Circa 2020 Reversing the biological clock to essentially reverse aging.
Expression of three Yamanaka transcription factors in mouse retinal ganglion cells restores youthful DNA methylation patterns, promotes axon regeneration after injury, and reverses vision loss in a mouse model of glaucoma and in aged mice, suggesting that mammalian tissues retain a record of youthfu…
Circa 2018
Sequencing and assembly of the 32-Gb genome of the Mexican axolotl reveals that it lacks the developmental gene Pax3, which is essential in other vertebrates; the genome sequence could improve our understanding of the evolution of the axolotl’s remarkable regenerative capabilities.
The main structure shaping the mouse digit tip in size and form is the terminal phalangeal bone (Fig. Supl. 1). As all long bones, the terminal phalanx is formed during embryonic development through endochondral ossification, resulting in longitudinal growth, and through the process of appositional ossification, resulting in peripheral growth13. Differently from all long bones, the length of the distal phalanx is further increased by an additional ossification center located at the distal tip of the bone, through intramembranous ossification13,14. Estimations point that 55% of the postnatal elongation of the distal phalanx of mice is a consequence of this distal process13. One study showed that although distal amputation eliminates part of the terminal phalanx formed by endochondral ossification, bone regrowth after amputation is exclusively due to distal intramembranous ossification13. Similar to bone formation by intramembranous ossification during development or after injury16, bone regrowth after distal amputation of the mouse digit tip depends on Wnt signaling17.
Re-establishment of homeostasis and nail and bone regrowth are expected to occur naturally after digit tip lesions. However, the formation of a blastema, which is a hallmark of epimorphic regeneration in salamanders, has been largely discussed in mammals7,9,18,19,20,21,22. The search for a mammalian blastema is sustained by the idea that, as in salamanders, tissue-specific cells, or stem/progenitor cells, would respond to the distal amputation lesion, migrating to a central distal-most region of the digit, creating the multi-tissue structure comprising the regenerating digit. A study in mice17 shows that as in salamanders, each tissue comprising the regenerated digit is formed by tissue-specific stem cells residing in the tissues preserved after amputation, suggesting that trans-differentiation does not occur in amputated mouse digit tip. However, it is not known whether these stem cells are integrating a regenerative blastema induced by the distal amputation or simply generating more tissue through endogenous tissue repair responses.
In this study, we compared digit regenerative capacity after distal and proximal amputation and propose a hypothetical mechanism by which digits are able to regain a morphology that is close to normal after distal amputations but fails when amputations are performed proximally. While most tissues re-establish homeostasis in very similar ways in distal and proximal amputated digits, bone growth is only observed after distal amputations. Observing the regions affected by each amputation plan, we propose that the main difference between these two amputation plans is the elimination of osteogenic signals and precursor cells in proximally amputated digits. In distally amputated digits, the source of osteogenic signal emanating from the nail17 and the presence of osteoprogenitor cells in the periosteum23 could be sufficient to promote bone growth and give the digit a new tip.
Posted in biotech/medical, wearables
Most measurements of Newton’s gravity constant use stationary masses, but a new experiment measures the constant with wiggling metal beams.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that they have figured out how to engineer a biofilm that harvests the energy in evaporation and converts it to electricity. This biofilm, which was announced in Nature Communications, has the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering everything from personal medical sensors to personal electronics.
Researchers have reported the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting Ross 508 near the inner edge of its habitable zone.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced that they have figured out how to engineer a biofilm that harvests the energy in evaporation and converts it to electricity. This biofilm, which was announced in Nature Communications, has the potential to revolutionize the world of wearable electronics, powering everything from personal medical sensors to personal electronics.
“This is a very exciting technology,” says Xiaomeng Liu, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering in UMass Amherst’s College of Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “It is real green energy, and unlike other so-called ‘green-energy’ sources, its production is totally green.”
That’s because this biofilm —a thin sheet of bacterial cells about the thickness of a sheet of paper—is produced naturally by an engineered version of the bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens. G. sulfurreducens is known to produce electricity and has been used previously in “microbial batteries” to power electrical devices. But such batteries require that G. sulfurreducens is properly cared for and fed a constant diet. By contrast, this new biofilm, which can supply as much, if not more, energy than a comparably sized battery, works, and works continuously, because it is dead. And because it’s dead, it doesn’t need to be fed.
The autonomous, miniaturized robot could mimic movements used in surgery in space remotely.
MIRA, short for miniaturized in vivo robotic assistant\.
An autonomous, miniaturized robot could soon perform simulated tasks that mimic movements used in surgery without the help of doctors or astronauts.
Meet MIRA, short for miniaturized in vivo robotic assistant. Invented by Nebraska Engineering Professor Shane Farritor, the surgical robot is being readied for a 2024 test mission aboard the International Space Station. For this, NASA recently awarded the University of Nebraska-Lincoln $100,000 through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and their collaborators have used DNA to overcome a nearly insurmountable obstacle to engineer materials that would revolutionize electronics.
Scientists around the world are scurrying to reverse the hands of time. Here’s a look at one lab’s search for the fountain of youth, where old mice have grown young again.
New gene therapy could end high cholesterol responsible for strokes and heart attacks.
The therapy is a one-and-done treatment unlike being on statins or taking monoclonal antibodies. It will make a permanent change to liver cells and stop them from producing the PCSK9 protein. The edits will pass on to the next generation of cells when they divide. That means that even if the therapy is initially expensive, the lifetime cost should prove to be comparable if not lower than current alternatives.
The therapy is delivered to the liver cells in lipid nanoparticles, the same technology being used by mRNA Covid-19 vaccines. The pandemic has created manufacturing capacity for this type of therapeutic delivery which is helping to lower costs.
A successful clinical trial doesn’t lead right away to adoption throughout the medical profession. It is likely there will be many more trials, and a number of years before Verve has enough data to convince regulators to approve the treatment for run-of-the-mill high cholesterol. If it turns out to become the new treatment standard, however, it will be one of the most transformational innovations in human healthcare to be seen in decades.
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In a paper distributed via ArXiv, titled “Exploring the Unprecedented Privacy Risks of the Metaverse,” boffins at UC Berkeley in the US and the Technical University of Munich in Germany play-tested an “escape room” virtual reality (VR) game to better understand just how much data a potential attacker could access. Through a 30-person study of VR usage, the researchers – Vivek Nair (UCB), Gonzalo Munilla Garrido (TUM), and Dawn Song (UCB) – created a framework for assessing and analyzing potential privacy threats. They identified more than 25 examples of private data attributes available to potential attackers, some of which would be difficult or impossible to obtain from traditional mobile or web applications. The metaverse that is rapidly becoming a part of our world has long been an essential part of the gaming community. Interaction-based games like Second Life, Pokemon Go, and Minecraft have existed as virtual social interaction platforms. The founder of Second Life, Philip Rosedale, and many other security experts have lately been vocal about Meta’s impact on data privacy. Since the core concept is similar, it is possible to determine the potential data privacy issues apparently within Meta.
There has been a buzz going around the tech market that by the end of 2022, the metaverse can revive the AR/VR device shipments and take it as high as 14.19 million units, compared to 9.86 million in 2021, indicating a year-over-year increase of about 35% to 36%. The AR/VR device market will witness an enormous boom in the market due to component shortages and the difficulty to develop new technologies. The growth momentum will also be driven by the increased demand for remote interactivity stemming from the pandemic. But what will happen when these VR or metaverse headsets start stealing your precious data? Not just headsets but smart glasses too are prime suspect when it comes to privacy concerns.
Several weeks ago, Facebook introduced a new line of smart glasses called Ray-Ban Stories, which can take photos, shoot 30-second videos, and post them on the owner’s Facebook feed. Priced at US$299 and powered by Facebook’s virtual assistant, the web-connected shades can also take phone calls and play music or podcasts.
