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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 2024

Jul 17, 2019

Could artificial intelligence be the future of cancer diagnosis?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

The authors of a recent paper believe that in the future, artificial intelligence might be able to tell benign from malignant lesions without a biopsy.

Jul 16, 2019

Elon Musk unveils Neuralink’s plans for brain-reading ‘threads’ and a robot to insert them

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, Elon Musk, mobile phones, robotics/AI

Elon Musk’s Neuralink, the secretive company developing brain-machine interfaces, showed off some of the technology it has been developing to the public for the first time. The goal is to eventually begin implanting devices in paralyzed humans, allowing them to control phones or computers.

Jul 16, 2019

Neurons and cancer cells are a dangerous duo

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

New research finds that neurons migrate from the brain to infiltrate cancer cells, and that targeting this process is a promising new method of attack on cancer.

Jul 16, 2019

In genetics and developmental biology

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension

In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory technique for creating an ovum with a donor nucleus. It can be used in embryonic stem cell research, or in regenerative medicine where it is sometimes referred to as “therapeutic cloning”.

https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/somatic-c…94yzh8K2uw

Jul 16, 2019

New clues on why women’s Alzheimer’s risk differs from men’s

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience, sex

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New research gives some biological clues to why women may be more likely than men to develop Alzheimer’s disease and how this most common form of dementia varies by sex.

At the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday, scientists offered evidence that the disease may spread differently in the brains of women than in men. Other researchers showed that several newly identified genes seem related to the disease risk by sex.

Two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases in the U.S. are in women and “it’s not just because we live longer,” said Maria Carrillo, the association’s chief science officer. There’s also “a biological underpinning” for sex differences in the disease, she said.

Jul 16, 2019

Rare disease discovery: Antibodies fighting cancer go on to attack brain

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A Sebastopol man is the first person to be diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition that was triggered by an earlier bout of cancer. The disease was identified by a team led by UCSF researchers using new technology to screen for autoimmune disorders.

Jul 16, 2019

Conjoined Twins, Linked at Skull, Are Separated in London Hospital

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Safa and Marwa Ullah, who were born in Pakistan, were separated in a 50-hour series of operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Jul 16, 2019

Gut microbes protect against neurologic damage from viral infections

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, neuroscience

Gut microbes produce compounds that prime immune cells to destroy harmful viruses in the brain and nervous system, according to a mouse study published today in eLife.

The findings suggest that having healthy and diverse microbiota is essential for quickly clearing viruses in the nervous system to prevent paralysis and other risks associated with diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

A condition that causes progressive damage to nerve cells, multiple sclerosis has become more common over the past several decades. Viral infections in the brain or spinal cord are thought to trigger this disease. Some scientists believe that changes in the way we eat, increased sanitation or growing antibiotic use may be causing detrimental changes in the that live within the human body, potentially increasing the risk of multiple sclerosis and other related diseases.

Jul 16, 2019

Targeting Notum Improves Tissue Regeneration

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have shown why the regenerative capacity of the cells lining the intestines declines with age and that targeting a particular enzyme can restore the regenerative potential of this tissue.

Notum blocks the Wnt pathway

During normal function, the cells of the intestinal epithelium, a single cell layer that forms the lining of both the small and large intestine, are replaced by stem cells, which create healthy replacement cells to counter losses from injury, damage, disease, and aging. These cells are roused into action via the Wnt signaling pathway, which is activated through signals sent by other cells in the tissue.

Jul 16, 2019

AI Drug Hunters Could Give Big Pharma a Run for Its Money

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics, health, robotics/AI

But a less-noticed win for DeepMind, the artificial-intelligence arm of Google’s parent Alphabet Inc., at a biennial biology conference could upend how drugmakers find and develop new medicines. It could also dial up pressure on the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies to prepare for a technological arms race. Already, a new breed of upstarts are jumping into the fray.


Alphabet’s DeepMind cracked a problem that long vexed biologists, heating up a technological arms race in health care.