Understanding unfolded proteins could boost drug discovery and decipher origins of life mysteries.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 215
An initially “unknown” illness affecting hundreds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be attributable to malaria, malnutrition and a viral infection. But investigations are ongoing.
In recent years, roboticists have developed a wide range of systems that could eventually be introduced in health care and assisted living facilities. These include both medical robots and robots designed to provide companionship or assistance to human users.
Researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology recently developed a robotic system that could give human users a massage that employs traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) techniques. This new robot, introduced in a paper on the arXiv preprint server, could eventually be deployed in health care, wellness and rehabilitation facilities as additional therapeutic tools for patients who are experiencing different types of pain or discomfort.
“We adopt an adaptive admittance control algorithm to optimize force and position control, ensuring safety and comfort,” wrote Yuan Xu, Kui Huang, Weichao Guo and Leyi Du in their paper. “The paper analyzes key TCM techniques from kinematic and dynamic perspectives and designs robotic systems to reproduce these massage techniques.”
Salt, or more precisely the sodium it contains, is very much a “Goldilocks” nutrient. Low sodium levels cause a drop in blood volume, which can have serious, sometimes deadly, health consequences. Conversely, too much salt can lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
In modern America, where most people consume a high-salt diet, almost no one is in danger of having too little salt. However, given the critical importance of sodium for body and brain functions, evolution has developed a powerful drive to consume salt in situations where there is a deficiency.
Understanding the brain circuitry that controls salt appetite has proved elusive, but now a new study by University of Iowa researchers has identified the first and, thus far, only neurons necessary for salt appetite.
Patients with late-stage cancer often have to endure multiple rounds of different types of treatment, which can cause unwanted side effects and may not always help.
In hopes of expanding the treatment options for those patients, MIT researchers have designed tiny particles that can be implanted at a tumor site, where they deliver two types of therapy: heat and chemotherapy.
This approach could avoid the side effects that often occur when chemotherapy is given intravenously, and the synergistic effect of the two therapies may extend the patient’s lifespan longer than giving one treatment at a time. In a study of mice, the researchers showed that this therapy completely eliminated tumors in most of the animals and significantly prolonged their survival.
It’s getting harder to harder to ignore the potential disruptive power of AI in research. Scientists are already using AI tools but could the future lead to complete replacement of humans? How will our scientific institutions transform? These are difficult questions but ones we have to talk about in today’s episode.
Written, presented \& edited by Prof. David Kipping.
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REFERENCES
► Smith \& Geach 2024, \
Scientists have developed imaging-guided, biodegradable microrobots that can be propelled acoustically or magnetically through tissues for targeted drug delivery and enhanced ultrasound imaging contrast.
New therapies that are less intrusive but more lasting than current interventions promise to arrest and even reverse neurodegeneration.
Scientists at The University of Manchester have achieved a significant breakthrough in using cyanobacteria—commonly known as “blue-green algae”—to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable bio-based materials.
Their work, published in Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, could accelerate the development of sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel-derived products like plastics, helping pave the way for a carbon-neutral circular bioeconomy.
The research, led by Dr. Matthew Faulkner, working alongside Dr. Fraser Andrews, and Professor Nigel Scrutton, focused on improving the production of citramalate, a compound that serves as a precursor for renewable plastics such as Perspex or Plexiglas. Using an innovative approach called “design of experiment,” the team achieved a remarkable 23-fold increase in citramalate production by optimizing key process parameters.
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Welcome to Impact Theory, I’m Tom Bilyeu and in today’s episode, Nick Bostrom and I dive into the moral and societal implications of AI as it becomes increasingly advanced.
Nick Bostrom is a leading philosopher, author, and expert on AI here to discuss the future of AI, its challenges, and its profound impact on society, meaning, and our pursuit of happiness.
We touch on treating AI with moral consideration, the potential centralization of power, automation of critical sectors like police and military, and the creation of hyper-stimuli that could impact society profoundly.
We also discuss Nick’s book, Deep Utopia, and what the ideal human life will look like in a future dominated by advanced technology, AI, and biotechnology.
Our conversation navigates through pressing questions about AI aligning with human values, the catastrophic consequences of powerful AI systems, and the need for deeper philosophical and ethical considerations as AI continues to evolve.