Featured Findings:

• There’s More Than One Way to Age. How Are You Doing it? 
  • Most of us think we know what aging looks and feels like, but scientists at Stanford are cataloging far subtler signs of biological aging using biomarkers to help define what it means, at a microscopic level, to age. Read more

• CRISPR System’s Optimized Guides Can Target RNA, Including Coronavirus RNA
  • Researchers have developed a machine learning–based predictive model to expedite identification of the most effective Cas13 guide RNAs, which will enable researchers to design the most effective guide RNAs that avoid off-target activity. This model is particularly valuable now, as the COVID-19 coronavirus contains RNA, not DNA. Read more

• The Importance of Gene Position for Muscle Development and Integrity 
  • The C. elegans model is used to study mutations in the nuclear structural protein lamin A, which produce rare, tissue-specific diseases called laminopathies. By inducing a human laminopathy in C. elegans, not only did they understand the molecular basis of the disease, they found a way to counteract the dominant defects of the mutation, suggesting a novel therapeutic pathway. Read more

• Census’ in the Zebrafish’s Brain
  • Scientists have found that, following a brain injury, zebrafish are able to form new neurons and integrate them into the nervous system, which is the reason for their brain regeneration ability. This is comparable to humans and other mammals and will likely play a major role in future regeneration studies. Read more