Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
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Brain-penetrating nanoparticles, ultrasound and microbubbles show promise in treating glioblastoma
University of Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists have developed a promising new experimental approach to targeting glioblastoma, the most common and deadliest brain cancer. The approach could overcome many of the limitations of treatments using existing drugs.
UVA’s Roger Abounader, MD, Ph.D., and colleagues have identified “microRNAs” that can simultaneously suppress multiple malfunctioning genes responsible for glioblastoma’s formation and growth. The scientists use a combination of brain-penetrating nanoparticles, focused ultrasound waves and microbubbles to deliver the miRNAs through the brain’s natural protective barrier—a barrier that typically blocks treatments for tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
“This new approach could help target numerous molecules that promote cancer growth, including those for which no drugs exist, at the same time to achieve better therapies,” said Abounader, a professor at UVA’s School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology, Comprehensive Cancer Center and Center for RNA Science and Medicine. “We are hoping to translate our findings into future clinical trials for patients with glioblastoma and other brain tumors.”
Same carcinogen, different tumors: Mouse study reveals the role of genetic background
Why do cancers develop differently in different people—even when they are exposed to the same risk factors? An international research group, including the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), has demonstrated in mice that an organism’s genetic makeup significantly influences the course of cancer development.
The findings, published in Nature, provide new insights into the earliest stages of tumor development and could, in the long term, represent an important step toward more precise, personalized cancer medicine.
These ancient quasars shouldn’t exist so soon after the Big Bang
Scientists have found the oldest quasars ever seen, revealing giant black holes blazing across the universe when it was only 670 million years old. Astronomers have uncovered 31 of the oldest known quasars, including the two earliest ever detected, shining from a time when the universe was only about 670 million years old. Powered by supermassive black holes billions of times the Sun’s mass, these incredibly bright objects challenge scientists’ understanding of how such enormous black holes formed so quickly after the Big Bang.
Quasars rank among the brightest and most powerful objects in the universe. They are fueled by supermassive black holes that consume surrounding material at the centers of galaxies, producing so much energy that they can be seen across billions of light years.
Now, an international team of researchers has identified 31 of the oldest quasars ever discovered, including the two earliest known examples. These extraordinary objects were already shining with the light of roughly a trillion suns when the universe was only about 670 million years old. The discovery, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, offers an unprecedented glimpse into one of the earliest chapters of cosmic history.
Meet Biomni—an AI-powered biomedical co-scientist
In creating a comprehensive, AI-enabled research agent for the biomedical sciences, Stanford University researchers hope to speed innovation by eliminating the tedium of scientific legwork. Biomni, an AI-powered, multiskilled biomedical research agent, is no mere chatbot. It is a full-fledged “co-scientist” capable of designing and developing complex research workflows, said Jure Leskovec, the Alfred and Rebecca Lin Professor and professor of computer science in the School of Engineering and senior author of the paper introducing Biomni in the journal Science.
“If you think of an agent as a carpenter, a carpenter without tools is just a carpenter who can talk,” Leskovec said, explaining what sets Biomni apart from popular generative AI chatbots. “With Biomni, we give the carpenter a set of tools, so it can build.”
Born for impact Biomni was born from the notion that, when working with an AI agent, a scientist should be able to describe a research problem in simple, natural language. With that in mind, the researchers designed Biomni to read the literature, form hypotheses, choose datasets and tools, write code, interpret results and suggest next-stage experiments in a complete research workflow.
Australian scientists unveil first quantum battery that could one day charge devices in seconds
A new development from Australia’s national science agency is offering a glimpse of a future in which charging your phone, laptop, or even grid-scale storage systems could take a fraction of the time it does now.
Researchers in Australia say they have built the world’s first fully functioning proof-of-concept quantum battery.
Scientists from the CSIRO, the University of Melbourne, and RMIT announced that they had successfully developed and tested a quantum battery prototype, Lab Worldwide reported.
China’s Viral ‘Rooftop Rain’ Can Cool Down Areas By Up To 14 Degrees Fahrenheit
Thanks to the power of evaporative cooling, the high-rise rooftop rain in Shanxi, China could be lowering local temperatures by up to 14 degrees.
Immune cell lncRNAs reprogram the tumor microenvironment
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate the tumor microenvironment (TME), yet their cell-intrinsic roles within immune populations of the TME remain underappreciated. In this review, we shift focus from the cancer cell to the immune compartment, systematically reviewing how immune cell-intrinsic lncRNAs govern CD8+ T cell exhaustion, CD4+ T cell polarization, NK cell cytotoxicity, dendritic cell antigen presentation, and macrophage inflammatory programming. We highlight lncRNAs that function as molecular switches—tipping immune cells between antitumor effector and immunosuppressive states—and examine how exosomal lncRNAs extend these regulatory circuits across cellular boundaries within the TME.
Ultimate Limit of The Human Lifespan May Be Identified, Study Suggests
When the iconic rock band Queen asked, “Who wants to live forever?” the question was rhetorical, but for many people, the answer was “Yes”
Well, a new study suggests immortal life may be scientifically impossible, even if we somehow found the perfect anti-aging medicine.
If scientists managed to overcome every other aspect of aging, humans still couldn’t live forever, the new research shows. Random DNA mutations would continue accumulating in our cells until the body could no longer function.