Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Dr. Jennifer A. Doudna make history as the first all-female team to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their pioneering discovery of CRISPR-Cas9, a highly specific and efficient genome editing technology.
You can read the full article by Jean Paul and Amanda at the following link: How CRISPR Is Revolutionizing Our Study Of Complex Diseases, Like Alzheimer’s.
Vaccines have become one of the most discussed topics during the COVID-19 pandemic. From development to distribution, the whole world has their eyes on a new vaccine. However, promising new data has now brought common vaccines even to the forefront of discussion in the study of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). At the 2020 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference this week (#AAIC20), newly presented data shows how flu and pneumonia vaccines may lower the risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
To read the full article, click Here.
The Rose Hills Foundation Scholarships will be awarded to meritorious graduate students who meet the following criteria are pursuing a graduate degree in the life or natural sciences, or engineering; are U.S. Citizens; and whose permanent address is in Southern California and reside South of the Tehachapi Mountains. Only students with University cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or higher are considered.
Congratulations Morgan Coburn!
The journal Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, in celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the journal included a list of their 10 most accessed papers of the last year. A manuscript by UCI MIND researchers Hayk Davtyan, Morgan Coburn, David Cribbs, and Mathew Blurton-Jones made the list. Their article, “Testing a MultiTEP-based combination vaccine to reduce Aβ and tau pathology in Tau22/5xFAD bigenic mice” had been accessed by researchers more than 14,000 times! Congratulations to their team.
To read more, Dr. Davtyan spoke about the manuscript on page 7 of the Winter 2020 Newsletter.
Congratulations to Morgan Coburn and Amanda McQuade on their CNLM 2020 Graduate Student Awards! You can watch their presentations Here.
Human iPSC-derived microglia: A growing toolset to study the brain’s innate immune cells
Recent advances in the generation of microglia from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have provided exciting new approaches to examine and decipher the biology of microglia. As these techniques continue to evolve to encompass more complex in situ and in vivo paradigms, so too have they begun to yield novel scientific insight into the genetics and function of human microglia. As such, researchers now have access to a toolset comprised of three unique “flavors” of iPSC-derived microglia: in vitro microglia (iMGs), organoid microglia (oMGs), and xenotransplanted microglia (xMGs). The goal of this review is to discuss the variety of research applications that each of these techniques enables and to highlight recent discoveries that these methods have begun to uncover. By presenting the research paradigms in which each model has been successful, as well as the key benefits and limitations of each approach, it is our hope that this review will help interested researchers to incorporate these techniques into their studies, collectively advancing our understanding of human microglia biology.
The AAI Young Investigator Award was presented to Jessica Sanchez at the 17th Immunology Fair Symposium. Congratulations Jessica!
ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Foundation, Inc. advances science and technology in the United States by providing financial awards to academically outstanding U.S. citizens studying to complete degrees in science, engineering and medical research. It is ARCS Foundation’s belief that support of STEM education is essential to U.S. economic growth and technological competitiveness, and helps to ensure continued U.S. leadership in global innovation, health and quality of life.ARCS Scholar Awards are intended to recognize and reward UC Irvine’s most academically superior doctoral students exhibiting outstanding promise as scientists, researchers and leaders.
Novel Chimeric Rodent Model Yields Vital Information about Alzheimer’s
Scientists at the University of California, Irvine, report that they used a chimeric model to learn how key human brain immune cells respond to Alzheimer’s. By developing a way for these microglia to grow and function in mice, the team says researchers now have an unprecedented view of crucial mechanisms contributing to the disease.
The scientists, led by Mathew Blurton-Jones, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology & behavior, believe their findings also hold promise for investigating many other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. Their study (“Development of a Chimeric Model to Study and Manipulate Human Microglia in vivo”) appears in Neuron.
To read the full article, click Here.
University of California, Irvine researchers have made it possible to learn how key human brain cells respond to Alzheimer’s, vaulting a major obstacle in the quest to understand and one day vanquish it. By developing a way for human brain immune cells known as microglia to grow and function in mice, scientists now have an unprecedented view of crucial mechanisms contributing to the disease.
The team, led by Mathew Blurton-Jones, associate professor of neurobiology & behavior, said the breakthrough also holds promise for investigating many other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. The details of their study have just been published in the journal Neuron. Link to study: https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(19)30600-2.
To read the full article, click Here.
