June 2024 · 6 Articles · Pages 201–282
June 2024
Open Access6 Articles · Pages 201–282
Patient-derived organoids have emerged as powerful models for studying tumor biology and drug response ex vivo. This review evaluates the current state of organoid technology in cancer research, covering advances in culture systems for colorectal, pancreatic, breast, and lung cancers. We critically discuss the limitations of organoid models, including the absence of immune and stromal components, and review emerging co-culture and microfluidic approaches designed to increase physiological relevance.
Early detection of Alzheimer's disease remains a critical unmet clinical need. We performed integrated analysis of transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data from cerebrospinal fluid and plasma samples of 200 participants in a longitudinal aging cohort. A multi-omics biomarker panel comprising six analytes achieved 91% sensitivity and 87% specificity for detecting preclinical Alzheimer's pathology up to five years before symptom onset, outperforming single-modality approaches.
Lake Malawi cichlids represent one of the most spectacular examples of adaptive radiation in vertebrates. We generated whole-genome sequences for 85 species spanning the major ecomorphological groups and performed analyses of selection, introgression, and structural variation. Our results reveal that ancient hybridization events contributed key regulatory variants that facilitated the rapid diversification of craniofacial and pigmentation phenotypes, providing a genomic mechanism for the explosive speciation observed in this system.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections pose a growing threat to public health, necessitating alternative therapeutic strategies. We engineered a panel of bacteriophages with expanded host range and enhanced lytic activity against clinical MRSA isolates using directed evolution and synthetic tail fiber engineering. In a murine wound infection model, phage treatment reduced bacterial burden by four log units and accelerated wound closure compared to vancomycin monotherapy, supporting the clinical potential of precision phage therapeutics.
We describe a high-throughput phenotyping platform that combines transparent gel-based growth systems with automated image analysis to quantify root architecture traits in Arabidopsis thaliana. The system processes up to 500 seedlings per day, extracting 14 morphological parameters including primary root length, lateral root density, and branching angle. Validation against manual measurements demonstrates high accuracy and reproducibility, enabling large-scale genetic screens for root development mutants.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding offers a non-invasive alternative to traditional amphibian surveys. We developed a cost-effective eDNA sampling and analysis protocol optimized for tropical freshwater systems, achieving species-level detection for 28 amphibian species at a fraction of the cost of conventional visual encounter surveys. Occupancy modeling with eDNA data closely matches abundance estimates from mark-recapture studies, validating this approach for long-term population monitoring programs.