Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Biologists Train AI to Generate Medicines and Vaccines

Scientists have developed artificial intelligence software that can create proteins that may be useful as vaccines, cancer treatments, or even tools for pulling carbon pollution out of the air.

New Programmable Gene Editing Proteins Found Outside of CRISPR System

Within the last decade, scientists have adapted CRISPR systems from microbes into gene editing technology, a precise and programmable system for modifying DNA. Now, scientists have discovered a new class of programmable DNA modifying systems called OMEGAs (Obligate Mobile Element Guided Activity), which may naturally be involved in shuffling small bits of DNA throughout bacterial genomes.

AI and Brain Computer Interface Allows Paralyzed Users to Text

The combination of mental effort and state-of-the-art technology have allowed a man with immobilized limbs to communicate by text at speeds rivaling those achieved by his able-bodied peers texting on a smartphone.

CRISPR-Based COVID-19 Test Uses Smartphones Cameras to Spot Virus RNA

Identifying and isolating individuals who may be contagious with the coronavirus is key to limiting the spread of the disease. But even months into the pandemic, many patients are still waiting days to receive COVID-19 test results.

Spotlight Therapeutics $30M Funding for Non-viral CRISPR Gene Editing

Spotlight Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing non-viral gene editing therapeutics for direct in vivo editing of target genes, closed its Series A financing bringing the total raised to $30 million.

Genome Editing with Precision

Prime editing system offers wide range of versatility in human cells, correcting disease-causing genetic variations

CRISPR Enzyme Programmed to Kill Viruses in Human Cells

Many of the world's most common or most deadly human pathogens are RNA-based viruses — Ebola, Zika, and flu, for example — and most have no FDA-approved treatments. A team led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has now turned a CRISPR RNA-cutting enzyme into an antiviral agent that can be programmed to detect and destroy RNA-based viruses in human cells.

Scientists engineer new CRISPR platform for DNA targeting

CRISPR team harnesses new Cas12b enzyme for use in eukaryotic cells, adding to the CRISPR toolbox.

Scientists modify CRISPR to epigenetically treat diabetes

Salk scientists have created a new version of the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology that allows them to activate genes without creating breaks in the DNA, potentially circumventing a major hurdle to using gene editing technologies to treat human diseases.

Engineers use deep learning to reconstruct holograms

A form of machine learning called deep learning is one of the key technologies behind recent advances in applications like real-time speech recognition and automated image and video labeling.

Robotic system monitors specific neurons

Recording electrical signals from inside a neuron in the living brain can reveal a great deal of information about that neuron's function and how it coordinates with other cells in the brain.

Cracking the code of facial recognition

Friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances—how does the brain process and recognize the myriad faces we see each day? New research shows that the brain uses a simple and elegant mechanism to represent facial identity. The findings suggest a not-too-distant future in which monitoring brain activity can lead to a reconstruction of what a person is seeing.

How CRISPR proteins find their target

Researchers have discovered how Cas1-Cas2, the proteins responsible for the ability of the CRISPR immune system in bacteria to adapt to new viral infections, identify the site in the genome where they insert viral DNA so they can recognize it later and mount an attack.

Equipping insects for special service

The smallest aerial drones mimic insects in many ways, but none can match the efficiency and maneuverability of the dragonfly. Now, engineers are creating a new kind of hybrid drone by combining miniaturized navigation, synthetic biology and neurotechnology to guide dragonfly insects.