Lifeboat Foundation

This protocol for the spatiotemporal control of RNA activity uses LicV, a synthetic, photoswitchable RNA-binding protein (RBP) that can bind to a specific RNA sequence in response to blue light irradiation, and provides an efficient and generalizable strategy for engineering photoswitchable RBPs.

A future quantum network may become less of a stretch thanks to researchers at the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and Cambridge University.

A team of researchers announced a breakthrough in quantum network engineering. By “stretching” thin films of diamond, they created quantum bits that can operate with significantly reduced equipment and expense. The change also makes the bits easier to control.

The researchers hope the findings, published Nov. 29 in Physical Review X, can make future quantum networks more feasible.

Engineered immune cells have demonstrated great efficacy in lymphoma but not in solid tumors. On Oct 13th, 2021, two experts described recent advances in the development of CAR therapy for solid tumors.

Tamara Laskowski, PhD, Scientific Project Director of the CAR NK Program, Adoptive Cell Therapy Platform at the MD Anderson Cancer Center discussed “Engineering off-the-shelf CAR immune cells”.

Continue reading “Penetrating Solid Tumors with CAR Immune Cells” »

Skoltech scientists have found a way to improve the most widely used technology for producing single-walled carbon nanotube films—a promising material for solar cells, LEDs, flexible and transparent electronics, smart textiles, medical imaging, toxic gas detectors, filtration systems, and more. By adding hydrogen gas along with carbon monoxide to the reaction chamber, the team managed to almost triple carbon nanotube yield compared with when other growth promoters are used, without compromising quality.

Until now, low yield has been the bottleneck limiting the potential of that manufacturing technology, otherwise known for high product quality. The study has been published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Although that is not how they’re really made, conceptually, nanotubes are a form of carbon where sheets of atoms in a honeycomb arrangement—known as graphene—are seamlessly rolled into hollow cylinders.

Applying simple, ancient weaving techniques to newly recognized properties of organic crystals, researchers with the Smart Materials Lab (SML) and the Center for Smart Engineering Materials (CSEM) at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have, for the first time, developed a unique form of woven “textile.” These new fabric patches expand one-dimensional crystals into flexible, integrated, two-dimensional planar structures that are incredibly strong—some 20 times stronger than the original crystals—and resistant to low temperatures.

These traits give them a host of exciting potential applications, including in flexible electronics that range from sensing devices to optical arrays, as well as in extreme conditions such as low temperatures encountered in space exploration.

In the paper titled “Woven Organic Crystals” published in the journal Nature Communications, Panče Naumov, NYUAD Professor of Chemistry and Director of the CSEM, and colleagues from Jilin University demonstrate that organic crystal can be simply woven into flexible and robust patches with plain, twill, and satin textures.

To commercialize the carbon-neutral bricks, Seratech is working together with a team of architects at London-based Carmody Groarke.

Saratech.

The brick is a product of 18 months of research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF).

In an extraordinary feat of engineering and international collaboration, the Orion spacecraft, a part of NASA’s Artemis I mission, has achieved a remarkable milestone in space exploration. The spacecraft ventured some 267,000 miles from Earth and roughly 40,000 miles from the Moon, surpassing the distance record set by the Apollo 13 mission over half a century ago.

In this photo, the Orion capsule, along with the Earth and the Moon, appeared to be posing for a ‘family portrait.’ This iconic image marks a pivotal moment in the mission’s journey, symbolizing the culmination of years of meticulous planning and execution.

Orion’s journey from Earth began a year ago, on November 16, 2022, when NASA’s mega Moon rocket, the Space Launch System, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The uncrewed Orion spacecraft was placed into Earth orbit, marking the beginning of a new era in lunar exploration.

Optothermal nanotweezers are an innovative optical design method that has revolutionized classical optical techniques to capture a broad range of nanoparticles. While the optothermal temperature field can be employed for in situ regulation of nanoparticles, challenges remain in identifying their potential for regulating bionanoparticles.

To observe the synergistic effects of optothermal manipulation and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-based biodetection, the researchers developed a combination of CRISPR-powered optothermal nanotweezers abbreviated as CRONT.

In a new report in Light: Science & Applications, Jiajie Chen and a research team in optoelectronics engineering, biomedical engineering, and physics, accomplished this by harnessing diffusiophoresis and thermo-osmotic flows for optothermal excitation by successfully enriching DNA functionalized gold nanoparticles, CRISPR-associated proteins, and DNA strands.

The technique represents an important step in engineering skin grafts, drug testing. A team led by scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has 3D-printed hair follicles in human skin tissue cultured in the lab. This marks the first time researchers have used the technology to generate hair follicles, which play an important role in skin healing and function.

The finding, published in the journal Science Advances, has potential applications in regenerative medicine and drug testing, though engineering skin grafts that grow hair are still several years away.

“Our work is a proof-of-concept that hair follicle structures can be created in a highly precise, reproducible way using 3D-bioprinting. This kind of automated process is needed to make future biomanufacturing of skin possible,” said Pankaj Karande, Ph.D., an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering and a member of Rensselaer’s Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, who led the study.