasts.

February 25, 2019

At left, photoreceptor cells of the retina have undergone severe damage after treatment with an alkylating agent. This damage is exacerbated by the DNA repair enzyme Aag. At right, photoreceptor cells lacking Aag appear normal following treatment with the alkylating agent.

Why too much DNA repair can injure tissue

Overactive repair system promotes cell death following DNA damage by certain toxins, study shows.

February 12, 2019

MIT researchers found that when they halted cell division in human fibroblast cells, they became abnormally large and then entered a non-dividing state known as senescence (right panel). Untreated, normal-sized fibroblasts are shown at left.

Biologists answer fundamental question about cell size

The need to produce just the right amount of protein is behind the striking uniformity of sizes.

February 7, 2019

Crystal structure of Cas12b (purple) bound to RNA (gold) and DNA (brown).

Scientists engineer new CRISPR platform for DNA targeting

CRISPR team harnesses new Cas12b enzyme for use in eukaryotic cells, adding to the CRISPR toolbox.

January 22, 2019

Researchers have discovered that full-length introns — that is, those that have been cut out but remain otherwise intact — can persist and carry out useful biological functions.

Revising the textbook on introns

Whitehead Institute researchers uncover a group of introns in yeast that possess surprising stability and function.

January 16, 2019

MIT and Arizona State University researchers have created a computer program that can translate drawings of arbitrary shapes into two-dimensional structures made of DNA.

DNA design that anyone can do

Computer program can translate a free-form 2-D drawing into a DNA structure.

January 3, 2019

An MIT team has discovered that the small molecule ppGpp (red) binds to the PurF enzyme (subunits shown in green and purple).

Engineering "capture compounds" to probe cell growth

Researchers develop a method to investigate how bacteria respond to starvation and to identify which proteins bind to the “magic spot” — ppGpp.

December 17, 2018

Cells have evolved to produce the components of their multi-protein complexes in precise ratios.

Tracking the footprints of protein synthesis

Researchers refine a method to quantify protein production, show that the precision with which bacteria and eukaryotes tune their gene expression is remarkably similar.

December 14, 2018

MIT engineers have devised a way to create 3-D nanoscale objects by patterning a larger structure with a laser and then shrinking it. This image shows a complex structure prior to shrinking.

Team invents method to shrink objects to the nanoscale

It’s not quite the Ant-Man suit, but the system produces 3-D structures one thousandth the size of the originals.

December 13, 2018

An enzyme encircles the double helix to repair a broken strand of DNA.

The long and short of CDK12

A new study linking RNA processing to DNA repair may open new avenues to cancer therapy.

November 30, 2018

The researchers (left to right), Joseph Jacobson, a professor of media arts and sciences and head of the Molecular Machines research group, and graduate students in the Media Lab, Pranam Chatterjee and Noah Jakimo.

New CRISPR tool opens up more of the genome for editing

Enzyme can target almost half of the genome’s “ZIP codes” and could enable editing of many more disease-specific mutations.

October 24, 2018

MIT biological engineers have devised a way to regulate the expression of RNA once it gets into cells, giving them precise control over the dose of protein that a patient receives, as shown in this conceptual image.

This RNA-based technique could make gene therapy more effective

Biological engineers design RNA circuits that enable precise control over the dose of therapeutic protein a patient receives.

October 16, 2018

Kevin Esvelt directs the Sculpting Evolution Group at MIT Media Lab

Taming “information hazards” in synthetic biology research

Cryptography techniques to screen synthetic DNA could help prevent the creation of dangerous pathogens, argues Professor Kevin Esvelt.

October 4, 2018

Four GapR subunits assemble as a dimer-of-dimer complex, forming a clamp around overtwisted DNA, which arises during DNA replication and transcription.

Detangling DNA replication

Researchers identify an essential protein that helps enzymes relax overtwisted DNA so each strand can be copied during cell division.

September 17, 2018

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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