Stem cells were the pioneering force behind the new wave of personalized medicine of the last decade, while CRISPR and other gene-editing techniques have come to revolutionize gene therapy and the treatment of genetic diseases. It had to happen that they would eventually join forces. A new study has used gene-edited stem cells to revert…

Since we were kids (unless under the spell of a creationist education), we have been told that genetics is the reason for the colour of our eyes, our hair, our height and whether we look more like mum or dad. In the last few years, it might seem to many that gene association studies have…

One of the biggest difficulties of bringing new therapeutic methods into clinical practice is targeted delivery. A recent study published in Nature Medicine shows the potential of using a gel for topical gene therapy. Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa is a genetic disease that affects proper skin formation. The affected people have an extremely fragile skin,…

So far, contraception has been practically exclusive to women. They are the ones not only responsible for the matter but also the ones to suffer the brunt of the side effects of current contraceptive methods. Arrdc5, a new gene identified in mice might hold the key to male contraception. This gene, common to several mammal…

Humans are not the only animals with a taste for alcohol. It has been described in different animals in the wild, especially mammals, that they do like to eat overripe fermented fruit, and with it experience similar effects to the ones we are all familiar with. It turns out that some mammals cannot take their…

When you think about DNA, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the double helix popularized by Watson and Crick (discovered by Rosalind Franklin). However, in the 90s scientists identified a particular conformation in DNA molecules in vitro (in a tube): single chain knot-like loops that they called i-motifs. These structures form because…