Allessandra DiCorato

Boston

Freelance science writer. Formerly scientist studying nanomaterials & biomineralization, @AAASMassMedia fellow @KQEDscience.

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Articles

Spatial mapping reveals network of cells and genes involved in Crohn's disease complication

2 days ago | medicalxpress.com | Allessandra DiCorato |Stephanie Baum |Robert Egan

Up to half of patients with Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, develop a complication called fibrosis, where the gut becomes scarred and obstructed, causing pain and bloating. Currently, the only treatment option for these gut "strictures" is surgery.
Scientists discover network of cells and genes involved in Crohn’s disease complication

3 days ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Up to half of patients with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, develop a complication called fibrosis, where the gut becomes scarred and obstructed, causing pain and bloating. Currently, the only treatment option for these gut “strictures” is surgery.
New books from outer space, future Earth, and close to home

1 week ago | science.org | Sang Lee |Sascha Bub |Anna Papp |Allessandra DiCorato

ILLUSTRATION: ADA ZEJUN SHENAn astronaut hides her queer identity to protect her career. A museum researcher is detained while returning from international travel. A biologist grapples with extinction as war breaks out in Ukraine. A physicist confronts the off-Earth options for humanity. These themes, any of which might have been plucked from current headlines, are explored by the authors of this year’s summer reading selections—all of which are works of fiction.
#WhyIScienceQ&A: A neuroscientist advocates for stepping outside your comfort zone in research

1 week ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

At first, Giulia Monti thought she’d work in another neuroscience lab as a postdoctoral researcher. She had spent the last four years earning her PhD at Aarhus University in Denmark, studying proteins called cargo receptors in Alzheimer’s disease. But then she stumbled upon the lab of Anna Greka, a core institute member at the Broad Institute and a nephrologist at Mass General Brigham.
New technique expands cells to sequence DNA and capture fine structural details

4 weeks ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Broad Institute researchers have developed a technology that provides new insight into how disruptions in the nucleus of the cell can impact health and disease. The approach, called expansion in situ genome sequencing, allows scientists to sequence DNA and map its location relative to proteins within cell nuclei. The method uses a gel to expand cells while keeping them intact, enabling both sequencing and high-resolution imaging within the same cells.
Combinatorial screening uncovers molecules that enhance antibiotics against resistant bacteria

1 month ago | phys.org | Allessandra DiCorato |Gaby Clark |Robert Egan

Researchers have created a pipeline for discovering unique combinations of molecules that increase the effectiveness of antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria. The team, led by scientists at the Broad Institute and the Tufts University School of Medicine, used a microfluidic approach to screen more than 1 million combinations of antibiotics, small molecules, and bacteria.
Making antibiotics more potent against drug-resistant bacteria

1 month ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Researchers have created a pipeline for discovering unique combinations of molecules that increase the effectiveness of antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria. The team, led by scientists at the Broad Institute and the Tufts University School of Medicine, used a microfluidic approach to screen more than 1 million combinations of antibiotics, small molecules, and bacteria.
Gene editing disrupts Huntington's mutation in mice

1 month ago | medicalxpress.com | Allessandra DiCorato |Gaby Clark |Robert Egan

Broad Institute researchers have developed a way to edit the genetic sequences at the root of Huntington's disease and Friedreich's ataxia. The conditions are two of more than 40 severe neurological disorders caused by three-letter stretches of DNA that repeat consecutively. If longer than a certain threshold length, these sequences grow in length uncontrollably and lead to brain cell death in Huntington's disease, and the breakdown of nerve fibers in Friedreich's ataxia.
Gene editing disrupts Huntington’s mutation in mice

1 month ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato

Broad Institute researchers have developed a way to edit the genetic sequences at the root of Huntington’s disease and Friedreich’s ataxia. The conditions are two of more than 40 severe neurological disorders caused by three-letter stretches of DNA that repeat consecutively. If longer than a certain threshold length, these sequences grow in length uncontrollably and lead to brain cell death in Huntington’s disease, and the breakdown of nerve fibers in Friedreich’s ataxia.
New study aims to uncover the genetics of anorexia and other eating disorders

1 month ago | broadinstitute.org | Allessandra DiCorato |Ben Neale |Mark Daly

A new direct-to-participant effort now underway is giving people the opportunity to participate in the largest and most diverse genetic study of anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders to date. Researchers at the Broad Institute Ben Neale and Mark Daly are co-leading the study, which allows people across the US to sign up to have their DNA analyzed as part of this effort.