By Susanna Stroik
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The Retroviridae (commonly called retrovirus) family — of which HIV is a member — may seem like an unlikely candidate to use as a viral vector, but retroviruses have been developed into some of the most widely used tools in molecular biology. “Retroviruses” is an umbrella term ...
In order to understand the complex wiring of the brain and the underpinnings of neurological disease, neuroscientists need to be able to probe cells and circuits without disrupting normal brain function. Chemogenetics has become a popular tool in the field as it provides a ...
The calcium is strong here….I can sense it….sound like a plot to an biology scifi movie? Or maybe it’s a biosensor?! You can do more than just ‘sense’ biological compounds and reactions; you can quantify them with biosensors! In this blog we will review the basics of biosensors ...
In 2005, Boyden et al. described the first light-activated tool for controlling neuronal activity, channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), a blue light-activated cation channel, from the archaebacteria Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. When exposed to blue light, this channel activates neuronal ...
Viruses have become a regular part of basic biological research as well as clinical therapy. These biological tools are useful because they’re derived from viruses that can infect people, cells, and animals. Some of these viruses are completely inert, but others can cause ...
There are a lot of viruses out there – most of which we would all like to steer clear of! However, a subset of viruses are commonly used in the lab as tools and we all might benefit from getting to know them a little better. Here we will discuss the four most commonly used lab ...
Using AAV vectors in complex biological systems can be tricky at best, and downright infuriating at worst. While it is tempting to just dive right in and start injecting your virus, a successful AAV experiment starts with validation and optimization. Although there are different ...
