New York University (NYU)

A strip of paper can now indicate presence of pathogens, tumor DNA, or any genetic signature of interest. 100-fold greater sensitivity, the ability to detect multiple targets at once, and other new features further enhance SHERLOCK’s power for detecting genetic signatures. The team that first unveiled the rapid, inexpensive, highly sensitive CRISPR-based diagnostic tool called SHERLOCK has

Hot spots of mercury pollution in aquatic sediments and soils can contaminate local food webs and threaten ecosystems, but cleaning them up can be expensive and destructive. Researchers from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and the University of Maryland Baltimore County have found a new low-cost, nonhazardous way to reduce the risk of exposure: using

Future applications for ARLCRS could include applying paint and coatings, inspecting aircraft, and performing basic maintenance and repair tasks. Carnegie Mellon University‘s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) and Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) of Johnstown, Pa., are working with the Air Force Research Laboratory andOgden Air Logistics Center 309 AMXG to develop and demonstrate a robotic system that uses high-powered lasers to remove

In a paper to be published in Unmanned Systems, a group of researchers have discovered that a navigation algorithm proposed by Baddeley et al. is able to allow MAVs to find their way back to an earlier visited location fairly quickly and efficiently, allowing it to function more similar to a flying insect. Here’s a riddle an

Penn State scientists have discovered a novel drug target and have rescued functional deficits in human nerve cells derived from patients with Rett Syndrome, a severe form of autism-spectrum disorder. The research, led by Gong Chen, professor of biology and the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences at Penn State, could lead to a

Image via Wikipedia Unique Triggering Device Delivers Antitumor Drugs Nine years ago, scientists at Cedars-Sinai’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute detected a subtle shift occurring in the molecular makeup of the most aggressive type of brain tumors, glioblastoma multiforme. With further study, they found that a specific protein called laminin-411 plays a major role in a

A UNSW Sydney-led team of scientists has made an advance that could eventually lead to a cure for sickle cell anaemia and other blood disorders. By introducing a beneficial natural mutation into blood cells using the gene-editing technique CRISPR, a UNSW Sydney-led team of scientists has been able to switch on production of foetal haemoglobin – an

Using a technique that creates a new nanoscale architecture, researchers have created an aluminum alloy just as strong as steel but with reasonable plasticity to stretch and not break under stress. Importantly, the technique of creating these nanostructures can be used on many different types of metals and the team plans to work on strengthening

By switching ‘bait,’ IU biologists trick plants’ bacterial defense into attacking virus Scientists at Indiana University have modified a plant gene that normally fights bacterial infection to confer resistance to a virus. The method, described in a paper to be published Feb. 12 in the journal Science, is the first time a plant’s innate defense