Featured
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Article
| Open AccessEngineering intelligent chassis cells via recombinase-based MEMORY circuits
The unification of decision-making, communication, and memory would enable the programming of intelligent biotic systems. Here, the authors achieve this goal by engineering E. coli chassis cells with an array of inducible recombinases that mediate diverse genetic programs.
- Brian D. Huang
- , Dowan Kim
- & Corey J. Wilson
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Article
| Open AccessSpyMask enables combinatorial assembly of bispecific binders
Bispecific antibody architecture is often important for function but rarely optimized. Here, authors present a modular approach to assemble bispecifics in varied formats using a SpyTag/SpyCatcher approach called SpyMask, and build anti-HER2 bispecifics whose activities depend on binder orientation and bispecific geometry.
- Claudia L. Driscoll
- , Anthony H. Keeble
- & Mark R. Howarth
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Article
| Open AccessTargeted metagenomics reveals association between severity and pathogen co-detection in infants with respiratory syncytial virus
The impact of other pathogens on disease outcome was studied in European infants with RSV infection. Additional viruses were commonly co-detected during infection but were weakly linked to severity. However, presence of Haemophilus bacteria strongly associated with severe cases.
- Gu-Lung Lin
- , Simon B. Drysdale
- & Andrew J. Pollard
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Article
| Open AccessHighly sensitive spatial transcriptomics using FISHnCHIPs of multiple co-expressed genes
Leveraging the fact that eukaryotic genomes are organized into gene modules, FISHnCHIPs images multiple co-expressed genes simultaneously for sensitive and high throughput profiling of gene programs and cell types in tissues.
- Xinrui Zhou
- , Wan Yi Seow
- & Kok Hao Chen
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Article
| Open AccessProinflammatory polarization of engineered heat-inducible macrophages reprogram the tumor immune microenvironment during cancer immunotherapy
Alternatively activated macrophages have a pivotal role in resolving inflammation but in the tumour microenvironment they are immunosuppressive. Here author show that adoptively transferred engineered macrophages harbouring a heat-inducible genetic switch can resist the polarizing effect of the tumour microenvironment, and do not only remain pro-inflammatory themselves but also re-polarise the endogenous macrophages upon controlled warming with a purpose-made device.
- Yanan Xue
- , Xiaojie Yan
- & Yuan Ping
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Article
| Open AccessBiosynthesis of the highly oxygenated tetracyclic core skeleton of Taxol
Despite intensive investigation, stepwise reactions from diol to Taxol tetracyclic core skeleton remain unclear. Here, authors fill this gap by identifying two P450s and confirming the reaction order.
- Chengshuai Yang
- , Yan Wang
- & Zhihua Zhou
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Article
| Open AccessCRISPR-powered quantitative keyword search engine in DNA data storage
Targeting the files containing content-of-interest is a challenge in DNA data storage. Here, the authors develop a CRISPR-powered search engine to quantitatively identify the keyword in files stored in DNA.
- Jiongyu Zhang
- , Chengyu Hou
- & Changchun Liu
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Article
| Open AccessA citric acid cycle-deficient Escherichia coli as an efficient chassis for aerobic fermentations
While tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) is required for heterotrophic microbes, it reduces carbon yield of industrial products due to the release of excess CO2. Here, the authors construct an E. coli strain without a functional TCA cycle and demonstrate its feasibility as a chassis strain for production of four separate compounds.
- Hang Zhou
- , Yiwen Zhang
- & Baixue Lin
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Article
| Open AccessAdvancing the scale of synthetic biology via cross-species transfer of cellular functions enabled by iModulon engraftment
Machine learning applied to large compendia of transcriptomic data has enabled the decomposition of bacterial transcriptomes to identify independently modulated sets of genes. Here the authors present iModulon-based engineering for precise identification of genes for cross-species function transfer to streamline synthetic biology for strain development and biomanufacturing.
- Donghui Choe
- , Connor A. Olson
- & Bernhard O. Palsson
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Article
| Open AccessEdible mycelium bioengineered for enhanced nutritional value and sensory appeal using a modular synthetic biology toolkit
Fungi have the potential to produce sustainable foods for a growing population, but current products are based on a small number of strains with inherent limitations. Here, the authors develop genetic tools for an edible fungus and engineer its nutritional value and sensory appeal for alternative meat applications.
- Vayu Maini Rekdal
- , Casper R. B. van der Luijt
- & Jay D. Keasling
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Article
| Open AccessEngineered dityrosine-bonding of the RSV prefusion F protein imparts stability and potency advantages
Here the authors describe a stabilization technology that engineers crosslinks between tyrosine sidechains into a natively folded vaccine immunogen and show that immunogenicity is improved in small animal models by locking the most potently neutralizing epitopes.
- Sonal V. Gidwani
- , Devarshi Brahmbhatt
- & Mark A. Yondola
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Article
| Open AccessHarnessing whole human liver ex situ normothermic perfusion for preclinical AAV vector evaluation
Developing clinically predictive model systems for evaluating gene transfer and gene editing technologies has become increasingly important. This study introduces human liver ex situ normothermic perfusion as a model to evaluate gene therapy vectors, paving the way for advanced liver disease treatment.
- Marti Cabanes-Creus
- , Sophia H. Y. Liao
- & Leszek Lisowski
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Article
| Open AccessRepurposing CRISPR-Cas13 systems for robust mRNA trans-splicing
The ability to edit large stretches of mRNA transcripts remains a significant challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate that CRISPR-Cas13 systems can be repurposed to assist trans-splicing of exogenous RNA fragments into an endogenous pre-mRNA transcript, a method termed CRISPR Assisted mRNA Fragment Trans-splicing (CRAFT).
- David N. Fiflis
- , Nicolas A. Rey
- & Aravind Asokan
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Article
| Open AccessCharting cellular differentiation trajectories with Ricci flow
When stem cells develop into tissues intracellular signalling is rewired, errors in this process lead to cancer. Here, authors applied tools from differential geometry made by Albert Einstein’s General Relativity to understand and predict biological network rewiring in health and disease.
- Anthony Baptista
- , Ben D. MacArthur
- & Christopher R. S. Banerji
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Article
| Open AccessPHEIGES: all-cell-free phage synthesis and selection from engineered genomes
Bacteriophages have great potential in both medicine and biotechnology. Here the authors present PHEIGES, a cell-free method for phage genome engineering, synthesis and selection based on T7, which allows direct selection of engineered and mutant phages without compartmentalization.
- Antoine Levrier
- , Ioannis Karpathakis
- & Vincent Noireaux
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Article
| Open AccessInhalation of ACE2-expressing lung exosomes provides prophylactic protection against SARS-CoV-2
Inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 interaction with ACE2 is a promising antiviral strategy. Here, the authors show that exosomes derived from human lung spheroid cells expressing hACE2 accumulate in the lung following prophylactic inhalation to bind and neutralize SARS-CoV-2 and protect mice from SARS-CoV-2-induced disease.
- Zhenzhen Wang
- , Shiqi Hu
- & Ke Cheng
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Article
| Open AccessBASALT refines binning from metagenomic data and increases resolution of genome-resolved metagenomic analysis
Binning is an essential step in genome-resolved metagenomic analysis in which assembled contigs originating from the same source population are clustered. However it is challenging, especially for low abundance microbial species. Here the authors introduce a toolkit that integrates multiple prominent binning tools and AI for efficient and high-resolution recovery of non-redundant bins from short- and long-read metagenomic sequencing datasets.
- Zhiguang Qiu
- , Li Yuan
- & Ke Yu
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Article
| Open AccessdCas13-mediated translational repression for accurate gene silencing in mammalian cells
Current gene silencing tools can have drawbacks. Here the authors report CRISPRδ, an approach for translational silencing, harnessing catalytically inactive Cas13 proteins (dCas13): they also show that fusion of a translational repressor to dCas13 further improved the performance.
- Antonios Apostolopoulos
- , Naohiro Kawamoto
- & Shintaro Iwasaki
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Article
| Open AccessSpatially selective delivery of living magnetic microrobots through torque-focusing
The delivery of therapeutic payloads and living vectors to tumors remains a clinical challenge. Here the authors explore a spatially targeted control strategy applying torque density to magnetotactic bacteria, demonstrating feasibility in vitro and in vivo.
- Nima Mirkhani
- , Michael G. Christiansen
- & Simone Schuerle
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Article
| Open AccessInterrogations of single-cell RNA splicing landscapes with SCASL define new cell identities with physiological relevance
RNA splicing serves as a critical layer of gene expression regulation. Here, authors introduce SCASL for investigating the heterogeneity of RNA splicing landscapes at single-cell resolution, offering a novel scheme for classifying cell identities with physiological relevance.
- Xianke Xiang
- , Yao He
- & Xuerui Yang
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Article
| Open AccessAcidity-activatable upconversion afterglow luminescence cocktail nanoparticles for ultrasensitive in vivo imaging
Activatable afterglow luminescence nanoprobes reduce unspecific signals and improve imaging fidelity, but their utility is limited by a requisition of donor-acceptor distance (>10 nm) in common biomarker-activatable designs. Here, the authors address this issue by developing organic afterglow luminescence cocktail nanoparticles for acid-activatable upconversion afterglow luminescence imaging.
- Yue Jiang
- , Min Zhao
- & Qingqing Miao
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Article
| Open AccessDeepETPicker: Fast and accurate 3D particle picking for cryo-electron tomography using weakly supervised deep learning
Picking particles of biological macromolecules is critical for solving their structures in situ using cryo-electron tomograms. Here, authors develop DeepETPicker, a deep learning-based tool for fast, accurate, and automated picking of three-dimensional particles.
- Guole Liu
- , Tongxin Niu
- & Ge Yang
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Article
| Open AccessEnhancing prime editor activity by directed protein evolution in yeast
Compared to traditional Cas9 nucleases prime editors (PEs) are less active. Here the authors use OrthoRep, a yeast-based platform for directed protein evolution to enhance the editing efficiency of PEs: they identify mutations that have a positive effect on kinetics and use this knowledge to generate an efficient in vivo PE.
- Yanik Weber
- , Desirée Böck
- & Gerald Schwank
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Article
| Open AccessBioengineered amyloid peptide for rapid screening of inhibitors against main protease of SARS-CoV-2
The main protease (Mpro) plays a crucial role in the replication of SARS-CoV-2, thereby making it an attractive target for COVID-19 treatment. Here, the authors develop a colorimetric screening platform for discovering Mpro inhibitors using engineered amyloid peptide-based nanocomplexes.
- Dongtak Lee
- , Hyo Gi Jung
- & Dae Sung Yoon
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Article
| Open AccessCas9-assisted biological containment of a genetically engineered human commensal bacterium and genetic elements
Engineered biosensing bacteria can potentially probe the human gut microbiome to prevent, diagnose, or treat disease. Here the authors present a robust biocontainment assisted by Cas9 and an engineered gene expression control combined in a genetically engineered human commensal bacterium that successfully functioned in a mouse intestinal tract as well as cell culture condition.
- Naoki Hayashi
- , Yong Lai
- & Timothy K. Lu
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Article
| Open AccessBiosensor and machine learning-aided engineering of an amaryllidaceae enzyme
Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, such as the Alzheimer’s medication galantamine, are currently extracted from low-yielding daffodils. Here, authors pair biosensor-assisted screening with machine learning-guided protein design to rapidly engineer an improved Amaryllidaceae enzyme in a microbial host.
- Simon d’Oelsnitz
- , Daniel J. Diaz
- & Andrew D. Ellington
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Article
| Open AccessRectifying artificial nanochannels with multiple interconvertible permeability states
Transmembrane channels have inspired the development of biomimetic channels. Here, the authors present a class of artificial nanochannels based on DNAzyme-functionalized glass nanopipettes to allow for the control of channel permeability.
- Ruocan Qian
- , Mansha Wu
- & Yi Lu
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Article
| Open AccessFully bioresorbable hybrid opto-electronic neural implant system for simultaneous electrophysiological recording and optogenetic stimulation
Bioresorbable neural implants offer a promising solution to the challenges of secondary surgeries required for the removal of implanted devices. Here, the authors introduce a fully bioresorbable flexible hybrid opto-electronic system for simultaneous electrophysiological recording and optogenetic stimulation.
- Myeongki Cho
- , Jeong-Kyu Han
- & Ki Jun Yu
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Article
| Open AccessDevelopment of ISB 1442, a CD38 and CD47 bispecific biparatopic antibody innate cell modulator for the treatment of multiple myeloma
Rational antibody engineering can greatly improve the clinical value of therapeutic antibodies. Here authors describe ISB 1442, a fully human bispecific antibody, consisting of two targeting modules against two different epitopes on CD38, combined with a targeting module blocking CD47 and engineered effector properties, to enhance complement dependent cytotoxicity, antibody dependent cells cytotoxicity and antibody dependent cell phagocytosis to combat multiple myeloma.
- C. Grandclément
- , C. Estoppey
- & S. Sammicheli
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Article
| Open AccessNanopore analysis of cis-diols in fruits
Fruits contain a large variety of cis-diols but their rapid and direct analysis without complex sample pretreatment was not achieved. Here, the authors report a Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A nanopore modified with a phenylboronic acid adapter for recognition of 1,2-diphenols, alditols, α-hydroxy acids and saccharides in fruits.
- Pingping Fan
- , Zhenyuan Cao
- & Shuo Huang
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Article
| Open AccessA humanized mouse model for adeno-associated viral gene therapy
All natural AAV serotypes transduce murine hepatocytes more efficiently than their human counterparts in human liver chimeric mouse models. Here the authors developed a novel humanized mouse were human transduction of AAV can be studied.
- Mercedes Barzi
- , Tong Chen
- & Karl-Dimiter Bissig
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Article
| Open AccessDynamic control of DNA condensation
Artificial biomolecular condensates are valuable tools to study the design principles of phase separation. Here, the authors demonstrate and characterize a model system of artificial DNA condensates whose kinetic formation and dissolution depends on DNA inputs that activate or deactivate the phase separating DNA subunits.
- Siddharth Agarwal
- , Dino Osmanovic
- & Elisa Franco
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Article
| Open AccessA genomic toolkit for winged bean Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
Winged bean is a tropical legume that can produce similar level of seed protein to soybean. Here, the authors report the genome assembly, population genetics, QTL mapping of the plant architecture, protein content and phytonutrients for this species.
- Wai Kuan Ho
- , Alberto Stefano Tanzi
- & Sean Mayes
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Article
| Open AccessHigh-throughput barcoding of nanoparticles identifies cationic, degradable lipid-like materials for mRNA delivery to the lungs in female preclinical models
Identifying pulmonary delivery of lipid libraries poses an obstacle for mRNA drugs. Here, the authors use a barcoded screening system to identify lung-targeting of cationic, degradable lipid-like materials for mRNA delivery and gene editing in female preclinical models.
- Lulu Xue
- , Alex G. Hamilton
- & Michael J. Mitchell
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Perspective
| Open AccessCellular reprogramming as a tool to model human aging in a dish
The development of human cellular models of aging that surpass the limitations of animal models of aging is urgent. Here, the authors explore the opportunities and limitations of cellular reprogramming to create reliable aging in vitro models and their potential for the discovery of anti-aging compounds.
- Patricia R. Pitrez
- , Luis M. Monteiro
- & Lino Ferreira
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Article
| Open AccessSynthetic microbe-to-plant communication channels
The soil microbiome communicates with plant roots using a chemical language. Here, using p-coumaroyl-homoserine lactone as the synthetic communication signal, the authors demonstrate programmable microbe-to-plant communication from the sender in the soil bacteria to a receiver in the plant.
- Alice Boo
- , Tyler Toth
- & Christopher A. Voigt
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Article
| Open AccessCryo-EM structure of cell-free synthesized human histamine 2 receptor/Gs complex in nanodisc environment
The study describes the molecular structure of the human histamine 2 receptor in active conformation and in complex with Gs heterotrimer, synthesized in a cell-free system and co-translationally inserted into preformed nanodiscs.
- Zoe Köck
- , Kilian Schnelle
- & Frank Bernhard
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Article
| Open AccessAutomatic data-driven design and 3D printing of custom ocular prostheses
Manual processes to produce ocular prostheses are time-consuming and yield varying quality. Here, authors present an automatic digital end-to-end process for custom ocular prostheses. It creates shape and appearance from image data of an OCT device and produces them using a full-colour 3D printer.
- Johann Reinhard
- , Philipp Urban
- & Mandeep S. Sagoo
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Article
| Open AccessscCircle-seq unveils the diversity and complexity of extrachromosomal circular DNAs in single cells
Extrachromosomal circular DNAs (eccDNAs) affect gene expression and tumour progression. Here, the authors report a method, scCircle-seq, for eccDNA profiling in single cells, demonstrating the stochasticity, cell type specificity, and dynamics of eccDNAs in cell lines and primary tumour samples.
- Jinxin Phaedo Chen
- , Constantin Diekmann
- & Nicola Crosetto
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Article
| Open AccessChemoenzymatic indican for light-driven denim dyeing
Conventional blue denim dyeing has both environmental and health-related consequences. Here, Bidart et al. use enzyme engineering to develop a viable method for the bulk production of indican and demonstrate dying processes which could significantly reduce the negative consequences of this billion-dollar industry.
- Gonzalo Nahuel Bidart
- , David Teze
- & Ditte Hededam Welner
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Article
| Open AccessIn situ combinatorial synthesis of degradable branched lipidoids for systemic delivery of mRNA therapeutics and gene editors
Branched ionizable lipids have aroused great interest for mRNA delivery. Here, the authors devise an in situ construction method for combinatorial synthesis of degradable branched ionizable lipids and summarize key design criteria to enable potent delivery of mRNA therapeutics and gene editors.
- Xuexiang Han
- , Junchao Xu
- & Michael J. Mitchell
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Article
| Open AccessEngineering self-deliverable ribonucleoproteins for genome editing in the brain
The delivery of CRISPR RNPs has potential advantages over other genome editing approaches, including reduced off-target editing and reduced immunogenicity. Here the authors report self-deliverable Cas9 RNPs capable of robustly editing cultured cells in vitro and the mouse brain upon direct injections.
- Kai Chen
- , Elizabeth C. Stahl
- & Jennifer A. Doudna
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Article
| Open AccessDeciphering the mechanism of glutaredoxin-catalyzed roGFP2 redox sensing reveals a ternary complex with glutathione for protein disulfide reduction
Fusion proteins between roGFP2 and glutaredoxins are used for intracellular redox measurements. Here, the authors determined all rate constants of the reaction cycle for roGFP2 measurements and identified an alternative glutaredoxin mechanism.
- Fabian Geissel
- , Lukas Lang
- & Marcel Deponte
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Article
| Open AccessStatistical method scDEED for detecting dubious 2D single-cell embeddings and optimizing t-SNE and UMAP hyperparameters
2D visualisation of single-cell data is highly impacted by the hyperparameter setting of the 2D embedding method, such as t-SNE and UMAP. Here, authors develop a statistical method scDEED to detect dubious cell embeddings and optimise the hyperparameter setting for trustworthy visualisation.
- Lucy Xia
- , Christy Lee
- & Jingyi Jessica Li
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Article
| Open AccessPhage-assisted evolution of highly active cytosine base editors with enhanced selectivity and minimal sequence context preference
Existing TadA-derived CBEs exhibit residual A•T-to-G•C editing activity and suffer from lower activity at several sequence contexts and with non-SpCas9 targeting domains. Here, the authors use phage-assisted evolution to evolve CBE6 variants that address these limitations.
- Emily Zhang
- , Monica E. Neugebauer
- & David R. Liu
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Article
| Open AccessRapid deep learning-assisted predictive diagnostics for point-of-care testing
A key aim in the development of diagnostic assays is improving diagnostic speed while maintaining sensitivity. Here the authors report an approach for the rapid and accurate analysis of lateral flow tests, which integrates time-series deep learning and AI verification, achieving a diagnostic time of 1-2 minutes.
- Seungmin Lee
- , Jeong Soo Park
- & Jeong Hoon Lee
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Article
| Open AccessUltrasound-activated piezo-hot carriers trigger tandem catalysis coordinating cuproptosis-like bacterial death against implant infections
Implantation-associated infections often lead to infections. Here, the authors propose a piezo-based nanoreactor to achieve US-excited tandem catalysis, endowing the polyetherketoneketone bone scaffold with on-demand antibacterial and osteogenic capacities.
- Yanli Huang
- , Xufeng Wan
- & Duan Wang
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Article
| Open AccessscCASE: accurate and interpretable enhancement for single-cell chromatin accessibility sequencing data
Single-cell chromatin accessibility sequencing (scCAS) data suffers from high sparsity and dimensionality. Here, authors propose an accurate and interpretable computational framework for enhancing scCAS data that considers cell-to-cell similarity.
- Songming Tang
- , Xuejian Cui
- & Shengquan Chen
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Article
| Open AccessIncreased CO2 fixation enables high carbon-yield production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid in yeast
CO2 fixation plays an important role to make bioproduction cost competitive. Here, the authors take 3-hydroxypropionic acid as an example to showcase how to achieve high carbon yield production through increasing the accessible bicarbonate, minimizing native CO2 release and avoiding carbon waste.
- Ning Qin
- , Lingyun Li
- & Zihe Liu
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