A Chinese surgeon has announced that he will conduct the world’s first transplant of an entire human head within the next year, much to the dismay of medical leaders across the globe.
© AP photo/ sam riley, mass general hospital via AP.
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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2698
Biometrics using DNA along with other recognition technology brings additional identity protection; however, is it just me or are others understanding the risk with our DNA and other bio info being online given the existing weak infrastructure and under pinning technology. Without a QC secured internet and infrastructure; I would hesitate having my bio/ DNA information online for hackers and terrorists.
Once your identity with the DNA is online; it will be extremely hard to do a reset button on your identity because things like an id number such as a US Social Security number, etc. can be changed; but DNA identity is not that achievable even with CRISPR.
The official Yili Daily reported that from the first of June, residents of the Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in China’s far northwest must present the police with DNA samples, fingerprints, voice prints and a “three-dimensional image” when applying for travel documents.
Members of the majorly Muslim Uighur community in Xinjiang complain of discrimination, especially facing denials of passport applications including limits placed on their culture and religion.
Based on the paper, the new policy that came into effect before the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan which started on Monday, refers to applications for and renewals of passports, entry permits to Taiwan and two-way permits to Hong Kong and Macau.
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Wearing a specifically designed compression collar around the neck may prevent or reduce the devastating effects of head collisions in sports, two new studies have found.
The neck device, called a Q-Collar, is designed to press gently on the jugular vein to slow blood outflow increasing the brain’s blood volume, according to researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre in the US.
The resulting effect of the increased blood volume helps the brain fit tighter within the skull cavity, reducing the energy absorbed by the brain during collisions, researchers said.
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WEDNESDAY, June 15, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Brain cancer patients might benefit from an implantable ultrasound device that appears to enhance chemotherapy treatment, a small study says.
Researchers from the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris and other French institutions tested the experimental device on 15 patients with recurrent glioblastoma, a particularly deadly brain cancer. When the so-called SonoCloud was activated, sound waves opened the blood-brain barrier, letting in more chemotherapy, they said.
“The walls of the blood vessels in the brain are very difficult to cross for certain molecules,” said Frederic Sottilini, CEO of Paris-based CarThera, the company developing SonoCloud.
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Awesome!
University of Oklahoma researchers will apply a new analytical technology that could ultimately provide a powerful tool for improved treatment of cancer patients in Oklahoma and beyond. Using mass spectrometry, an analytical instrument for sensitive detection and accurate identification of molecules, the team will quantitate the amount of anti-cancer drugs present in individual cancer cells, including those in bladder cancer cells isolated from patients undergoing chemotherapy. The method will provide a means to establish ideal dosing regimens that delivers effective chemotherapeutic concentrations to patients with minimal toxicities.
Anthony Burgett and Zhibo Yang, assistant professors in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the OU College of Arts and Sciences, and affiliates of the Stephenson Cancer Center, in collaboration with Jonathan E. Heinlen, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Urology at the OU Health Sciences Center and a Stephenson Cancer Center researcher, will fully develop the novel first-in-class mass spectrometric technology—the Single Probe—capable of performing single-cell mass spectrometry of compounds inside of living single cancer cells as a bioanalytical method to improve efficacy and toxicities of chemotherapy in patients.
“One clear lesson from scientific progress is that new technologies often lead to major advances. This new single cancer cell mass spectrometry analysis could propel us forward to a new frontier in biological analysis, and we are excited to see where this technology, with its possible scientific and biomedical applications, could lead,” said Burgett.
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I told many people that this was coming a few years ago; so glad. Wait until you see smart meds that people can never become addicted or overdose on because the smart med reads your system and knows when enough is enough.
The security solutions company uses botanical-DNA based tools to tag, track, and trace products for an array of industries. Now with the hire of a personal care supply chain management expert, the company is set to expand its engagement with the industry.
This week the Stony Brook, New York–based company announced that Barbara Brockway has accepted the role of Director of Personal Care.
Besides her experience in supply chain management, Brockway is also well versed in cosmetics formulation, food science, and branding, according to the company bio included in the statement announcing her appointment.
Interesting.
A team of Melbourne researchers believe they have discovered a new immune cell which is able to fight the infectious and potentially lethal bacteria, Legionella.
A team of specialist immunologists and microbiologists from the University of Melbourne and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity conducted a study which was able to determine a new cell type responsible for combating the attack of the bacteria.
The team was able to break down the impact of the legion of immune cells in the lung, which communicate to destroy the legionella bacteria.
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When cancer hits, your immune system shuts down. Over the past 5–10 years, research into cancer has therefore increasingly focused on helping the immune system start up again. Because if we succeed in that, there is much to indicate that this approach will prove significantly more effective than the aggressive, all encompassing chemotherapy treatments we currently use.
One of the initiatives in this area is the work of Professor Thomas Andresen from DTU Nanotech. He has recently been awarded a grant from Innovation Fund Denmark for a project in which biological nano-drones are used to train the immune system to recognize cancer cells; and kill them.
This is something it cannot do on its own, because cancer cells are adept at concealing themselves. It is true that when chemotherapy or radiotherapy is used to kill cancer cells today, the immune system steps in afterwards to clear away the dead cells, but it doesn’t learn anything from the process. This is what Thomas Andresen is looking to change.
“The strategy is for us to start by using radiation therapy to kill a small number of cancer cells. While the immune system is working to clear up after the attack, we send in our drones, which emit substances that place the immune system in ‘emergency response mode’. It then orders the body’s T-cells to attack the cancer cells. And because cancer cells are slightly different to other cells in the body, we can make them react to specific proteins on the surface of these cells, so only the hazardous cells are targeted,” explains Thomas Andersen.
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After axonal injury, nearby mitochondria become incapable of producing ATP, as indicated by their change in color from yellow (healthy) to green (damaged) (credit: Zhou et al., 2016)
Boosting the transport of mitochondria (cell energy suppliers) along neuronal axons enhances the ability of mouse nerve cells to repair themselves and regrow after injury or disease, researchers at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke report in The Journal of Cell Biology.
Neurons need large amounts of energy to extend their axons long distances through the body. This energy — in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — is provided by mitochondria.
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