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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,712

Researchers build first modular quantum brain sensor, record signal

A team of scientists at the University of Sussex have for the first time built a modular quantum brain scanner, and used it to record a brain signal. This is the first time a brain signal has been detected using a modular quantum brain sensor anywhere in the world. It’s a major milestone for all researchers working on quantum brain imaging technology because modular sensors can be scaled up, like Lego bricks. The team have also connected two sensors like Lego bricks, proving that whole-brain scanning using this method is within reach—as detailed in their paper, which is published today in pre-print. This has not been possible with the currently commercially available quantum brain sensors from the United States.

These modular devices work like play bricks in that they can be connected together. This opens up the potential for whole– scanning using quantum technology, and potential advances for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

The device, which was built at the Quantum Systems and Devices laboratory at the university, uses ultra-sensitive quantum to pick up these tiniest of magnetic fields to see inside the brain in order to map the neural activity.

Google has mapped a piece of human brain in the most detail ever

Google has helped create the most detailed map yet of the connections within the human brain. It reveals a staggering amount of detail, including patterns of connections between neurons, as well as what may be a new kind of neuron.

The brain map, which is freely available online, includes 50000 cells, all rendered in three dimensions. They are joined together by hundreds of millions of spidery tendrils, forming 130 million connections called synapses. The data set measures 1.4 petabytes, roughly 700 times the storage capacity of an average modern computer.

The data set is so large that the researchers haven’t studied it in detail, says Viren Jain at Google Research in Mountain View, California. He compares it to the human genome, which is still being explored 20 years after the first drafts were published.

New research in protein sequencing poised to transform medicine

While DNA provides the genetic recipe book for biological form and function, it is the job of the body’s proteins to carry out the complex commands dictated by DNA’s genetic code.

Stuart Lindsay, a researcher at the Biodesign Institute at ASU, has been at the forefront of efforts to improve rapid DNA sequencing and has more recently applied his talents to explore the much thornier problem of sequencing molecules, one molecule at a time.

In a new overview article, Lindsay’s efforts are described along with those of international colleagues, who are applying a variety of innovative strategies for protein sequencing at the single-cell, and even single-molecule level.

New discovery shows human cells can write RNA sequences into DNA

Cells contain machinery that duplicates DNA into a new set that goes into a newly formed cell. That same class of machines, called polymerases, also build RNA messages, which are like notes copied from the central DNA repository of recipes, so they can be read more efficiently into proteins. But polymerases were thought to only work in one direction DNA into DNA or RNA. This prevents RNA messages from being rewritten back into the master recipe book of genomic DNA. Now, Thomas Jefferson University researchers provide the first evidence that RNA segments can be written back into DNA, which potentially challenges the central dogma in biology and could have wide implications affecting many fields of biology.

“This work opens the door to many other studies that will help us understand the significance of having a mechanism for converting RNA messages into DNA in our own cells,” says Richard Pomerantz, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Thomas Jefferson University. “The reality that a human can do this with high efficiency, raises many questions.” For example, this finding suggests that RNA messages can be used as templates for repairing or re-writing genomic DNA.

The work was published June 11th in the journal Science Advances.

Scientists 3D-print human liver tissue in a lab, win top prizes in NASA challenge

Scientists have successfully grown liver tissue capable of functioning for 30 days in the lab as part of NASA’s Vascular Tissue Challenge.

In 2016, NASA put forth this competition to find teams that could “create thick, vascularized human organ tissue in an in-vitro environment to advance research and benefit medicine on long-duration missions and on Earth,” according to an agency challenge description. Today (June 9), the agency announced not one, but two winners of the challenge.

Stem cell therapy successful repairs spinal cord injury

The results of the study have been extremely encouraging, with 12 of the 13 patients showing signs of improved neurological functionality shortly after the treatment was administered. More than half of the patients showed significant improvement, including regaining the ability to walk, as well as regaining fine motor control (such as the ability to use their hands).

Unlike many stem cell treatments which have been successful in the past, this approach does not require the patient to have a reserve of stem cells available (such as cord blood cells), and instead relies on stem cells which are obtained directly from the patient. A bone marrow sample was extracted in order to first acquire a sample of stem cells (known as mesenchymal stem cells), which were then grown (expanded) in a laboratory for the number of weeks before being injected into the patient’s bloodstream via intravenous injection. These cells would then migrate to the spinal cord and repair the damaged tissue.



Across China, AI city brains are changing how the government runs

It is called the “city brain”, an artificial intelligence system that is now being used across China – only megacities could afford them before – for everything from pandemic contact tracing to monitoring illegal public assemblies and river pollution.

Authorities at all levels are now using AI for everything from pandemic control to monitoring illegal public assemblies.

Researchers create self-sustaining, intelligent, electronic microsystems from green material

A research team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst has created an electronic microsystem that can intelligently respond to information inputs without any external energy input, much like a self-autonomous living organism. The microsystem is constructed from a novel type of electronics that can process ultralow electronic signals and incorporates a device that can generate electricity “out of thin air” from the ambient environment.

The groundbreaking research was published June 7 in the journal Nature Communications.

Jun Yao, an assistant professor in the electrical and computer engineering (ECE) and an adjunct professor in biomedical engineering, led the research with his longtime collaborator, Derek R. Lovley, a Distinguished Professor in microbiology.

Mass of Human Chromosomes Measured for the First Time – Mysteriously Heavier Than Expected

The mass of human chromosomes, which contain the instructions for life in nearly every cell of our bodies, has been measured with X-rays for the first time in a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers.

For the study, published in Chromosome Research, researchers used a powerful X-ray beam at the UK’s national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source, to determine the number of electrons in a spread of 46 chromosomes which they used to calculate mass.

They found that the chromosomes were about 20 times heavier than the DNA they contained – a much larger mass than previously expected, suggesting there might be missing components yet to be discovered.

Drop in childhood vaccinations during pandemic may raise risk of other outbreaks when schools reopen, CDC says

The American Academy of Pediatrics also called on parents Thursday to get their children up-to-date on routine shots as families prepare for the return of in-person classes in the fall.

“We understand many families understandably delayed visits to their doctors during the pandemic,” Yvonne Maldonado, who chairs the group’s committee on infectious diseases, said in a statement. “We urge families to get their children caught up with their routine immunizations now. States have begun opening up, and as families move about in their community, we are concerned that we could see outbreaks of measles, whooping cough and other life-threatening diseases that could spread rapidly.”

The CDC data from 10 jurisdictions provides further evidence of the pandemic’s impact on routine childhood and adolescent vaccination rates, which were documented last year as parents across the country canceled well-child checkups to avoid coronavirus exposure.