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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,487

Looking at a Human Face Triggers Activity in Our Brains Unlike Any Other Object

It may not feel like it, but our eyes are constantly making rapid, tiny movements called saccades, taking in new information as we focus our gaze on various things in the world. As we do so, our brains receive the input – and depending on what the object of our gaze is, it turns out the brain activity triggered can be quite unique.

“While we typically do not perceive our own eye movements, the abrupt change in visual input with each saccade has substantial consequences at the neuronal level,” researchers explain in a new study led by first author and cognitive neuroscientist Tobias Staudigl from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany.

In an experiment, Staudigl and fellow researchers worked with 13 epilepsy patients, who had electrodes implanted in their brains to monitor their condition. This kind of intervention can be helpful for brain scientists, so they often turn to such patients with electrodes already implanted, in case they’d be willing to volunteer their time.

An artificial intelligence invents 40,000 chemical weapons in just 6 hours

A.I. is only beginning to show what it can do for modern medicine.

In today’s society, artificial intelligence (A.I.) is mostly used for good. But what if it was not?

Naive thinking “The thought had never previously struck us. We were vaguely aware of security concerns around work with pathogens or toxic chemicals, but that did not relate to us; we primarily operate in a virtual setting. Our work is rooted in building machine learning models for therapeutic and toxic targets to better assist in the design of new molecules for drug discovery,” wrote the researchers in their paper. “We have spent decades using computers and A.I. to improve human health—not to degrade it. We were naive in thinking about the potential misuse of our trade, as our aim had always been to avoid molecular features that could interfere with the many different classes of proteins essential to human life.”

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Researchers from Collaborations Pharmaceuticals tweaked artificial intelligence to look for chemical weapons, and impressively enough the machine learning algorithm found 40,000 options in just six hours.

MIT researchers use simulation to train a robot to run at high speeds

Four-legged robots are nothing novel — Boston Dynamics’ Spot has been making the rounds for some time, as have countless alternative open source designs. But with theirs, researchers at MIT claim to have broken the record for the fastest robot run recorded. Working out of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the team says that they developed a system that allows the MIT-designed Mini Cheetah to learn to run by trial and error in simulation.

While the speedy Mini Cheetah has limited direct applications in the enterprise, the researchers believe that their technique could be used to improve the capabilities of other robotics systems — including those used in factories to assemble products before they’re shipped to customers. It’s timely work as the pandemic accelerates the adoption of autonomous robots in industry. According to an Automation World survey, 44.9% of the assembly and manufacturing facilities that currently use robots consider the robots to be an integral part of their operations.

Today’s cutting-edge robots are “taught” to perform tasks through reinforcement learning, a type of machine learning technique that enables robots to learn by trial and error using feedback from their own actions and experiences. When a robot performs a “right” action — i.e., an action that’ll lead it toward a desired goal, like stowing an object on a shelf — it receives a “reward.” When it makes a mistake, the robot either doesn’t receive a reward or is “punished” by losing a previous reward. Over time, the robot discovers ways to maximize its reward and perform actions that achieve the sought-after goal.

Bristol Myers lands $1.1B biobucks oncology pact with Volastra, a biotech with phones ‘ringing off the hook’

Ever since last year’s annual American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) meeting, Volastra’s phone has been “ringing off the hook,” according to CEO Charles Hugh-Jones, M.D. | Two years since its inception, Volastra Therapeutics is partnering with Bristol Myers Squibb for up to three oncology targets focused on chromosomal instability, a deal that could exceed $1.1 billion should the assets hit milestones.

Mutation protecting against Alzheimer’s edited into human cells

Treating brain diseases is also always difficult because of something called the “blood-brain barrier.” This wall of cells is designed to prevent toxins and pathogens from getting from the blood into the brain — but it also makes it hard to get treatments into the brain.

People with the Icelandic mutation are five times more likely to reach their 85 birthday without an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

The Icelandic variant: Scientists have identified a couple of differences between the brains of people with Alzheimer’s and those of healthy people.

Janice Chen, Nathan Chen’s sister, is building a $100 billion CRISPR gene editing company

Janice Chen, Ph.D., one of Olympic gold medalist Nathan Chen’s siblings, is on a mission to build a $100 billion biotech company.

In 2018, she co-founded Mammoth Biosciences with Trevor Martin, Lucas Harrington and Jennifer Doudna 0, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry two years later for her pioneering work in CRISPR gene editing. Doudna also served as Chen’s mentor while she pursued her doctorate degree in molecular and cell biology at the University of California at Berkeley.

Mammoth is built on Chen’s work as a graduate student researcher in Doudna’s lab. Since the dawn of COVID-19 in 2020, the startup has seen accelerated growth as it snagged $100 million in multiple contracts and government grants.

Bacteria in the Nose Can Sneak Into the Brain — May Increase Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

New research from Griffith University has shown that a bacterium commonly present in the nose can sneak into the brain and set off a cascade of events that may lead to Alzheimer’s disease.

Associate Professor Jenny Ekberg and colleagues from the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research at Menzies Health Institute Queensland and Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, in collaboration with Queensland University of Technology, have discovered that the bacterium Chlamydia pneumoniae can invade the brain via the nerves of the nasal cavity.

Prevent Aging within 20 Years? — Altos Labs’ Cellular Reprogramming Excitement

A little confusing. Cure aging in 20 years but you’re not a longevity company?

Altos Labs recently exited stealth mode to announce $3 billion in funding, reportedly from investors including Jeff Bezos, and a team full of Nobel Prize winners and pioneering scientists. However, the secretive company’s representatives insist that “Altos is not an anti-aging or longevity company”. Despite this, a key member of their scientific leadership recently publicly stated that he is convinced that, using the same technologies they are working with at Altos, we will be able to prevent aging within twenty years.

The scientist making these bold statements is Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a Spanish biologist who has spent years pioneering innovations in developmental biology, regenerative medicine and aging research at the Salk Institute.

In 2006, a study showed that it was possible to reprogram cells using just four master genes. These four reprogramming factors are often called the Yamanaka factors after one of their discoverers, Shinya Yamanaka, who also happens to be part of the Altos Labs team.

In 2016, Belmonte and his team of researchers at the Salk Institute demonstrated that the cells and organs of a living animal could be rejuvenated using cellular reprogramming.

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Altos Labs Explained: Jeff Bezos’ $3 Billion Gamble to Live Forever [Science Update March 2022]

How Jeff Bezos and Altos Labs are challenging death itself: The science of partial cellular reprogramming!

Hey it’s Han from WrySci-HX going over the science behind Altos Labs (the biotech company looking to extend healthspan and lifespan), news from the cultured meat industry, developments on a new device that can change your skin into nerve cells, and other science / technology happenings! More below ↓↓↓

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