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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,711

Everything we know about the Indian COVID-19 variant so far

British prime minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his trip to India, with the country being added to the UK’s “red list” of restricted destinations. COVID-19 cases in India are rising sharply and a specific variant of the virus – B1617 – is becoming increasingly common there.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Scientists Just Bioprinted a Pancreas That Could End Diabetes

A company recently developed a novel system capable of printing biological tissue in a blindingly fast 30 seconds — creating a possible means of bringing an end to diabetes, according to a blog post shared on the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne’s (EPFL’s) official website.

A bioprinted pancreas might remove the need for animal testing! Check out how diabetes might end.

In ‘Moon Landing of Genomics,’ Scientists Sequence Ancient DNA From Dirt

No fossils necessary.

Scientists have achieved a breakthrough they’re comparing to the moon landing: sequencing a full ancient genome from soil samples.

How’s that on par with humans touching down on the lunar surface? Well, the research team from the University of Copenhagen found the entire genetic code of an ancient bear species without obtaining it from fossils, marking the very first time scientists have found genes outside the fossil record. And by gathering the DNA from the soil, these researchers gathered a bunch of examples, rather than just one single specimen’s genome.

The scientists found the ancient bear genetic material in the soil of Chiquihuite Cave in rural Mexico. Like the ancient Chauvet Cave in France, Chiquihuite contains some of the oldest human evidence in the world—but humans weren’t the only ones to use the caves.

Inhaled CRISPR Treatment Targets Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 Infections

A CRISPR-based treatment to stop the replication of both the flu virus and the virus that causes COVID-19 in mice. Moreover, the new treatment is delivered to the lungs via a nebulizer, which could make it simple for patients to administer themselves at home.

The treatment uses a type of CRISPR to target viral RNA and appears to stop replication of both viruses in the lungs.

Strange New Genetic Disease Discovered That Causes Children’s Brains to Develop Abnormally

One in 17 people will suffer from a rare disease at some time in their lives. Most of these rare diseases have a genetic cause and often affect children, but proving which gene change causes a disease is a huge challenge.

Scientists have discovered a new genetic disease, which causes some children’s brains to develop abnormally, resulting in delayed intellectual development and often early onset cataracts.

The majority of patients with the condition, which is so new it doesn’t have a name yet, were also microcephalic, a birth defect where a baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared to babies of the same sex and age.

Researchers from the universities of Portsmouth and Southampton found that changes in a gene called coat protein complex 1 (COPB1) caused this rare genetic disease.

Increased Longevity and Overpopulation

Any discussion of rejuvenation biotechnology almost certainly includes the subject of and the objection that medical advances that directly address the various processes of aging will lead to an overpopulated world. Such dire predictions are a common theme in many discussions involving advances in medicine that could increase human lifespans.

Overpopulation is a word that gives the simple fact of population growth a negative connotation. It implies that an increase in the number of people will harm our lives in different ways, such as famine, scarcity of resources, excessive population density, increased risks of infectious diseases, and harm to the environment.

This concern, first raised by the work of 18th century reverend and scholar Thomas Malthus, has been a constant theme in both popular fiction and early foresights related to population growth. However, is it actually well-founded? We will be taking a deeper look at the historical and present population data and showing why is unlikely to happen.

Bacterial Molecule Can Slow Sjögren’s Progression, Preclinical Study Suggests

Oral treatment with a bacterial protein known as colonization factor antigen I (CFA/I) fimbriae, from Escherichia coli bacteria, has been shown to protect against several autoimmune diseases, including arthritis and type 1 diabetes. Another bacteria, called Lactococcus lactis, was recently adapted to express CFA/I fimbriae. These bacteria were shown to effectively suppress inflammation by the induction of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) — which are negative regulators of the immune system, meaning they work to shut down excessive inflammatory responses.

Oral treatment with a molecule produced by bacteria, called colonization factor antigen I, can reduce or halt the progression of Sjögren’s syndrome, a mouse study suggests.

Researchers believe these findings provide the basis for future testing in patients with Sjögren’s.

The study, “Stimulation of regulatory T cells with Lactococcus lactis expressing enterotoxigenic E. coli colonization factor antigen 1 retains salivary flow in a genetic model of Sjögren’s syndrome,” was published in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.