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Category: biotech/medical – Page 123

Portable bio-battery uses living hydrogels for targeted nerve signal modulation

Bio-batteries constructed by electroactive microorganisms have unique advantages in physiological monitoring, tissue integration, and powering implantable devices due to their superior adaptability and biocompatibility. However, the development of miniaturized and portable bio-batteries that are plug and play and compatible with existing devices remains a challenge.

In a study published in Advanced Materials, a team led by Zhong Chao, Liu Zhiyuan, and Wang Xinyu from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, collaborating with Wang Renheng from the Shenzhen University, developed a miniaturized, portable bio-battery that enables precise control over bioelectrical stimulation and physiological blood pressure signals.

The researchers encapsulated Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 biofilms within alginate hydrogels to develop living hydrogels, which can be 3D printed into defined geometries for customized fabrication. Inspired by lithium-ion battery fabrication, they developed a miniaturized bio-battery (20 mm in diameter, 3.2 mm in height) using living hydrogel as the bio-anode ink, K3[Fe(CN)6]-containing alginate hydrogel as the cathode ink, and a Nafion membrane as the ion exchange membrane.

Depression and other mental health conditions linked to immune response, study finds

Depression, schizophrenia and other mental health conditions affect 1 in 4 people in their lifetime, but the mechanisms underlying these conditions are poorly understood. New research led by researchers at the University of Bristol has linked the body’s immune response with schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and bipolar disorder. The study demonstrates mental health conditions might be affected by the whole body as well as changes in the brain. The findings could pave the way for better treatments of some mental health conditions.

The work appears in Molecular Psychiatry.

Most people with depression or are treated with drugs that work on brain chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine. However, one in three people with these conditions do not benefit from these treatments, suggesting that other mechanisms are involved.

Blood droplets on inclined surfaces reveal new cracking patterns

Drying droplets have fascinated scientists for decades. From water to coffee to paint, these everyday fluids leave behind intricate patterns as they evaporate. But blood is far more complex—a colloidal suspension packed with red blood cells, plasma proteins, salts, and countless biomolecules.

As blood dries, it leaves behind a complex microstructural pattern—cracks, rings, and folds—each shaped by the interplay of its cellular components, proteins, and evaporation dynamics. These features form a kind of physical fingerprint, quietly recording the complex interplay of physics that unfolded during the desiccation of the droplet.

In our recent experiments, we explored how blood droplets dry by varying both their size—from tiny 1-microliter drops to larger 10-microliter ones—and the angle of the surface, from completely horizontal to a steep 70° incline. Using an , a , and a surface profiler, we tracked how the droplets dried, shrank and cracked.

Potential Global Threat: This Mysterious Virus Is Spreading Quietly Across Latin America

“Our data shows that Oropouche virus is massively under-diagnosed in Latin America,” says Drexler, who also conducts research at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). “In some areas, at least one person in ten has experienced a prior infection with the pathogen.”

More widespread than thought – but still insufficiently investigated

Oropouche virus causes nonspecific symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, pain in the limbs, and, in some cases, nausea and skin rashes. For a long time, the disease was considered to be predominantly mild, and reports of more severe bouts, including meningitis, were rare.

Skin Test Detects Neurodegenerative Disease PSP with High Accuracy

This could also have a negative impact on research since patients with PSP may be misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and be included in a trial that targets the wrong protein, influencing the results.

The research that led to the PSP breakthrough has roots in an earlier study. In previous research, Martinez-Valbuena and his colleagues developed a test that could detect misfolded alpha synuclein protein in the skin in patients with Parkinson’s.

Researchers have since validated that assay and hope it can be used in clinical trials, although the test is not yet available for clinical diagnoses.

Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere | Michael Levin

Extract from “Evolution, Basal Cognition and Regenerative Medicine”, kindly contributed by Michael Levin in SEMF’s 2023 Interdisciplinary Summer School (https://semf.org.es/school2023/). Full talk: • Michael Levin | Evolution, Basal Cogn… TALK ABSTRACT Each of us has made the remarkable journey from a single cell (a quiescent oocyte) to a complex embodied mind. How do cells, which were once independent organisms, work together to pursue the anatomical and physiological goals that enable form and function to reliably self-assemble? In this talk, I will tell the story of the collective intelligence of cellular swarms that embodies William James’ definition of intelligence: same ends by different means. I will describe the amazing competencies of the morphogenetic process that builds bodies and minds, and our discoveries on bioelectricity — the cognitive glue that implements embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer suppression. I will end with a perspective on how biophysical, informational, and behavioral sciences are coming together to redefine the boundaries of the possible in biomedicine and beyond. MICHAEL LEVIN Department of Biology, Tufts University: https://as.tufts.edu/biology Tufts University profile: https://ase.tufts.edu/biology/labs/le… Institute profile: https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/associa… Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael… ) Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?… Twitter: / drmichaellevin LinkedIn: / michael-levin-b0983a6 SEMF NETWORKS Website: https://semf.org.es Twitter: / semf_nexus LinkedIn: / semf-nexus Instagram: / semf.nexus Facebook: / semf.nexus

3D mouse brain atlas promises to accelerate studies of neurological disorders

A new “atlas” developed by researchers at Duke University School of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and the University of Pittsburgh will increase precision in measuring changes in brain structure and make it easier to share results for scientists working to understand neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The tool, the Duke Mouse Brain Atlas, combines microscopic resolution, three-dimensional images from three different techniques to create a detailed map of the entire brain, from large structures down to and circuits.

“This is the first truly three-dimensional, stereotaxic of the mouse brain,” said G. Allan Johnson, Ph.D., Charles E. Putman University Distinguished Professor of Radiology at Duke. He is also professor in the Department of Physics and the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Investigational gene therapy gives children with rare immune disorder a new lease on life

An investigational gene therapy has successfully restored immune function in all nine children treated with the rare and life-threatening immune disorder called severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I, or LAD-I, in an international clinical trial co-led by UCLA.

LAD-I is a genetic condition that affects approximately one in a million people in the world. It is caused by mutations in the gene that produces CD18, a protein that enables to travel from the bloodstream to infection sites.

In the absence of this critical protein, individuals with severe LAD-I—most of whom are diagnosed within their first months of life—are left vulnerable to dangerous, recurrent bacterial and fungal infections. Survival beyond childhood is rare without treatment.

Can Covert Infarcts Be Prevented in Patients with Stroke and Atrial Cardiopathy?

Aiming to reduce recurrent stroke in patients with embolic stroke of unknown source (ESUS), recent trials have compared direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) to aspirin, but results have been neutral. For example, the ARCADIA trial compared apixaban versus aspirin in patients with ESUS and evidence of atrial cardiopathy, finding no difference. Now, researchers report results of an MRI substudy of ARCADIA, in which patients underwent a baseline and end-of-study MRI. This analysis compares the rate of MRI-detected covert (silent), nonlacunar stroke in the two treatment groups.

Of the 1,015 patients in the parent trial, 310 patients enrolled in the MRI substudy, of whom 174 patients had image quality sufficient for analysis. In these 174 patients (mean age, 66 years; 48% women), the aspirin group had higher rates of diabetes (30% vs. 20%) and previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (26% vs. 15%). During a median follow-up of 811 days, the rate of covert nonlacunar infarcts was significantly lower in the apixaban group than the aspirin group (5% vs. 18%). However, rates of symptomatic nonlacunar stroke did not differ significantly between the two groups (4% apixaban, 8% aspirin; P =0.30).

This study is useful for hypothesis generation, but it is not conclusive. The patients in the MRI substudy were imbalanced in key baseline characteristics, and the small overall number of outcome events makes the results tenuous. Right now, DOACs are not first-line treatment for patients with ESUS-type strokes.