mammalian cells

(Northwestern University) A team of Northwestern University researchers has introduced the power of nanodiamonds as a novel gene delivery technology that combines key properties in one approach: enhanced delivery efficiency along with outstanding biocompatibility.

The researchers engineered surface-modified nanodiamond particles that successfully and efficiently delivered DNA into mammalian cells.

The delivery efficiency was 70 times greater than that of a conventional standard for gene delivery. The new hybrid material could impact many facets of nanomedicine.

New tools are now available for generating specifically targeted genetic mutations in bacteria, mammalian cells and mice.

The new recombinase, Dre, is similar to its predecessor, Cre, but targets unique sites within DNA for recombination.

It may be used in combination with currently available methods to produce more complex mouse models to understand disease.

"Aldehyde tags" are used to label proteins in bacterial recombinant-DNA systems -- and now in proteins that can only be expressed by mammalian systems.

While some recombinant drugs like insulin are made in bacterial systems, most have to be produced by mammalian cells.

Aldehyde tags direct chemical modifications to specific sites on proteins, including monoclonal antibodies and other therapeutics important in the pharmaceutical industry.