GoKawiilThe organs might begin a role in the immune system after egg production stops. Plus, precise gene-editing of human embryos and a game to terraform Mars.
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A human embryo ‘base edited’ so that it can’t produce a key protein (right), fails to form the mass of cells that gives rise to tissues and organs. A non-edited embryo (left) shows the cells (cyan). Credit: Katarina Harasimov, Oliver Bower and Kathy Niakan, Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research, Univ. Cambridge
For the second time this month, researchers have used base editing — a precise gene-editing technique — to alter the DNA of human embryos. The team found that a key protein called NANOG plays a part in embryo development that had not been seen in mouse studies. The finding highlights the need to study human embryos rather than relying on animal models, says developmental biologist Janet Rossant. But it has also renewed the urgency of ethical discussion over how base editing of embryos should be used.
Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Nature paper
The United States has historically led other nations in peppering the ocean with monitoring instruments and supporting cutting-edge oceanography research. Now cuts and threats of cuts have researchers worried it is no longer a reliable partner. The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has pulled back from a plan to dismantle an array of hundreds of marine instruments known as the Ocean Observatories Initiative. But another programme facing immediate crisis is a network of robotic floats dedicated to marine biogeochemistry, funded by the NSF and part of a global flotilla called Argo.
Nature | 5 min read
After the ovaries ramp down their reproductive role, releasing eggs and sex hormones, they might become more important to the immune system. Evidence from people and mice suggest that genes and proteins associated with immune activity are more active and prevalent in postreproductive ovaries — though it’s unclear whether it's a beneficial change. “We really owe it to women’s health to study this period of time,” says reproductive biologist and study co-author Francesca Duncan.
Science | 7 min read
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