Researchers use #machine_learning modeling tools to improve #zinc_finger #nuclease #editing technology.
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-machine-tools-zinc-finger-nuclease.html
Genome editing is making inroads into biomedical research and medicine. By employing biomolecule modeling tools, a Japanese research team is accelerating the pace and cutting the cost of zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology, a primary gene editing tool.
Being able to control not just what genes exist in a genome, but also how those genes are expressed is critical to biological research, including agricultural disease resistance research.
UCLA and Danforth Center scientists have used an older method of DNA manipulation (zinc finger nucleases) to block a cassava gene exploited by the cassava bacterial blight pathogen.
#Agriculture #ZFN #Genomics #Biology #Scicomm #Cassava #Epigenetics #Epigenome #Methylation
Activating the expression of host susceptibility (S) genes is one of the strategies plant pathogens employed to promote infection of their host. Here, the authors show that targeted methylation at the TAL20 effector binding element of the cassava SWEET10a gene lead to resistance to Xanthomonas phaseoli.