Tag: dna

We know exactly how and why the DNA is in the Moderna and Pfizer vials

This past week has been epic for me. Not only did I have the extreme pleasure of volunteering alongside Kevin McKernan and Charles Rixey at Medicinal Genomics, but we have pretty much confirmed how the DNA is in the Moderna and Pfizer COVID shot vials.

Ages ago, when I was presenting the original findings that there was DNA in these vials, I was sleuthing how this happened by looking into the N1-methylpseudouridine modified RNA synthesis pathway as part of Process 2 manufacturing. Process 2 involved using a plasmid/E. coli system, don’t forget. And also don’t forget that this methodology was bait ‘n’ switched and was not safety tested.

N1-methylpseudouridine has a higher melting temperature than Uridine.1 (Higher thermal energy or specific enzymatic activity is required to disrupt base pairing.) What this means in terms of it binding a cognate base is that it will require a very high temperature to rip them apart. Either that, or it will require a specific enzyme. Two examples of such specific enzymes are RNase-H (in us) and RNase-XT (on bench). It is well-known in nerdy science circles that DNase1 – the enzyme the COVID shot manufacturers used to chop up the DNA for endpoint synthesis cleaning – does not work on DNA:RNA hybrids.

Keep reading

Hitler had hidden genetic sexual disorder, DNA analysis reveals

In May 1945, Allied soldiers wandered through Adolf Hitler’s Führerbunker in grim fascination, but one of them spotted a macabre opportunity.

Colonel Roswell P Rosengren of the US army, one of General Eisenhower’s press officers, fixed his eye on the sofa where the Nazi dictator had taken his own life.

He cut a piece of the blood-stained cloth and carried it home.

Eighty years on, that grisly memento has allowed scientists to do something extraordinary: they have sequenced Hitler’s DNA.

The biological design of the tyrant has been studied in detail, and the research will be covered in the Channel 4 documentary Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator, which will be broadcast on Saturday. The study has made astonishing revelations and raised tantalising questions.

There is a staggering insight into Hitler’s sexual development, an analysis of his ancestry and question marks over his neurodevelopmental and psychological condition. How these discoveries add to our understanding of history is up for debate.

The research will probably provoke controversy, both for its having been done and for its findings. What is clear is that if Hitler had seen these genes in anyone else, his verdict would have been unequivocal.

Professor Turi King, the lead geneticist on this research, said: “If he was to look at his own genetic results, he would have almost certainly have sent himself to the gas chambers.”

Keep reading

Tech billionaires back startup probing gene-edited ‘designer babies’ despite US ban: report

A Silicon Valley startup backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong is pursuing research that some fear could lead to the birth of a genetically engineered baby — a step that’s illegal under US law and banned in most countries, a report said.

The company, Preventive, says its goal is to end hereditary disease by editing human embryos before birth, a claim that has ignited fierce debate over safety, ethics and the specter of designer children, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Preventive, founded earlier this year by gene-editing scientist Lucas Harrington, has raised $30 million and set up headquarters in San Francisco, where it is conducting research on modifying embryos to prevent hereditary disease.

The company says its mission is to prove the technology can be made safe and transparent before any attempt to create a baby is made.

Altman and Armstrong are among the firm’s early investors, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Altman’s husband, Oliver Mulherin, said he led their investment, calling it an effort to help families avoid genetic illness.

Armstrong, who has publicly promoted embryo editing, posted that he was “excited” to back Preventive and argued it is far easier to correct a genetic defect in an embryo than to treat disease later in life.

But federal law prohibits the Food and Drug Administration from considering applications for human trials involving genetically edited embryos used to start pregnancies.

Keep reading

The Geometric Code: Genome’s 3D Shape Functions as the Living Computer that Enabled Complex Life

New research reveals the second language of the human genome – one not written in its chemical letters but in its physical shape.

Scientists have long thought of DNA as an instruction manual written in the four- chemical bases—A, C, T, and G—that make up the genetic code. The prevailing belief was that by decoding these sequences, we could unlock how cells and organisms fundamentally work. Now, research from Northwestern Engineering’s Vadim Backman reveals a second “language” of life: the “geometric code” embedded in the genome’s physical shape. Like a blueprint for making living microprocessors, the geometric code helps cells store and process information. 

“Rather than a predetermined script based on fixed genetic instruction sets, we humans are living, breathing computational systems that have been evolving in complexity and power for millions of years,” Backman said.

Backman is the Sachs Family Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medicine at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering, where he directs the Center for Physical Genomics and Engineering. He also is an associate director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University.

The study, led by Backman in collaboration with Igal Szleifer, Christina Enroth-Cugell Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering; Luay Almassalha, of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology within the Feinberg School of Medicine; and Kyle MacQuarrie, assistant professor of pediatrics within the department of hematology, oncology, and stem cell transplantation at Feinberg, titled “Geometrically Encoded Positioning of Introns, Intergenic Segments, and Exons in the Human Genome,” published Oct. 27 in Advanced Science, decodes this language, showing how cells can perform computations through the physical shape of their genomes.

Keep reading

Dinosaur egg unearthed in perfect condition after 70M years— and it could hold genetic material

It was in egg-cellent condition.

Argentine paleontologists found a real diamond in the rough after happening across a perfectly preserved 70-million-year-old dinosaur egg during an excavation.

“It was a complete and utter surprise,” Gonzalo Leonel Muñoz, a Vertebrate paleontologist at the Bernardo Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences, told National Geographic of the “spectacular” find. “‘It’s not uncommon to find dinosaur fossils, but the issue with eggs is that they are much less common.”

The team of paleontologists was reportedly conducting an excavation campaign in the fossil-rich region of Río Negro, when they stumbled across the primeval embryo.

While dinosaur eggs had been excavated in the area before, finding one this well-preserved was super rare.

Keep reading

First Peer-Reviewed Study Finds Direct Molecular Evidence of mRNA “Vaccine” Genomic Integration

For the first time in the peer-reviewed literature— we present direct molecular evidence that genetic material from a COVID-19 mRNA “vaccine” has integrated into the human genome.

In our sentinel peer-reviewed case report, Genomic Integration and Molecular Dysregulation in Aggressive Stage IV Bladder Cancer Following COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination—published in the International Journal of Innovative Research in Medical Science (John A. Catanzaro, Nicolas Hulscher, and Peter A. McCullough; a Neo7Bioscience–McCullough Foundation collaboration)—we describe a previously healthy 31-year-old woman who developed rapidly progressive stage IV bladder cancer within 12 months of completing a three-dose Moderna mRNA injection series.

Bladder cancer is exceedingly rare in young women, and such aggressive presentations are almost unheard of.

To investigate, we performed comprehensive multi-omic profiling, including plasma-derived circulating tumor DNA, whole-blood RNA, and urine exosome proteomics. What we uncovered was striking:

  • Direct genomic integration event: Within circulating tumor DNA, a host–vector chimeric read mapped to chr19:55,482,637–55,482,674 (GRCh38), in cytoband 19q13.42, positioned ~367 kb downstream of the canonical AAVS1 safe harbor and ~158 kb upstream of ZNF580 at the proximal edge of the zinc-finger (ZNF) gene cluster. This sequence aligned with perfect 20/20 bp identity to a segment (bases 5905–5924) within the Spike open reading frame (ORF) coding region (bases 3674–7480) of the Pfizer BNT162b2 DNA plasmid reference (GenBank accession OR134577.1).
  • Oncogenic driver hyperactivation (KRAS, NRAS, MAPK1, ATM, PIK3CA, SF3B1, CHD4) — unleashing uncontrolled proliferative and malignant signaling cascades.
  • Critical DNA repair pathway collapse (ATM, MSH2) — leaving the genome acutely vulnerable to instability, double-strand breaks, and catastrophic mutations.
  • Severe transcriptomic and proteomic disarray across plasma, blood, and urine biospecimens — consistent with systemic molecular breakdown.

Although the patient received only Moderna injections, the sequence aligned to Pfizer’s published BNT162b2 plasmid reference because Moderna has never deposited its proprietary plasmid in NCBI. Crucially, both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines encode the same prefusion-stabilized SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and therefore share identical stretches of nucleotide sequence within the Spike ORF coding region. It is within one of these conserved regions that the integration was captured, producing the perfect 20/20 bp match to the Pfizer reference.

Keep reading

‘Alien’ DNA found inside humans — it was inserted into our genes, bonkers new study claims

Is it the invasion of the genome snatchers?

Just in case the idea of aliens walking around in human skin suits wasn’t frightening enough. An outlandish study asserts that aliens might have abducted us and inserted genes into human DNA, with the fallout affecting potentially millions of people.

“Humanity may be undergoing genetic transformation,” lead researcher Dr. Max Rempel, the founder and CEO of the DNA Resonance Research Foundation, told the Daily Mail of the study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed.

Rempel came to this far-fetched-seeming conclusion by analyzing DNA from both regular people and those who have claimed to have been abducted by aliens. This comes following a spike in UFO sightings over the last year, making many fear that we are on the verge of some not-so-friendly close encounters.

The scientist specifically analyzed 581 complete families from the 1,000 Genomes Project, discovering ‘large sequences’ of DNA in 11 families that didn’t appear to correspond to either family.

These genetic aberrations entailed a bundle of 348 non-parental genetic variants. As the subjects were born before 1990, this ruled out human gene-editing technologies like CRISPR, which only emerged in 2013.

Rempel also analyzed 23andMe results from individuals who self-identify as alien abductees, discovering that some families showed evidence of non-parental markers.

Keep reading

Immortal Monkeys? Not Quite, But Scientists Just Reversed Aging With ‘Super’ Stem Cells

In a discovery that may have profound impacts on aging, scientists in Beijing have taken a dramatic step toward what once seemed impossible: making old animals biologically young again. The study was published last month in the journal Cell.

By fortifying human stem cells with a gene long linked to longevity, they rejuvenated aged monkeys – improving memory, protecting bones, calming inflammation, and restoring youthful activity across dozens of organs.

The work, while still in animals, is among the most compelling demonstrations yet that aging in primates might be reversible.

The Science Behind the Breakthrough

At the heart of the study are mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) – a type of stem-like cell found in bone marrow and connective tissues. These cells act as the body’s maintenance crew, capable of turning into bone, cartilage, fat, and muscle cells, while also secreting factors that help nearby tissues repair themselves.

But like all cells, MPCs age with us and eventually succumb to senescence  a state of permanent retirement. Senescent cells don’t divide anymore. Worse, they pump out inflammatory molecules, scar tissue signals, and other “toxic chatter” that accelerate aging in neighboring cells. In effect, senescent cells spread decline.

Upgrading the Repair System with FoxO3

To overcome this exhaustion, researchers turned to FoxO3, a protein known as a longevity gene regulator. In healthy young cells, FoxO3 acts like a switchboard operator, turning on DNA repair pathways, antioxidant defenses, and stress-resistance programs. In older cells, FoxO3 activity wanes – leaving them vulnerable to damage.

Hydra, a freshwater organism capable of regenerating indefinitely, rely heavily on FoxO to keep their stem cells active. Humans share this same protein, and genetic studies link variants of FOXO3 to exceptional longevity in people.

Keep reading

Scientists make embryos from human skin DNA for first time

US scientists have, for the first time, made early-stage human embryos by manipulating DNA taken from people’s skin cells and then fertilising it with sperm.

The technique could overcome infertility due to old age or disease, by using almost any cell in the body as the starting point for life.

It could even allow same-sex couples to have a genetically related child.

The method requires significant refinement – which could take a decade – before a fertility clinic could even consider using it.

Experts said it was an impressive breakthrough, but there needed to be an open discussion with the public about what science was making possible.

Reproduction used to be a simple story of man’s sperm meets woman’s egg. They fuse to make an embryo, and nine months later a baby is born.

Now scientists are changing the rules. This latest experiment starts with human skin.

The Oregon Health and Science University research team’s technique takes the nucleus – which houses a copy of the entire genetic code needed to build the body – out of a skin cell.

This is then placed inside a donor egg that has been stripped of its genetic instructions.

So far, the technique is like the one used to create Dolly the Sheep – the world’s first cloned mammal – born back in 1996.

However, this egg is not ready to be fertilised by sperm as it already contains a full suite of chromosomes.

You inherit 23 of these bundles of DNA from each of your parents for a total of 46, which the egg already has.

So the next stage is to persuade the egg to discard half of its chromosomes in a process the researchers have termed “mitomeiosis” (the word is a fusion of mitosis and meiosis, the two ways cells divide).

Keep reading

FDA Considering Independent Evaluation for DNA Contamination in COVID-19 Vaccines

The Food and Drug Administration is mulling over conducting its own evaluation of the levels of DNA in COVID-19 vaccines, an FDA official has disclosed.

“I’ll say that that is something that’s being discussed,” Dr. Tracy Hoeg, a senior adviser to the FDA’s commissioner, told members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel on Sept. 19.

Before the panel’s members unanimously recommended during the meeting that the CDC roll back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, a number expressed concerns about growing evidence of higher-than-allowed levels of DNA in the vaccines, the spreadofthevaccinebeyond the injection site, and the long-term persistence of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)—a key part of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots.

The CDC has described mRNA as the entity teaching cells how to make copies of the spike protein to enable protection when the real virus, with its own spike protein, attacks the body. “After the mRNA delivers the instructions, your cells break it down and get rid of it,” a CDC graphic states.

Retsef Levi, chair of the advisory panel’s COVID-19 immunization workgroup, showed the graphic during the meeting.

“We have a range of things on the mRNA platforms that really suggests that it doesn’t work as intended,” Levi said, citing issues such as the spread of spike protein and mRNA into various parts of the body and “DNA contamination.”

Keep reading