BacterioFiles

370: Magnets Make Messenger More Moveable


Listen Later

This episode: Enhancing a virus with magnetic nanoparticles and CRISPR-Cas gene editing abilities makes it a good vector for genetic therapies!

Download Episode (11.2 MB, 12.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Staphylococcus virus S253

News item

Takeaways
Gene delivery, getting genetic content for gene therapy to the correct tissues in an organism, has long been a very tricky problem. And genetic modification, making specific changes at a specific place in a genome, is also difficult.

Viruses can help with both delivery and modification, but they're often not specific and targeted enough to be effective, or even safe. Off-target effects could be harmful or even deadly, potentially resulting in cancer.

In this study, a virus is modified with nanotechnology in the form of tiny magnets to allow humans to target it to specific tissues, and given the ability to modify specific genes using the bacterial CRISPR-Cas system. These modifications potentially make this gene delivery system much more safe and effective.

Journal Paper:
Zhu H, Zhang L, Tong S, Lee CM, Deshmukh H, Bao G. 2018. Spatial control of in vivo CRISPR–Cas9 genome editing via nanomagnets. Nat Biomed Eng.

Other interesting stories:

  • Bacteria found in hot, dry areas could have potentially useful industrial enzymes (paper)
  • Gut bacteria help regulate vitamin A activity in gut
  • Confined swimming bacteria form shifting vortex like clothes washer (paper)

 

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

BacterioFilesBy Jesse Noar

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

20 ratings


More shows like BacterioFiles

View all
MicrobeWorld Video by American Society for Microbiology

MicrobeWorld Video

28 Listeners

Meet the Microbiologist by Ashley Hagen, M.S.

Meet the Microbiologist

35 Listeners

This Week in Virology by Vincent Racaniello

This Week in Virology

2,048 Listeners

Microbios by Max Brito

Microbios

12 Listeners

This Week in Parasitism by Vincent Racaniello

This Week in Parasitism

454 Listeners

MicrobeWorld Video HD by American Society for Microbiology

MicrobeWorld Video HD

4 Listeners

MicrobeWorld Video (audio only) by American Society for Microbiology

MicrobeWorld Video (audio only)

4 Listeners

This Week in Microbiology by Vincent Racaniello

This Week in Microbiology

507 Listeners

Editors in Conversation by American Society for Microbiology

Editors in Conversation

24 Listeners