In a dramatic 13-minute plunge back to Earth, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule safely landed in Utah after seven years in space.
As we age, our muscles and other tissues break down in much the same way as degenerative diseases progress. What we learn from studying degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophy could help researchers develop new interventions to fight common age-related ailments and chronic illnesses.
With help from NIA, biotechnology company Juvena Therapeutics has begun unlocking the secrets of proteins for regenerative medicine. Juvena scientists are using a form of muscular dystrophy — myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM-1) — as a model to sift through proteins that are produced by the body’s stem cells. These cells have the potential to become any type of cell in the body, from liver tissue to skin cells. The goal is to find proteins that encourage tissue growth and repair, ultimately designing new drugs to prevent and treat degenerative diseases like DM-1. As part of this process, Juvena hopes to learn more about how to reduce the effects of aging on muscles and other tissues, too.
A new biotech trying to establish itself can feel isolated from the larger scientific community. For example, Juvena is unable to submit findings for publication before taking care of intellectual property protections. But NIH’s peer-review process offered confidential, scientifically rigorous feedback to fill that critical gap, and the NIA Small Business Programs staff offered helpful advice.
Lithium-ion batteries could get a significant boost in energy density from disordered rock salt (DRX), a versatile battery material that can be made with almost any transition metal instead of nickel and cobalt.
DRX cathodes could provide batteries with higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion battery cathodes made of nickel and cobalt, two metals that are in critically short supply.
Continue reading “New Consortium to Make Batteries for Electric Vehicles More Sustainable” »
A 58-year-old patient with terminal heart disease became the second patient in the world to receive a historic transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart on September 20. He is recovering and communicating with his loved ones. This is only the second time in the world that a genetically modified pig heart has been transplanted into a living patient. Both historic surgeries were performed by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) faculty at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).
The first historic surgery, performed in January, 2022, was conducted on David Bennett by University of Maryland Medicine surgeons (comprising UMSOM and UMMC), who are recognized as the… More.
After world’s first successful transplant in 2022, also performed at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), this groundbreaking transplant team per.
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Scientists can now create realistic human embryo models in the lab, leading some to suggest that we rethink how we legally define an embryo.
Michelle Lee Photography/iStock.
The domes can be placed upside down, or in different directions. The purpose of these dome shaped designs is to give the drone a way to consider what dangerous conditions are like and react quickly to them.
Channeling light from one location to another is the backbone of our modern world. Across deep oceans and vast continents, fiber optic cables transport light containing data ranging from YouTube clips to banking transmissions—all within fibers as thin as a strand of hair.
University of Chicago Prof. Jiwoong Park, however, wondered what would happen if you made even thinner and flatter strands—in effect, so thin that they’re actually 2D instead of 3D. What would happen to the light?
Through a series of innovative experiments, he and his team found that a sheet of glass crystal just a few atoms thick could trap and carry light. Not only that, but it was surprisingly efficient and could travel relatively long distances—up to a centimeter, which is very far in the world of light-based computing.
Ali Rogin:
With the cost of owning a car out of reach for many today ride sharing gives commuters an alternative. And a handful of U.S. cities, self-driving taxis are getting the green light to pick up passengers. Several companies including Waymo Cruise and Motional are touting driverless taxis as the way of the future.
But the rollout of these robo cabs has hit some speed bumps. Not everyone is comfortable with autonomous cars on the road. And major technical questions remain. Aarian Marshall is a staff writer for WIRED, and she covers transportation. Aarian, thank you so much for joining us.
A single protein can self-assemble to build the scaffold for a biomolecular condensate that makes up a key nucleolar compartment.
Inside all living cells, loosely formed assemblies known as biomolecular condensates perform many critical functions. However, it is not well understood how proteins and other biomolecules come together to form these assemblies within cells.
MIT.
