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Category: biotech/medical – Page 186

Unknown organelle inside our cells discovered!

The discovery of an unknown organelle inside our cells could open the door to new treatments for devastating inherited diseases.

The organelle, a type of specialized structure, has been dubbed a “hemifusome” by its discoverers. This little organelle has a big job helping our cells sort, recycle and discard important cargo within themselves, the scientists say. The new discovery could help scientists better understand what goes wrong in genetic conditions that disrupt these essential housekeeping functions.

One such condition is Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can cause albinism, vision problems, lung disease and issues with blood clotting. Problems with how cells handle cargo are at the root of many such disorders.

The scientists believe hemifusomes facilitate the formation of vesicles, tiny blister-like sacs that act as mixing bowls, and of organelles made up of multiple vesicles. This process is critical to cellular sorting, recycling and debris disposal, the researchers report.

Tiny light-sensitive magnetic robots can clear up bacterial infections in sinuses

Tiny magnetic bots that are activated by light can clear bacterial infections deep in the sinus cavities, then be expelled by blowing out the nose.

A new study published in Science Robotics unveiled copper single–atom–doped bismuth oxoiodide microbots, each smaller than a grain of salt, that can be tracked and guided to the location of infection via X-ray imaging, thus providing a precise, minimally invasive therapeutic strategy for managing clinically.

Sinusitis is a common respiratory condition often linked to biofilm produced by bacteria like Streptococcus pyogenes. This condition causes inflammation of the sinus lining and leads to symptoms such as , reduced sense of smell, facial pain, and, in some dire cases, even memory impairment.

Rerouted bile acid thwarts tumor spread in colorectal cancer mouse model

Research led by the Department of General and Visceral Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Germany has found that bile acid diversion in Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) reduces colorectal tumor growth and metastasis independent of weight loss, potentially reshaping future cancer treatment approaches.

More than 2 billion adults worldwide are now overweight or obese, a condition marked by chronic low-grade inflammation and metabolic disruption that can promote tumor growth, increasing the risk of developing at least 15 types of cancer. In the United States alone, more than a third of adults face obesity, presenting an urgent public-health crisis.

Among various weight-loss interventions, , specifically RYGB, is not only effective in promoting sustained weight reduction but has intriguingly been linked to reduced cancer incidence. Whether these changes alone can slow or prevent colorectal cancer remains a question with critical implications for prevention and treatment.

Q&A: Companies are racing to develop the first useful quantum computer—ultracold neutral atoms could be the key

The race to build the first useful quantum computer is on and may revolutionize the world with brand new capabilities, from medicine to freight logistics.

Tech companies all want to take the crown, with Microsoft announcing the first of its kind quantum chip in February, only days before Google’s breakthrough on .

As the race heats up, companies are turning to a new ultracold solution—neutral atoms—which Swinburne University of Technology has been exploring and making discoveries in for two decades.

Low-intensity brain stimulation may restore neuron health in Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative condition that affects a significant proportion of older people worldwide. Synapses are points of communication between neural cells that are malleable to change based on our experiences. By adding, removing, strengthening, or weakening synaptic contacts, our brain encodes new events or forgets previous ones.

In AD, , the brain’s ability to regulate the strength of synaptic connections between neurons, is significantly disrupted. This worsens over time, reducing cognitive and memory functions and leading to reduced quality of life. To date, there is no effective cure for AD, and only limited treatments for managing the symptoms.

Studies have shown that (rTMS), a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that uses electromagnetic pulses to target specific brain regions, has therapeutic potential to manage dementia and related diseases. From previous studies, we know that rTMS can promote synaptic plasticity in healthy nervous systems. Moreover, it is already used to treat certain neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric conditions. However, individual responses to rTMS for AD management are variable, and the underlying mechanisms are not clearly understood.

How efficient, multi-pathogen PCR testing could transform diagnostics

“We need diagnostic methods that are more rapid, reliable and capable of detecting multiple pathogens simultaneously,” explains Thai, who is one of the grant recipients of the 2023–24 Seegene Open Innovation Programme. “We also need to ensure that these tools are widely accessible and effectively integrated into clinical and laboratory workflows.”

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which rose to worldwide fame during the COVID-19 pandemic, amplify tiny snippets of genetic material from pathogens in samples to levels that can be easily detected.

Seegene, a molecular diagnostics company based in Seoul, South Korea, has developed ‘syndromic multiplex PCR’ technology capable of detecting up to 14 pathogens in a single test.

The Path to Medical Superintelligence

Microsoft says it has developed an AI system that creates a ‘path to medical superintelligence’ that can deal with ‘diagnostically complex and intellectually demanding’ cases and diagnose disease four times more accurately than a panel of human doctors.

[ https://microsoft.ai/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/MAI-Dx-Orche…0x1498.jpg https://microsoft.ai/new/the-path-to-medical-superintelligence/

[ https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.22405](https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.

“Benchmarked against real-world case records published each week in the New England Journal of Medicine, we show that the Microsoft AI Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO) correctly diagnoses up to 85% of NEJM case proceedings, a rate more than four times higher than a group of experienced physicians. MAI-DxO also gets to the correct diagnosis more cost-effectively than physicians.”

AI that thinks like a doctor: a new era in medical diagnosis.

Imagine walking into a doctor’s office with a strange set of symptoms. Rather than jumping to conclusions, the doctor carefully asks questions, orders tests, and adjusts their thinking at every step based on what they learn. This back-and-forth process—called sequential diagnosis—is what real-world medicine is all about. But most AI systems haven’t been tested this way. Until now.

A new benchmark called Sequential Diagnosis is flipping the script.

Continue reading “The Path to Medical Superintelligence” | >

Fast targeted gene transfection and optogenetic modification of single neurons using femtosecond laser irradiation

Year 2013 face_with_colon_three Basically this is the light based nanotransfection version that can eventually be put on a simple smartphone or smartwatch that can be an entire hospital in one touch healing the entire body in one touch or just areas that need healing.

Antkowiak, M., Torres-Mapa, M., Witts, E. et al. Sci Rep 3, 3,281 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep03281

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