Tag Archives: Transcription factor

DNA Based Medical Device inserted into bacterial cell

Scientists hope that one day in the distant future, miniature, medically-savvy computers will roam our bodies, detecting early-stage diseases and treating them on the spot by releasing a suitable drug, without any outside help. To make this vision a reality, computers must be sufficiently small to fit into body cells. Moreover, they must be able to “talk” to various cellular systems. These challenges can be best addressed by creating computers based on biological molecules such as DNA or proteins. The idea is far from outrageous; after all, biological organisms are capable of receiving and processing information, and of responding accordingly, in a way that resembles a computer.

GLOBAL VIEW OF BLOOD CELL DEVELOPMENT REVEALS THE PATH OF PROGRESSION

A small pool of stem cells replenishes the human body with about 200 billion new blood cells daily. But the elaborate circuitry that determines if a cell will develop into a T cell, red blood cell, or one of the nine or more other blood cell types remains largely unknown. A research team led by scientists from the Broad Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has taken a systematic approach to help decipher this circuitry, compiling a comprehensive catalog of the factors that determine a blood cell’s fate. Their work appears in the January 21 issue of Cell.