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Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,776

Scientists Develop Novel Class of Antibiotic against Wide Range of Bacteria

Wistar Institute scientists have designed a new class of antimicrobial compound, which, they claim, uniquely combines direct antibiotic killing of pan drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria, with a simultaneous rapid immune response for combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The team claims the dual-acting immuno-antibiotics (DAIA) strategy could represent a “landmark” in the fight against AMR.

“We took a creative, double-pronged strategy to develop new molecules that can kill difficult-to-treat infections while enhancing the natural host immune response,” said Farokh Dotiwala, MBBS, PhD, assistant professor in the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center and lead author of the team’s work, which is reported in Nature, in a paper titled, “IspH inhibitors kill Gram-negative bacteria and mobilize immune clearance.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared AMR to be one of the top 10 global public health threats against humanity, and it is estimated that by 2050, antibiotic-resistant infections could claim 10 million lives each year and impose a cumulative $100 trillion burden on the global economy. The list of bacteria that are becoming resistant to treatment with all available antibiotic options is growing and few new drugs are in the pipeline, creating a pressing need for new classes of antibiotics to prevent public health crises.

New videos show RNA as it’s never been seen

A new Northwestern University-led study is unfolding the mystery of how RNA molecules fold themselves to fit inside cells and perform specific functions. The findings could potentially break down a barrier to understanding and developing treatments for RNA-related diseases, including spinal muscular atrophy and perhaps even the novel coronavirus.

“RNA folding is a that is fundamental for life,” said Northwestern’s Julius B. Lucks, who led the study. “RNA is a really important piece of diagnostic and therapeutic design. The more we know about RNA folding and complexities, the better we can design treatments.”

Using data from RNA-folding experiments, the researchers generated the first-ever data-driven movies of how RNA folds as it is made by cellular machinery. By watching their videos of this folding occur, the researchers discovered that RNA often folds in surprising, perhaps unintuitive ways, such as tying itself into knots—and then immediately untying itself to reach its final structure.

Humans would be unable to control an artificial superintelligence

We are fascinated by machines that can control cars, compose symphonies, or defeat people at chess, Go, or Jeopardy! While more progress is being made all the time in artificial intelligence (AI), some scientists and philosophers warn of the dangers of an uncontrollable superintelligent AI. Using theoretical calculations, an international team of researchers, including scientists from the Center for Humans and Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, shows that it would not be possible to control a superintelligent AI. Their study is published in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research.

Suppose in the not-too-distant future that a research team builds an AI system with intelligence superior to that of humans, so it can learn independently. Connected to the Internet, the AI would have access to all of humanity’s data. It could replace existing programs and take control of all machines globally.

Would this produce a utopia or a dystopia? Would the AI cure cancer, bring about world peace, and prevent a climate disaster? Or would it destroy humanity and take over the Earth?

Memory May Be Preserved in Condition With Brain Changes Similar to Alzheimer’s Disease

Summary: While 40% of people with primary progressive aphasia have underlying Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests they may not develop the memory problems associated with Alzheimer’s.

Source: AAN

Primary progressive aphasia is a rare neurodegenerative condition characterized by prominent language problems that worsen over time. About 40% of people with the condition have underlying Alzheimer’s disease. But a new study has found that people with the condition may not develop the memory problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The study is published in the January 132021, online issue of Neurology.

Cities prepare for home delivery by drone

The Federal Aviation Administration has released new and looser rules for flying drones over highly populated areas and at night, effectively laying a welcome mat for future aerial deliveries of takeout food, Amazon packages, prescription drugs — you name it.

Why it matters: While the prospect of Jetsons-style convenience with less street gridlock is tantalizing, there are still plenty of logistical hurdles, and it will take some time for cities to figure out how to manage low-altitude air traffic as routinely as they do today’s road traffic.

Driving the news: FAA rules — handed down late last month — will require drones flying over cities to use remote identification technology, so people on the ground can tell what they’re doing and who owns them.

Inhibiting KGA-dependent glutaminolysis in mice found to eliminate senescent cells

A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions across Japan has found that inhibiting kidney-type glutaminase-dependent glutaminolysis in mice can lead to elimination of senescent cells. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes using RNA interference to look for enzymes that are required for senescent cell survival and subsequently inducing them to die. Christopher Pan and Jason Locasale, with the Duke University School of Medicine, have published a Perspectives piece in the same journal issue outlining research into glutamine and the role it played in the work done by the team in this new effort.

Cells are described as senescent when they lose the ability to divide. Prior research has found that can reach senescence due to exposure to stress, which can include mitochondrial, replicative or oxidative stress. In all cases, the cells live and continue to function, but can no longer divide. Prior research has found evidence suggesting that senescent cells play a role in the development of some aging-related diseases such as arteriosclerosis and muscle degeneration. For that reason, scientists have been looking for ways to eliminate them. In this new effort, the researchers have found a way to rid test mice of senescent cells by removing a pathway necessary for their continued survival.

The work involved a screening effort using RNA interference to look for enzymes that senescent cells need to survive. This led them to look closer at glutamine metabolism, specifically glutaminase 1. Testing showed it to be critical to survival for senescent cells. The team then inhibited the glutaminase 1 pathway in test mice. After allowing time for the changes to take effect, the researchers found that inhibiting the pathway led to the deaths of senescent cells. In the longer term, they found that it also reduced age-related organ problems and also related to obesity.

Even the NY Times is Noting That: The Future of the Coronavirus? An Annoying Childhood Infection!

It’s good that they’re finally looking at the science.

The New York Times is now noting that “once most adults are immune — following natural infection or vaccination” the virus will enter its endemic phase and corona “will be no more of a threat than the common cold, according to a study published in the journal Science on Tuesday.”

Once immunity is widespread in adults, the virus rampaging across the world will come to resemble the common cold, scientists predict.

This concept is, of course, entirely different from the earlier, reviled concept of “herd immunity,” which was so successfully dismissed by the New York Times and a great many other publications of record last spring.

For the for story, check out the January 12th, 2021 New York Times post, “The Future of the Coronavirus? An Annoying Childhood Infection.”

Designer cytokine makes paralyzed mice walk again

To date, paralysis resulting from spinal cord damage has been irreparable. With a new therapeutic approach, scientists from the Department for Cell Physiology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) headed by Professor Dietmar Fischer have succeeded for the first time in getting paralyzed mice to walk again. The keys to this are the protein hyper-interleukin-6, which stimulates nerve cells to regenerate, and the way how it is supplied to the animals. The researchers published their report in the journal Nature Communications from 15 January 2021.

Spinal cord injuries caused by sports or traffic accidents often result in permanent disabilities such as paraplegia. This is caused by damage to nerve fibers, so-called axons, which carry information from the brain to the muscles and back from the skin and muscles. If these fibers are damaged due to injury or illness, this communication is interrupted. Since severed axons in the spinal cord can’t grow back, the patients suffer from paralysis and numbness for life. To date, there are still no treatment options that could restore the lost functions in affected patients.