Name: Travis Chen and Brian Femminella
Age: 22 and 21
Location: Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles, California.
Business: SoundMind, a music therapy app designed for those experiencing trauma, depression 0, and anxiety.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 1,804
Why is No One Talking About “Informed Consent?”
Informed consent not something we hear a lot about these days, which is kind of odd, given all the drugs our government currently insists that we take and how often those very same legal concepts are invoked for aboriginal rights and sexual assault cases.
“Informed consent” is a well understood legal doctrine in healthcare, requiring the healthcare provider (traditionally a doctor) to educate patients about the risks, benefits, and alternatives of any given recommended procedure or intervention, allowing the patient to make informed and “voluntary” decisions about whether to undergo the procedure.
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.