91桃色

The prestigious science journal Nature has published a research conducted by scientists at 91桃色 (VU) Life Sciences Center. The study 鈥淭ransposon-associated TnpB is a Programmable RNA-guided DNA Endonuclease鈥� explained the role of the TnpB protein in the activity of mobile genetic elements and showed that those proteins could be applied in practice as new tools for genome editing.

This is the first time that one of the most respected scientific journals in the world Nature published an article by a team of exclusively Lithuanian scientists. To date, Nature has published publications by thirteen Lithuanian scientists, most of them in collaboration with foreign authors.

Nature publishes only 8% of the proposed articles, and research is selected based on its originality, importance, interdisciplinarity, relevance, accessibility, elegance, and unexpected findings.

According to one of the authors of this publication Prof. Virginijus 艩ik拧nys, the article answers several important questions scientists have long been looking to answer.

鈥淢any, I hope, have heard of the 鈥淒NA scissors鈥� used for targeted genome editing. Proteins called 鈥淒NA scissors鈥� are commonly associated with CRISPR systems, but so far it has not been clear where they come from. Bioinformatics scientists have predicted that 鈥淒NA scissors鈥� may be derived from the TnpB protein, which is linked to mobile genetic elements. To date, however, neither the TnpB function nor the relationship with CRISPR systems has been experimentally demonstrated,鈥� Prof. V. 艩ik拧nys said.

The team of VU scientists showed for the first time that the TnpB protein, linked to mobile genetic elements called transposons, acts as an RNA-programmable nuclease that can cleave DNA, i.e., TnpB acts as 鈥淒NA scissors鈥� independent of CRISPR systems. These experiments not only proposed for the first time a possible new function of TnpB in transposition but also experimentally confirmed the hypothesis that the TnpB protein associated with mobile genetic elements is the ancestor of DNA scissors.

鈥淥ur study not only answers very general biological questions, such as what is the function of the TnpB protein in the activity of mobile elements of the genome but also establishes that those proteins could be put into practice as new tools for genome editing. These proteins are much smaller than commonly used genome editing tools, which has the advantage of being easier to carry into cells, which is especially important when it comes to treating hereditary genetic diseases,鈥� Prof. V. 艩ik拧nys said.

鈥淭his is an important event for all of us, especially for young scientists, as many of them start their careers with a publication in the journal Nature, which is the highest-ranking science journal in the world. I am really glad that all the authors of this publication are from the VU Life Sciences Center, and this once again shows that Lithuanian scientists can successfully compete internationally,鈥� the scientist said.

All the authors of the publication carry out or have carried out activities at the Institute of Biotechnology of the VU Center for Life Sciences: Dr. Tautvydas Karvelis, senior researcher; Gytis Druteika, doctoral student, junior researcher, laboratory assistant; Greta Bigelyt臈, doctoral student, junior researcher, biologist; Karolina Budr臈, former researcher at the Institute of Biotechnology; Rimant臈 沤edaveinyt臈, laboratory assistant, biologist; Dr. Ar奴nas 艩ilanskas, senior researcher; Dr. Darius Kazlauskas, senior researcher; Dr. 膶eslovas Venclovas, distinguished professor, chief researcher; Virginijus 艩ik拧nys, distinguished professor, chief researcher.

VU Vice-Rector for Science Prof. Edita Su啪ied臈lien臈 states that the publication in the scientific journal Nature is another proof that VU conducts world-class research.

鈥淚n recent years, researchers at the VU Life Sciences Center have received a number of prestigious international awards, articles by scientists or teams of scientists working in the center have been published in Science, Cell, Nature groups and other prestigious scientific journals.

This proves that the research carried out by our researchers competes with the research carried out in the best universities and research centers in the world, and the research results and new knowledge are extremely important for the global scientific community,鈥� Prof. E. Su啪ied臈lien臈 said.