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Category: biotech/medical – Page 123

Platform enables tunable photonic crystals with integrated spin-orbit coupling and controlled laser emission

A team of researchers has developed a novel method for using cholesteric liquid crystals in optical microcavities. The platform created by the researchers enables the formation and dynamic tuning of photonic crystals with integrated spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and controlled laser emission. The results of this research have been published in the journal Laser & Photonics Reviews. The team is from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, the Military University of Technology, and the Institut Pascal at Université Clermont Auvergne.

“A uniform lying helix (ULH) structure of a cholesteric phase liquid crystal is arranged in the optical cavity. The self-organized helix structure with the axis lying in the plane of the cavity acts as a one-dimensional periodic photonic lattice. This is possible due to the unique properties of liquid crystals, which are elongated molecules that resemble a pencil,” explains Prof. Jacek Szczytko from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, where research on novel optical microcavities is being conducted.

A cholesteric structure is a made up of layers of almost parallel oriented molecules lying in a single plane. From layer to layer, the orientation of the molecules is gently twisted, which altogether builds up a helical structure reminiscent of DNA helixes or ‘piggyback’ noodles. The direction perpendicular to the layers of molecules determines the axis of the helix formed.

Engineers create first immunocompetent leukemia device for CAR T immunotherapy screening

A team of researchers led by NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Weiqiang Chen has developed a miniature device that could transform how blood cancer treatments are tested and tailored for patients.

The team’s microscope slide-sized “leukemia-on-a-chip” is the first laboratory device to successfully combine both the physical structure of bone marrow and a functioning human immune system, an advance that could dramatically accelerate new immunotherapy development.

This innovation comes at a particularly timely moment, as the FDA recently announced a plan to phase out requirements for and other drugs, releasing a comprehensive roadmap for reducing animal testing in preclinical safety studies.

Triglycerides may play an important role in brain metabolism

While glucose, or sugar, is a well-known fuel for the brain, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have demonstrated that electrical activity in synapses—the junctions between neurons where communication occurs—can lead to the use of lipid or fat droplets as an energy source.

The study, published in Nature Metabolism, challenges “the long-standing dogma that the brain doesn’t burn fat,” said principal investigator Dr. Timothy A. Ryan, professor of biochemistry and of biochemistry in anesthesiology, and the Tri-Institutional Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine.

The paper’s lead author, Dr. Mukesh Kumar, a postdoctoral associate in biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine who has been studying the cell biology of fat droplets, suggested that it makes sense that fat may play a role as an energy source in the brain like it does with other metabolically demanding tissues, such as muscle.

Inhibiting enzyme could halt cell death in Parkinson’s disease, study finds

Putting the brakes on an enzyme might rescue neurons that are dying due to a type of Parkinson’s disease that’s caused by a single genetic mutation, according to a new Stanford Medicine-led study conducted in mice.

The study has been published in Science Signaling.

The genetic mutation causes an enzyme called leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, or LRRK2, to be overactive. Too much LRRK2 changes the structure of brain cells in a way that disrupts crucial communication between neurons that make the and cells in the striatum, a region deep in the brain that is part of the dopamine system and is involved in movement, motivation and decision-making.

Scientists discover ‘off switch’ enzyme that could stop heart disease and diabetes

Researchers at UT Arlington have discovered a key enzyme, IDO1, that when blocked, helps immune cells regain their ability to properly process cholesterol—something that breaks down during inflammation. This breakthrough could offer a powerful new way to fight heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. By “turning off” this enzyme, the team restored cholesterol absorption in macrophages, potentially stopping disease at the source. Even more promising, they found a second enzyme, NOS, that makes things worse—raising hopes that targeting both could pave the way for transformative treatments for millions suffering from inflammation-driven conditions.

Getting to CGT 4.0 Will Require New Tech and Better Data

CGT manufacturers need to get better at gathering process data to move manufacturing into the digital age according to a new study [Reptile8488/Getty Images]

Cell and gene therapy (CGT) production will only enter the digital age when the industry gets better at gathering process data, according to researchers, who say closed systems and advanced monitoring technologies will be vital.

Unlike in pharma, the fourth industrial revolution has not reached the CGT sector, according to Aleksander Szarzynski, a researcher at the Vienna University of Technology and co-author of a new study looking at cell and gene therapy production.

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