Technical Challenges of Utilizing Ground Tire Rubber in Asphalt Pavements in the United States.

At least 275 million scrap tires exist in stockpiles in the U.S. The practice of dumping scrap tires in landfills has been an environmental concern.

NHEJ-Mediated Repair of CRISPR-Cas9-Induced DNA Breaks Efficiently Corrects Mutations in HSPCs from Patients with Fanconi Anemia.

Non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) is the preferred mechanism used by hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to repair double-stranded DNA breaks and is particularly increased in cells deficient in the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway. Here, we show feasible correction of compromised functional phenotypes in hematopoietic cells from multiple FA complementation groups, including FA-A, FA-C, FA-D1, and FA-D2. NHEJ-mediated repair of targeted CRISPR-Cas9-induced DNA breaks generated compensatory insertions and deletions that restore the coding frame of the mutated gene.

Utility of two SMN1 variants to improve spinal muscular atrophy carrier diagnosis and genetic counselling.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by deletions/mutations in SMN1. Most heterozygous SMA carriers have only one SMN1 copy in one of the alleles (1/0 carriers). However, a few carriers lack SMN1 in one of their chromosomes, but present two gene copies in the other.

Correlation between SMA type and SMN2 copy number revisited: An analysis of 625 unrelated Spanish patients and a compilation of 2834 reported cases.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disorder caused by loss or mutations in SMN1. According to age of onset, achieved motor abilities, and life span, SMA patients are classified into type I (never sit), II (never walk unaided) or III (achieve independent walking abilities). SMN2, the highly homologous copy of SMN1, is considered the most important phenotypic modifier of the disease.