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[前沿资讯 ] AI-designed proteins tackle century-old problem — making snake antivenoms 进入全文
nature
Researchers have used artificial intelligence (AI) to develop proteins that can block the deadly effects of snake venom. They used a protein-design program called RFdiffusion to design ‘mini-binder’ proteins that attach to key regions of venom toxins to neutralize them. Mice injected with what would be a lethal dose of the venom all survived when given these mini-binders 15 minutes later.
[前沿资讯 ] Don’t fail to scale: seizing the opportunity of engineering biology 进入全文
英国上议院科学技术委员会
Engineering biology is a fast-developing field of science with exciting potential applications across many sectors. These range from medicine and manufacturing to materials and food, and from growing more resilient crops to cleaning up waste in the environment. Biotechnologies could allow us to replace fossil fuels as the basic feedstock for much of industrial production—this would be a significant step towards achieving net zero and a sustainable economy. Engineering biology involves the design and construction of new or modified organisms or molecules, based on those we find in nature. Recent technological developments, such as gene editing, as well as data analysis through machine learning, allow us to harness and even enhance biological processes. Developments in AI increasingly enable us to rewrite the “software” of our world. However, essential products often require “hardware”, too—new ways to shape the world around us. Engineering biology has the potential to provide this, moving atoms as well as bits. As the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Dame Angela McLean, told us, its beneficial uses “are not science fiction”— they are here now.
[学术文献 ] Orthogonal and multiplexable genetic perturbations with an engineered prime editor and a diverse RNA array 进入全文
Nature Communications
Programmable and modular systems capable of orthogonal genomic and transcriptomic perturbations are crucial for biological research and treating human genetic diseases. Here, we present the minimal versatile genetic perturbation technology (mvGPT), a flexible toolkit designed for simultaneous and orthogonal gene editing, activation, and repression in human cells. The mvGPT combines an engineered compact prime editor (PE), a fusion activator MS2–p65–HSF1 (MPH), and a drive-and-process multiplex array that produces RNAs tailored to different types of genetic perturbation. mvGPT can precisely edit human genome via PE coupled with a prime editing guide RNA and a nicking guide RNA, activate endogenous gene expression using PE with a truncated single guide RNA containing MPH-recruiting MS2 aptamers, and silence endogenous gene expression via RNA interference with a short-hairpin RNA. We showcase the versatility of mvGPT by simultaneously correcting a c.3207C>A mutation in the ATP7B gene linked to Wilson’s disease, upregulating the PDX1 gene expression to potentially treat Type I diabetes, and suppressing the TTR gene to manage transthyretin amyloidosis. In addition to plasmid delivery, we successfully utilize various methods to deliver the mvGPT payload, demonstrating its potential for future in vivo applications.
[前沿资讯 ] Potato Market in 2025: Balancing High Demand, Climate Challenges, and Production Shifts 进入全文
POTATOBUSINESS
预计到2025年，马铃薯加工业会继续保持增长势头，这背后有几大推手：消费者需求的日新月异、科技的日新月异，以及新兴市场的蓬勃兴起。现在大家越来越爱吃冷冻薯条、薯片和各种马铃薯零食，同时人们也更加追求低脂、低钠和非转基因，这使得全球马铃薯加工市场有望以每年超过5%的速度稳步前行，其中，亚太和北美地区将扮演举足轻重的角色。
[科研项目 ] Specialty Crops Secure USD 650 Million in Additional Funding for USDA Initiative 进入全文
National Potato Council (NPC)
The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s updates to the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) initiative, which includes an additional USD 650 million investment. Speciality crop growers across the U.S. are facing significant and unique challenges. The USDA’s MASC program represents an important step in aiding growers in their recovery from economic hardships. With the latest updates, including additional funding, increased payment limitations, and an extended application window, the USDA has recognized the critical need for enhanced support. These measures are expected to stabilize farms, strengthen the industry, and ensure the continued availability of domestically grown speciality crops, such as nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts, which are essential components of a balanced diet.
[学术文献 ] Repairing a deleterious domestication variant in a floral regulator gene of tomato by base editing 进入全文
Nature Genetics
Crop genomes accumulate deleterious mutations—a phenomenon known as the cost of domestication. Precision genome editing has been proposed to eliminate such potentially harmful mutations; however, experimental demonstration is lacking. Here we identified a deleterious mutation in the tomato transcription factor SUPPRESSOR OF SP2 (SSP2), which became prevalent in the domesticated germplasm and diminished DNA binding to genome-wide targets. We found that the action of SSP2 is partially redundant with that of its paralog SSP in regulating shoot and inflorescence architecture. However, redundancy was compromised during tomato domestication and lost completely in the closely related species Physalis grisea, in which a single ortholog regulates shoot branching. We applied base editing to directly repair the deleterious mutation in cultivated tomato and obtained plants with compact growth that provide an early fruit yield. Our work shows how deleterious variants have sensitized modern genotypes for phenotypic tuning and illustrates how repairing deleterious mutations with genome editing may allow predictable crop improvement.
