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Category: biotech/medical – Page 26

A new study probing quantum phenomena in neurons as they transmit messages in the brain could provide fresh insight into how our brains function.

In this project, described in the Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, theoretical physicist Partha Ghose from the Tagore Centre for Natural Sciences and Philosophy in India, together with theoretical neuroscientist Dimitris Pinotsis from City St George’s, University of London and the MillerLab of MIT, proved that established equations describing the classical physics of brain responses are mathematically equivalent to equations describing quantum mechanics. Ghose and Pinotsis then derived a Schrödinger-like equation specifically for neurons.

Our brains process information via a vast network containing many millions of neurons, which can each send and receive chemical and electrical signals. Information is transmitted by nerve impulses that pass from one neuron to the next, thanks to a flow of ions across the neuron’s cell membrane. This results in an experimentally detectable change in electrical potential difference across the membrane known as the “action potential” or “spike”

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The device provides a range of sensations, such as vibrations, pressure, and twisting. A team of engineers led by Northwestern University has developed a new wearable device that stimulates the skin to deliver a range of complex sensations. This thin, flexible device gently adheres to the skin, offering more realistic and immersive sensory experiences. While it is well-suited for gaming and virtual reality (VR), the researchers also see potential applications in healthcare. For instance, the device could help individuals with visual impairments “feel” their surroundings or provide feedback to those with prosthetic limbs.

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In a groundbreaking moment for cancer, Chinese researchers turned the immune response provoked by organ transplants to fight the leading cause of death worldwide.

According to Columbia University’s Department of Surgery, 10–20% of patients who undergo transplant surgery will experience at least one rejection. However, researchers in China ingeniously turned that negative into a positive by directing that powerful impulse to attack cancer cells.

Called a “tumor-to-pork” strategy, a new study published in Cell earlier this year demonstrated immense success in engineering a virus that tricked the human body into believing that cancer cells were pig tissue, according to the South China Morning Post, thereby triggering a hyperacute inflammatory response. The virus began attacking the tumor with a staggering 90% success rate, to the point of curing a patient with advanced cervical cancer.

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The landmark advance builds on a 2013 study by the team, published in Science, which described the construction of the first GRO. In that study, the researchers demonstrated new solutions for safeguarding genetically engineered organisms and for producing new classes of synthetic proteins and biomaterials with “unnatural,” or human-created, chemistries.

Ochre is a major step toward creating a non-redundant genetic code in E. coli, specifically, which is ideally suited to produce synthetic proteins containing multiple, different synthetic amino acids.

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📝 — Ching, et al.

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The spike protein (S-protein) is a crucial part of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), with its many domains responsible for binding, fusion, and host cell entry. In this review we use the density functional theory (DFT) calculations to analyze the atomic-scale interactions and investigate the consequences of mutations in S-protein domains. We specifically describe the key amino acids and functions of each domain, which are essential for structural stability as well as recognition and fusion processes with the host cell; in addition, we speculate on how mutations affect these properties.

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Each year, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), millions of people in the U.S. are affected by spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, along with neuro-developmental and degenerative diseases such as ADHD, autism, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

Assistant Professor Pabitra Sahoo, of Rutgers University-Newark’s Department of Biological Sciences, has made it his life’s work to understand how our neurological system becomes damaged by these injuries and conditions, and when and how neurons in our central and peripheral nervous systems regenerate and heal.

Recently, Sahoo and his RU-N research team made a breakthrough, using a peptide to help nerve cells in both the peripheral and central nervous systems regenerate. They published their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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From growth hormones to cancer drugs, small molecules play a crucial role in our health. Monitoring them is essential to keeping us healthy; it enables physicians to calculate dosages and patients to monitor their medical conditions at home, for example.

Monitoring small molecules depends on sensing where they are, and in what concentrations. While scientists have developed sensors to detect some small molecules, these sensors are used primarily in research and drug discovery and can only detect a limited range of molecules with particular qualities.

There is a compelling need for sensors that can detect and signal the presence of diverse small molecules of different shapes, sizes, flexibility and polarity.

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Scientists have tapped into the Summit supercomputer to study an elaborate molecular pathway called nucleotide excision repair (NER). This research reveals how damaged strands of DNA are repaired through this molecular pathway, nucleotide excision repair.

NER’s protein components can change shape to perform different functions of repair on broken strands of DNA.

A team of scientists from Georgia State University built a computer model of a critical NER component called the pre-incision complex (PInC) that plays a key role in regulating DNA repair processes in the latter stages of the NER pathway.

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The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips. But the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It’s a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems.

Global chip sales surged more than 19% to roughly $628 billion last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which forecasts double-digit growth again in 2025. That’s adding urgency to reducing the impacts of so-called “forever chemicals” — which are also used to make firefighting foam, nonstick pans, raincoats and other everyday items — as are regulators in the U.S. and Europe who are beginning to enforce pollution limits for municipal water supplies. In response to this growing demand, a wave of startups are offering potential solutions that won’t cut the chemicals out of the supply chain but can destroy them.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been detected in every corner of the planet from rainwater in the Himalayas to whales off the Faroe Islands and in the blood of almost every human tested. Known as forever chemicals because the properties that make them so useful also make them persistent in the environment, scientists have increasingly linked PFAS to health issues including obesity, infertility and cancer.

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The first steps in diagnosis typically involve a physical exam and questions about your medical history.

To help rule out other possible conditions, your healthcare provider may ask about your alcohol use, medications, lifestyle habits, and symptoms. MASH doesn’t always cause symptoms in its early stages, but common signs can include fatigue, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, unintended weight loss, bloating, and thirst.

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