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Category: biotech/medical – Page 37

Brain-inspired chips are helping electronic noses better mimic human sense of smell

After years of trying, the electronic nose is finally making major progress in sensing smells, almost as well as its human counterpart. That is the conclusion of a scientific review into the development of neuromorphic olfactory perception chips (NOPCs), published in the journal Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering.

Evolution has perfected the human nose over millions of years. This powerful sense organ, while not the best in the animal kingdom, can still detect around a trillion smells. The quest to develop electronic noses with human nose-like abilities for applications like security, robotics, and medical diagnostics has proved notoriously difficult. So scientists have increasingly been turning to neuromorphic computing, which involves designing software and hardware that mimics the structure and function of the human nose.

In this review, a team of scientists from China highlights some of the key advances in developing olfactory sensing chips. The paper focuses heavily on because they are key components of the system. They must physically detect and convert them into electrical signals.

Scientist Solves 100-Year-Old Physics Puzzle To Track Airborne Killers

Researchers at the University of Warwick have created a straightforward new way to predict how irregularly shaped nanoparticles, a harmful type of airborne pollutant, move through the air.

Each day, people inhale countless microscopic particles such as soot, dust, pollen, microplastics, viruses, and engineered nanoparticles. Many of these particles are so small that they can reach deep into the lungs and even pass into the bloodstream, where they may contribute to serious health problems including heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

While most airborne particles have uneven shapes, existing mathematical models often treat them as perfect spheres because that makes the equations easier to handle. This simplification limits scientists’ ability to accurately describe or track how real, non-spherical particles move, especially those that are more dangerous.

Viral Appropriation of Specificity Protein 1 (Sp1): The Role of Sp1 in Human Retro- and DNA Viruses in Promoter Activation and Beyond

Specificity protein 1 (Sp1) is a highly ubiquitous transcription factor and one employed by numerous viruses to complete their life cycles. In this review, we start by summarizing the relationships between Sp1 function, DNA binding, and structural motifs. We then describe the role Sp1 plays in transcriptional activation of seven viral families, composed of human retro- and DNA viruses, with a focus on key promoter regions. Additionally, we discuss pathways in common across multiple viruses, highlighting the importance of the cell regulatory role of Sp1. We also describe Sp1-related epigenetic and protein post-translational modifications during viral infection and how they relate to Sp1 binding. Finally, with these insights in mind, we comment on the potential for Sp1-targeting therapies, such as repurposing drugs currently in use in the anti-cancer realm, and what limitations such agents would have as antivirals.

Adapting Next-Generation Sequencing to in Process CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing of Recombinant AcMNPV Vectors: From Shotgun to Tiled-Amplicon Sequencing

The alphabaculovirus Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) is the most commonly used virus in the Baculovirus Expression Vector System (BEVS) and has been utilized for the production of many human and veterinary biologics. AcMNPV has a large dsDNA genome that remains understudied, and relatively unmodified from the wild-type, especially considering how extensively utilized it is as an expression vector. Previously, our group utilized CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering that revealed phenotypic changes when baculovirus genes are targeted using either co-expressed sgRNA or transfected sgRNA into a stable insect cell line that produced the Cas9 protein.

The Cyborg Child: SCP-191 and the Ethics of Human Evolution

What happens when the pursuit of perfection forgets compassion?
SCP-191, known as The Cyborg Child, is one of the most haunting examples of speculative bioengineering ever documented. This essay examines the anatomy, psychology, and philosophy of a child transformed into a machine — a being caught between humanity and technology.

In this episode, we explore:

How cybernetic modification redefines the human body.

The science behind hybrid consciousness and neural integration.

The moral cost of evolution without empathy.

What SCP-191 reveals about the posthuman future.

Continue reading “The Cyborg Child: SCP-191 and the Ethics of Human Evolution” | >

An Introduction to Ebolavirus Biology

I wrote this educational primer on ebolavirus as a fun exploration of a topic not related to my current research. While such knowledge may be useful in the event of some future ebolavirus epidemic, it is mostly just an exercise in curiosity and intellectual enrichment. #virology #molecularbiology.

My website version: [ https://logancollinsblog.com/2025/11/04/an-introduction-to-ebolavirus-biology/](https://logancollinsblog.com/2025/11/04/an-introduction-to-ebolavirus-biology/)

Substack version: [ https://loganthrashercollins.substack.com/p/an-introduction-…us-biology](https://loganthrashercollins.substack.com/p/an-introduction-…us-biology)

PDF version: An Introduction to Ebolavirus Biology – Logan Thrasher Collins

I wrote this educational primer as a fun exploration of a topic not related to my current research. While such knowledge may be useful in the event of some future ebolavirus epidemic, it is mostly just an exercise in curiosity and intellectual enrichment. I hope that you too enjoy learning about this fascinating (but scary!) virus as you browse my writeup. Also, if you’re an ebolavirus expert with concepts, edits, and/or ideas to offer, feel free to reach out with your additional insights! Shoutout: I’d like to give a special shoutout/thanks to Jain et al. (reference 4) and Bodmer et al. (reference 2). I used their papers extensively throughout the creation of writeup!

Genome

Continue reading “An Introduction to Ebolavirus Biology” | >

Reactivating a fetal gene enables adult heart cells to regenerate after injury

Around the globe, heart disease remains one of the top causes of death. Once patients begin to suffer from serious heart problems, like heart attacks and heart failure, the heart muscles become damaged and are difficult to treat and repair. Although many therapies have been developed to treat symptoms, full recovery to a pre-disease state has been essentially impossible. This is due to a lack of regeneration ability in adult human heart cells. Studies using stem cells or progenitor cells for repair have demonstrated limited efficacy in clinical trials, thus far.

However, there may be new hope for these patients. Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York have been working to turn back time by switching on a gene known to regenerate heart muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes. Their study, recently published in npj Regenerative Medicine, indicates that adult human hearts may be given the ability to regenerate themselves with future therapies.

Novel peanut allergy vaccine shows promise to transform allergy care

Researchers at Imperial’s National Heart & Lung Institute (NHLI) have reported encouraging results from the first phase of clinical trials for a new peanut allergy vaccine.

This vaccine aims to ‘reset’ the immune system, potentially allowing the individual to tolerate peanuts without triggering the severe allergic reactions that often occur when peanut proteins are ingested.

Phase 1 trials for a new peanut allergy vaccine show promising results, offering potential long-term relief from allergic reactions.

In collaboration with industry partner Allergy Therapeutics, the team from Imperial has developed a vaccine using virus-like particle (VLP) technology to encapsulate the peanut allergen protein Ara h2. In the latest paper, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), a phase 1 first-on-human clinical trial demonstrated the VLP peanut allergy vaccine’s safety and tolerability, with no reactivity observed during skin prick tests comparing the vaccine to control treatments.

Drug-delivery patch could help to heal the heart following a heart attack

MIT engineers have developed a flexible drug-delivery patch that can be placed on the heart after a heart attack to help promote healing and regeneration of cardiac tissue.

The new patch is designed to carry several different drugs that can be released at different times, on a pre-programmed schedule. In a study of rats, the researchers showed that this treatment reduced the amount of damaged by 50% and significantly improved cardiac function.

If approved for use in humans, this type of patch could help victims recover more of their cardiac function than is now possible, the researchers say.

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