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Category: biotech/medical – Page 20

Extract from “Evolution, Basal Cognition and Regenerative Medicine”, kindly contributed by Michael Levin in SEMF’s 2023 Interdisciplinary Summer School (https://semf.org.es/school2023/). Full talk: • Michael Levin | Evolution, Basal Cogn… TALK ABSTRACT Each of us has made the remarkable journey from a single cell (a quiescent oocyte) to a complex embodied mind. How do cells, which were once independent organisms, work together to pursue the anatomical and physiological goals that enable form and function to reliably self-assemble? In this talk, I will tell the story of the collective intelligence of cellular swarms that embodies William James’ definition of intelligence: same ends by different means. I will describe the amazing competencies of the morphogenetic process that builds bodies and minds, and our discoveries on bioelectricity — the cognitive glue that implements embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer suppression. I will end with a perspective on how biophysical, informational, and behavioral sciences are coming together to redefine the boundaries of the possible in biomedicine and beyond. MICHAEL LEVIN Department of Biology, Tufts University: https://as.tufts.edu/biology Tufts University profile: https://ase.tufts.edu/biology/labs/le… Institute profile: https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/associa… Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael… ) Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?… Twitter: / drmichaellevin LinkedIn: / michael-levin-b0983a6 SEMF NETWORKS Website: https://semf.org.es Twitter: / semf_nexus LinkedIn: / semf-nexus Instagram: / semf.nexus Facebook: / semf.nexus

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A new “atlas” developed by researchers at Duke University School of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and the University of Pittsburgh will increase precision in measuring changes in brain structure and make it easier to share results for scientists working to understand neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The tool, the Duke Mouse Brain Atlas, combines microscopic resolution, three-dimensional images from three different techniques to create a detailed map of the entire brain, from large structures down to and circuits.

“This is the first truly three-dimensional, stereotaxic of the mouse brain,” said G. Allan Johnson, Ph.D., Charles E. Putman University Distinguished Professor of Radiology at Duke. He is also professor in the Department of Physics and the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

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An investigational gene therapy has successfully restored immune function in all nine children treated with the rare and life-threatening immune disorder called severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency-I, or LAD-I, in an international clinical trial co-led by UCLA.

LAD-I is a genetic condition that affects approximately one in a million people in the world. It is caused by mutations in the gene that produces CD18, a protein that enables to travel from the bloodstream to infection sites.

In the absence of this critical protein, individuals with severe LAD-I—most of whom are diagnosed within their first months of life—are left vulnerable to dangerous, recurrent bacterial and fungal infections. Survival beyond childhood is rare without treatment.

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Aiming to reduce recurrent stroke in patients with embolic stroke of unknown source (ESUS), recent trials have compared direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) to aspirin, but results have been neutral. For example, the ARCADIA trial compared apixaban versus aspirin in patients with ESUS and evidence of atrial cardiopathy, finding no difference. Now, researchers report results of an MRI substudy of ARCADIA, in which patients underwent a baseline and end-of-study MRI. This analysis compares the rate of MRI-detected covert (silent), nonlacunar stroke in the two treatment groups.

Of the 1,015 patients in the parent trial, 310 patients enrolled in the MRI substudy, of whom 174 patients had image quality sufficient for analysis. In these 174 patients (mean age, 66 years; 48% women), the aspirin group had higher rates of diabetes (30% vs. 20%) and previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (26% vs. 15%). During a median follow-up of 811 days, the rate of covert nonlacunar infarcts was significantly lower in the apixaban group than the aspirin group (5% vs. 18%). However, rates of symptomatic nonlacunar stroke did not differ significantly between the two groups (4% apixaban, 8% aspirin; P =0.30).

This study is useful for hypothesis generation, but it is not conclusive. The patients in the MRI substudy were imbalanced in key baseline characteristics, and the small overall number of outcome events makes the results tenuous. Right now, DOACs are not first-line treatment for patients with ESUS-type strokes.

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Traditional biochemical methods of studying human gene mutations are often laborious and costly. Now bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new simple approach to rapidly check on human gene changes and also screen chemicals as potential drugs by turning everyday bacteria into living test tubes.

The researchers published their new study in the April 30 issue of Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Human cells carry thousands of genes, and tiny changes in these genes can cause serious diseases. Usually, scientists study these changes by testing proteins in a test tube or in human cells. But those methods can be slow, expensive and sometimes hard to do.

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Scientists have discovered that a medication already approved for treating multiple sclerosis and psoriasis shows remarkable promise in combating periodontitis, one of the leading causes of tooth loss worldwide.

Researchers from Wenzhou Medical University found that dimethyl fumarate (DMF) significantly reduced bone loss and inflammation in experimental models of gum disease by improving cellular “cleanup” mechanisms and shifting immune responses toward healing rather than destruction.

“Dimethyl fumarate’s ability to fine-tune macrophage polarization through mitophagy is a game-changer in periodontal therapy,” said Dr. Shengbin Huang, the study’s corresponding author. “By targeting the mitochondrial protein TUFM, we uncovered a molecular switch that controls the inflammatory response in gum tissue. These insights could redefine how we treat chronic inflammatory conditions beyond the oral cavity.”

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In the double-blind study, 29 patients with various mood and anxiety disorders received MRI-guided focused ultrasound to the left amygdala.

The results showed both immediate reductions in amygdala activity, and after three weeks of daily sessions, patients experienced clinically significant improvements in negative affect and symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD.

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Everything related to the human brain and neuroscience has always been an area in which specialists have said that there is much to discover, learn and investigate. In fact, the generation of memory in human beings, memories, and the different diseases that are clustered around the CPU of the body have always been constantly evolving.

Now, Dr. Tomas Ryan of Trinity College Dublin, a neuroscientist who has explored the issues of brain learning by tracking the cells involved in this process, has found new findings suggesting that memory formation depends on the connections between groups of engram cells, neurons thought to capture and store distinct experiences.

In this new research, the experts indicate that each experience leaves a pattern of neuronal activation that can be activated later, which would mean the creation of a memory. To reach this conclusion, the neuroscientists tracked two sets of engram cells, each linked to a different memory.

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A four-year-old boy with a life-threatening immune disease is now living a normal life thanks to a pioneering gene therapy trial.

Eisa Hussain, who suffers from a severe form of leukocyte adhesion deficiency 1 (LAD-1), can now play football and attend school – milestones his family once thought impossible.

LAD-1 cripples the immune system, leaving children vulnerable to infections. Without treatment, the most severe cases are often fatal before the age of two.

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A new jab which allows cancer patients to be treated with just one injection is set to be rolled out by the NHS for 15 different types of the disease.

Patients will be able to receive the immunotherapy in a vaccine, called nivolumab, in a treatment that will take just 15 minutes rather than spending an hour on an IV drip.

Around 1,200 patients a month will receive it for 15 different types of cancer, including skin, bladder and oesophageal cancer as England becomes the first country in Europe to offer it.

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