Some Drosophila species have cryptic sex-ratio drive systems. Here, the authors show rapid expansion of a driver gene family, Distorter on the X, in three closely related Drosophila species on the X chromosome and suppressors on the autosomes.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,636
Shapeshifting Microrobots that Fight Cancer on a Cellular Level
No, it’s not from a science fiction movie or from an episode of a popular kid’s television show. It’s real life. Researchers, in a proof-of-concept study, have made fish-shaped microrobots that are guided with magnets to cancer cells, where a pH change triggers them to open their mouths and release their chemotherapy cargo.
Scientists have previously made microscale (smaller than 100 µm) robots that can manipulate tiny objects, but most can’t change their shapes to perform complex tasks, such as releasing drugs. Some groups have made 4D-printed objects (3D-printed devices that change shape in response to certain stimuli), but they typically perform only simple actions, and their motion can’t be controlled remotely.
In a step toward biomedical applications for these devices, Jiawen Li, Li Zhang, Dong Wu and colleagues wanted to develop shape-morphing microrobots that could be guided by magnets to specific sites to deliver treatments. Because tumors exist in acidic microenvironments, the team decided to make the microrobots change shape in response to lowered pH.
Can Israel’s vaccine end the COVID-19 pandemic?
The vaccine candidate was originally developed by the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR), which operates under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office and works closely with the Defense Ministry.
The institute’s strategic and technical capabilities are shrouded in secrecy, but this week, The Jerusalem Post gained access to new data that show BriLife could be more effective against mutations and confer lasting immunity.
The Israeli vaccine could potentially address COVID better than other technologies, according to the CEO of NeuroRx.
Israeli oral COVID vaccine heads to Mexico, aims to fast-track approval
Oramed Pharmaceuticals, the developer of the Oravax oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate, has announced a partnership with Mexico’s Genomma Lab Internacional to help fast-track a Phase II clinical trial and gain emergency use authorization in the Latin American country.
Only about 58% of Mexico’s population has been jabbed with one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, averaging around 4,500 new cases per day.
Biden administration to buy Pfizer antiviral pills for 10 million people, hoping to transform pandemic
The Biden administration is expected to announce this week it is purchasing 10 million courses of treatment Pfizer’s covid pill, a multibillion dollar investment in a medication that officials hope will help change the trajectory of the pandemic by staving off many hospitalizations and deaths, according to two people with knowledge of the transaction.
-call me Nostradamus, but I called this.
Officials see Pfizer’s pill, and another by Merck, as potential gamechangers to tame the pandemic.
Wait what? FDA wants 55 years to process FOIA request over vaccine data
Freedom of Information Act requests are rarely speedy, but when a group of scientists asked the federal government to share the data it relied upon in licensing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the response went beyond typical bureaucratic foot-dragging.
55 years and longer.
That’s how long the Food & Drug Administration in court papers this week proposes it should be given to review and release the trove of vaccine-related documents responsive to the request. If a federal judge in Texas agrees, plaintiffs Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency can expect to see the full record in 2076.
Fountain’s $15m to “restore youthful resilience to cells”
“Fountain is an example of a biotech company emerging as a direct result of basic research, in this case the biology of aging,” said Dr Rando, founder and chairman of Fountain. “The company’s screening and discovery platform is built upon foundational research showing that the age of a cell can be modulated by factors in the cell’s environment. By identifying compounds that work through these pathways, we seek to restore youthful resilience to cells and tissues, leading to therapies that treat or even prevent chronic diseases of aging.”
Longevity funding: Eli Lilly and R42 Group join the party as Khosla-backed biopharma brings total Series A to $26 million.
Smart Buildings Are Stupid Hard. Here’s How To Fix Them
Every one of us has a magical tool in our pockets or purses. We should be able to enter an unknown building, navigate to our desired location, know where the elevators are, and gain access seamlessly.
But we can’t.
Our buildings cost millions or even billions of dollars. They have the latest technology. But they don’t know how many people are in them. They don’t know when to turn the lights off, or learn when to start warming or cooling office or meeting space. They don’t reposition elevators for maximum efficiency, and they can’t tell first responders where the fire is, where the medical emergency is, or what the quickest route up is. Nor can they tell occupants that the air is clean today, or that there’s an elevated level of volatile organic compounds because the floors were just waxed yesterday.
Dr Patrick van der Smagt, Director, ArtificiaI Intelligence Research, Volkswagen AG — Head Argmax.AI
Fundamental Research On Ethical & Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, For Health, Environment, And A Sustainable Future — Dr. Patrick van der Smagt, Ph.D., Director, ArtificiaI Intelligence Research, Volkswagen.
Dr. Patrick van der Smagt is Director of ArtificiaI Intelligence Research, Volkswagen AG, and Head of Argmax. AI (https://argmax.ai/), the Volkswagen Group Machine Learning Research Lab, in Munich, focusing on a range of research domains, including probabilistic deep learning for time series modelling, optimal control, reinforcement learning robotics, and quantum machine learning.
Dr. van der Smagt is also a research professor in the Computer Science faculty at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest.
Dr. van der Smagt previously directed a lab as professor for machine learning and biomimetic robotics at the Technical University of Munich while leading the machine learning group at the research institute fortiss, and before that, founded and headed the Assistive Robotics and Bionics Lab at DLR, the German Aerospace Center.
Besides publishing numerous papers and patents on machine learning, robotics, and motor control, Dr. van der Smagt has won a number of awards, including the 2013 Helmholtz-Association Erwin Schrödinger Award, the 2014 King-Sun Fu Memorial Award, the 2013 Harvard Medical School/MGH Martin Research Prize, the 2018 Webit Best Implementation of AI Award, and best-paper awards at various machine learning and robotics conferences and journals.
Chemist discovers new opioid in DC, alerts first responders using Narcan for overdoses
A chemist in D.C.’s crime lab has discovered a new synthetic opioid being used on the streets of the District. The lab immediately alerted first responders about the possibility the drug could be resistant to the lifesaving antidote Narcan.
As part of her work testing used syringes to surveil the drug supply for new threats, chemist Alexandra Evans discovered the first known sample of Protonitazene in D.C.