🧬 PubMed RNA Editing Daily Digest

Achieving stable, multiplexed, and affordable nucleic acid detection in a true one-pot format remains a long-standing challenge for molecular diagnostics. Here, we report PANDA, a photo-activated rolling circle amplification (RCA)-Argonaute (Ago) cascade that encodes a stringent molecular AND logic gate between optical activation and target RNA recognition to enable highly sensitive, programmable RNA detection. In this system, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation triggers photolysis of the precursor probe, simultaneously generating a 5'-phosphorylated DNA guide and circularizable padlock templates, while target RNA selectively initiates ligation and RCA. Signal generation occurs only upon convergence of these two orthogonal inputs, enforcing strict dual-input gating prior to Ago activation. Once engaged, Ago catalyzes continuous guide regeneration and sequence-directed reporter cleavage, producing signal boosting outputs within a single reaction vessel. The modular architecture further enables parallel assembly of multiple AND logic gates synchronized by a common optical trigger yet paired with distinct RNA targets, allowing controllable multichannel detection without physical compartmentalization. By integrating optochemical control with RCA-Ago-mediated catalytic turnover, PANDA establishes a streamlined, stable, and cost-efficient framework for logic-gated nucleic acid diagnostics and multiplexed RNA sensing.

Base editors have emerged as powerful tools for precise genome editing, offering significant therapeutic potential. A critical challenge lies in optimizing the delivery and dosage of single-guide RNA to maximize on-target editing efficiency while minimizing off-target and bystander effects. This study investigates the impact of guide RNA dosage on

CRISPR-based tools have quickly moved from specialist techniques to routine instruments in biology and medicine, and they are now central to large-scale loss-of-function and perturbation screens. In this review, we focus on how pooled CRISPR screens are used to interrogate gene function in living cells, most often through cell fitness or simple selectable markers, and contrast this with arrayed formats that trade throughput for richer molecular readouts, such as transcriptome-wide changes. We bring together current strategies for library design, delivery, and selection and show how different Cas nucleases, including Cas9, Cas12, and Cas13, broaden the range of genome and transcriptome perturbations that can be assayed. We then discuss recent applications in drug response, viral infection, and cancer biology and consider how improvements in high-content technologies, data analysis, and emerging diagnostic uses are likely to shape the next generation of CRISPR-based screening studies.

RNA editing is an important post-transcriptional modification of RNA. While transcriptional variation is a well-studied phenomenon in Plasmodium, post-transcriptional modifications, such as RNA editing, have not received as much scrutiny. We detected genome-wide RNA editing in a developmental stage-specific manner at 16 h, 24 h, 32 h, and 40 h of tightly synchronized P. falciparum 3D7 by using the RNA editing computational approaches REDItools1-De novo and REDItools2. REDItools1-De novo approach revealed extensive A-to-G, G-to-A, and T-to-C type variations in almost all stages. With the REDItools2 approach and screening, almost all editing events were observed in time-specific parasitic stages. G-to-A and C-to-T events were found at much higher levels. We observed significant differences in stage-specific RNA editing at 8-h intervals. RNA editing was observed at the ring 16 h stages of the parasites, reached a peak during the 32 h trophozoite stage, and declined at the 40 h schizont stage. Adenosine deaminase expression did not correlate with the editing level in a time-dependent manner. However, the expression of cytidine deaminase was found to be higher in the 16 h of the parasites, decreased as the parasite matured. Pathways associated with RNA editing- including RNA binding, nucleic acid binding and catalytic activity acting on RNA pathways were found to be downregulated at the 40 h stage. These findings suggest the presence of robust RNA editing machinery in Plasmodium, facilitating rapid base conversions within a short timeframe. Our results provide a foundation for identifying the Plasmodium RNA editing factors and their effect in the future research.

Cotton is regarded as a strategic agricultural commodity owing to its renewable and naturally derived fiber. With the escalating global demand for high-quality fiber, genetic improvement of fiber traits is a critical focus for sustaining and advancing the textile industry standards. The cotton