Professor Kevin Braeckmans from Ghent University focused the last 10 years on a method for safe engineering of therapeutic cells with photothermal nanofibers. Today, Nature Nanotechnology gives insight in how these biocompatible photothermal nanofibers were developed, and how, upon laser irradiation, cells that come in contact with those nanofibers become permeabilized and can be transfected with a variety of effector molecules, including CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes and siRNA.
A new treatment for cotton seeds draws on beneficial microbes that live inside plants—much like the good bacteria in our own guts—to help the crops thrive in dry conditions.
The microbe-enhanced cotton, the first product from startup Indigo Agriculture, is already growing on 50,000 acres spread across five different states in the southern United States. Indigo CEO David Perry says the treatment increases yield as much as irrigation can. The company also today announced a new $100 million investment round that brought its venture funding total to $156 million.
