From Barbie With Love: Implications of the Mixed Messages From America’s Plastic Sweetheart

As a controversial, yet influential icon in American society, Barbie doll sends a variety of mixed messages to young girls. She is an icon of feminine perfection. She represents ambitious, working women. She presents reality with a completely unrealistic body type. This study determines the potential effects of Barbie doll on individual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Data was collected through one-on-one interviews with young girls and their parents. Each responded to a series of questions regarding their perceptions and feelings towards the doll. They also reacted to several commercials, each depicting the mixed message that the doll sends. Finally, the respondents created collages representing the real world and Barbie’s world. The data was analyzed and organized according to the themes that emerged. Research themes brought new topics to light that predict the effects of Barbie doll. Effects on knowledge tended to indicate that individuals have come to view Barbie primarily in terms of appearance. Behavioral effects tended to be primarily positive, however, there was concern over the lack of parental influence in terms of behavior. The attitudinal effects were the most negative, but the effect was not as severe as previously thought. The combination of these potential effects, as well as new themes that emerged from the research add to the discussion about Barbie’s role in our society. This study complicates the conversation about Barbie and has implications for how the doll is marketed. In order to maintain ethical boundaries in the advertising industry, it is important for advertisers to consider the effects of their actions. Since Barbie is a form of mediated content, everything about the doll sends a message to her target. The results of this research should encourage marketers to consider the doll’s role in young girls’ lives. This research suggests that transforming Barbie’s existing negative messages into positive messages can change her role into an encouraging and inspiring model

Disruption of the β1L Isoform of GABP Reverses Glioblastoma Replicative Immortality in a TERT Promoter Mutation-Dependent Manner

TERT promoter mutations reactivate telomerase, allowing for indefinite telomere maintenance and enabling cellular immortalization. These mutations specifically recruit the multimeric ETS factor GABP, which can form two functionally independent transcription factor species: a dimer or a tetramer. We show that genetic disruption of GABPβ1L (β1L), a tetramer-forming isoform of GABP that is dispensable for normal development, results in TERT silencing in a TERT promoter mutation-dependent manner. Reducing TERT expression by disrupting β1L culminates in telomere loss and cell death exclusively in TERT promoter mutant cells. Orthotopic xenografting of β1L-reduced, TERT promoter mutant glioblastoma cells rendered lower tumor burden and longer overall survival in mice. These results highlight the critical role of GABPβ1L in enabling immortality in TERT promoter mutant glioblastoma.This work was supported by a generous gift from the Dabbiere family (J.F.C.), the Hana Jabsheh Research Initiative (J.F.C.), NIH grant NCI P50CA097257 (J.F.C. and J.A.D.), NCI P01CA118816-06 (J.F.C.), T32 GM008568 and T32 CA151022 (A.M.), and NCI R01CA163336 (J.S.S.), and the Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award (J.S.S.). C.F. is supported by a US NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (K99GM118909) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Additional support was provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia SFRH/BD/88220/2012 (A.X.-M.) and IF/00601/2012 (B.M.C.). J.A.D. is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CRISPR-SKIP: programmable gene splicing with single base editors

Abstract CRISPR gene editing has revolutionized biomedicine and biotechnology by providing a simple means to engineer genes through targeted double-strand breaks in the genomic DNA of living cells. However, given the stochasticity of cellular DNA repair mechanisms and the potential for off-target mutations, technologies capable of introducing targeted changes with increased precision, such as single-base editors, are preferred. We present a versatile method termed CRISPR-SKIP that utilizes cytidine deaminase single-base editors to program exon skipping by mutating target DNA bases within splice acceptor sites. Given its simplicity and precision, CRISPR-SKIP will be broadly applicable in gene therapy and synthetic biology

Disruption of the β1L Isoform of GABP Reverses Glioblastoma Replicative Immortality in a TERT Promoter Mutation-Dependent Manner.

TERT promoter mutations reactivate telomerase, allowing for indefinite telomere maintenance and enabling cellular immortalization. These mutations specifically recruit the multimeric ETS factor GABP, which can form two functionally independent transcription factor species: a dimer or a tetramer. We show that genetic disruption of GABPβ1L (β1L), a tetramer-forming isoform of GABP that is dispensable for normal development, results in TERT silencing in a TERT promoter mutation-dependent manner. Reducing TERT expression by disrupting β1L culminates in telomere loss and cell death exclusively in TERT promoter mutant cells. Orthotopic xenografting of β1L-reduced, TERT promoter mutant glioblastoma cells rendered lower tumor burden and longer overall survival in mice. These results highlight the critical role of GABPβ1L in enabling immortality in TERT promoter mutant glioblastoma