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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 1709

Jan 28, 2020

In addition to the coronavirus, Brazil reports another deadly threat: the arenavirus

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Authorities admit one death from hemorrhagic fever caused by the new virus.

Jan 28, 2020

KQ passenger from Guangzhou quarantined over fears of coronavirus

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government, health

A Kenya Airways passenger who arrived from Guangzhou with flu-like symptoms has been quarantined at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) over fears of the coronavirus.

A statement from Kenya Airways confirmed that the Kenyan passenger had travelled to Nairobi from Guangzhou on Tuesday.

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Jan 28, 2020

Clock and TMRCA based on 27 genomes

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Estimates of the clock and TMRCA for 2019-nCoV based on 27 genomes.

Kristian Andersen, Scripps Research

[email protected]

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Jan 27, 2020

The Startling Secret of an Invincible Virus

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

This could be used to create super immune cells in crispr.


A phage that resists all forms of the antiviral defense known as CRISPR has an unusual means of survival.

Jan 27, 2020

Synthetic human reproduction could be a whole new way to make babies

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Scientists are trying to manufacture eggs and sperm in the laboratory. Will it end reproduction as we know it?

Jan 27, 2020

Mutations in donors’ stem cells may cause problems for cancer patients

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, health

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that bone marrow — or blood stem cells — from healthy donors can harbor extremely rare mutations that can cause health problems for the cancer patients who receive them.


A stem cell transplant — also called a bone marrow transplant — is a common treatment for blood cancers, such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Such treatment can cure blood cancers but also can lead to life-threatening complications, including heart problems and graft-versus-host disease, in which new immune cells from the donor attack a patient’s healthy tissues.

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that extremely rare, harmful genetic mutations present in healthy donors’ stem cells — though not causing health problems in the donors — may be passed on to cancer patients receiving stem cell transplants. The intense chemo- and radiation therapy prior to transplant and the immunosuppression given after allow cells with these rare mutations the opportunity to quickly replicate, potentially creating health problems for the patients who receive them, suggests the research, published Jan. 15 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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Jan 27, 2020

CRISPR takes on Huntington’s disease

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical

Circa 2018


Gene editing offers the prospect of curing the inherited neurodegenerative condition in a single dose.

Jan 27, 2020

Chip Walter, “Immortality, Inc”

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, business, internet, life extension, Ray Kurzweil, robotics/AI

Chip Walter discusses his book, “Immortality, Inc”, at Politics and Prose.

Living forever has always been a dream, but with today’s science, technology, and visionary billionaires, it may be a distinct possibility. At the very least, as Walter reports in this compelling investigation, immortality researchers are changing the way we view aging and death. Looking at the science, business, and culture of this radical endeavor, Walter, a science journalist, author of Last Ape Standing, and former CNN bureau chief, lays out the latest research into stem cell rejuvenation, advanced genomics, and artificial intelligence; talks to key thinkers such as Ray Kurzweil and Aubrey de Grey; and takes us into the Silicon Valley labs of human genomics trailblazer Craig Venter and molecular biologist and Apple chairman Arthur Levinson. Walter is in conversation with Hilary Black, executive editor at National Geographic Books.

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Jan 27, 2020

Lassa fever outbreak kills dozens in Nigeria

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government

At least 29 killed and 195 cases of the disease confirmed in the latest outbreak to hit the country, government says.

Jan 27, 2020

First heart surgery performed using iPS cells

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A Japanese group of researchers says it has conducted heart surgery using sheets of heart muscle cells made from iPS cells.

Induced pluripotent stem cells are created from reprogrammed human cells and can develop into various kinds of body tissue.

The Osaka University team, led by Professor Yoshiki Sawa, aims to establish a treatment for patients with serious heart disease by restoring the organ’s function. The team’s surgery involves putting sheets of heart muscle cells derived from iPS in a patient’s heart.