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Category: biotech/medical – Page 27

Maternal microbes play a significant role in shaping early brain development, study suggests

Research from Michigan State University finds that microbes play an important role in shaping early brain development, specifically in a key brain region that controls stress, social behavior, and vital body functions.

The study, published in Hormones and Behavior, used a to highlight how natural microbial exposure not only impacts immediately after birth but may even begin influencing development while still in the womb. A mouse model was chosen because mice share significant biological and behavioral similarities with humans and there are no other alternatives to study the role of on brain development.

This work is of significance because modern obstetric practices, like peripartum and Cesarean delivery, disrupt maternal microbes. In the United States alone, 40% of women receive antibiotics around childbirth and one-third of all births occur via Cesarean section.

Scientists Identify How Young Blood Reverses Aging in Human Skin Cells

The idea of taking blood from the young to rejuvenate the elderly is getting an increasing amount of attention from scientists, and a new study has shown how some of the youthful properties of our skin can be restored with this kind of blood swap.

A special 3D human skin model was set up in the lab by researchers, who then tested the effects of young blood serum on the skin cells. By itself, the serum had no effect, but when bone marrow cells were added to the experiment, anti-aging signals were detected in the skin.

It appears that the young blood serum interacts with the bone marrow cells in specific ways to roll back time in skin cells. The study was led by scientists from Beiersdorf AG, a skin care company in Germany, who say their findings have huge potential in helping us understand anti-aging mechanisms.

Expansion in situ genome sequencing links nuclear abnormalities to aberrant chromatin regulation

Great paper which combines expansion microscopy and in situ genome sequencing to map chromatin structure and selected protein targets in cellular nuclei. ExIGS was then used to explore how lamin protein and genome organization within nuclei changes during aging. #systemsbiology

Microscopy and genomics are used to characterize cell function, but approaches to connect the two types of information are lacking, particularly at subnuclear resolution. Here, we describe expansion in situ genome sequencing (ExIGS), a technology that enables sequencing of genomic DNA and super-resolution localization of nuclear proteins in single cells. Applying ExIGS to progeria-derived fibroblasts revealed that lamin abnormalities are linked to hotspots of aberrant chromatin regulation that may erode cell identity. Lamin was found to generally repress transcription, suggesting that variation in nuclear morphology may affect gene regulation across tissues and aged cells. These results demonstrate that ExIGS may serve as a generalizable platform with which to link nuclear abnormalities to gene regulation, offering insights into disease mechanisms.

Brain cells learn faster than machine learning, research reveals

Researchers have demonstrated that brain cells learn faster and carry out complex networking more effectively than machine learning by comparing how both a Synthetic Biological Intelligence (SBI) system known as “DishBrain” and state-of-the-art RL (reinforcement learning) algorithms react to certain stimuli.

The study, “Dynamic Network Plasticity and Sample Efficiency in Biological Neural Cultures: A Comparative Study with Deep Reinforcement Learning,” published in Cyborg and Bionic Systems, is the first known of its kind.

The research was led by Cortical Labs, the Melbourne-based startup which created the world’s first commercial biological computer, the CL1. The CL1, through which the research was conducted, fuses lab-cultivated neurons from human stem cells with hard silicon to create a more advanced and sustainable form of AI, known as SBI.

AI-Engineered Hydrogels Achieve Instant and Powerful Underwater Adhesion

Underwater adhesives have long posed a challenge to materials scientists, with few solutions capable of delivering instant, strong, and repeatable adhesion in challenging marine and biomedical environments. Now, a team of researchers has leveraged machine learning (ML) and data mining (DM) —inspired by natural adhesive proteins—to engineer next-generation super-adhesive hydrogels that work instantly underwater.

Published in Nature, the study introduces an end-to-end data-driven framework that starts with protein sequence extraction and ends with a scalable hydrogel synthesis method. The results are materials that can seal high-pressure leaks, attach securely to rough, wet surfaces, and even function in living tissue.

Scientists develop off-the-shelf immunotherapy for ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death among women with gynecological cancers. The current medical playbook—surgery followed by chemotherapy—initially shows promise. Tumors shrink, sometimes disappearing entirely. But in more than 80% of patients, the cancer not only comes back, but returns more aggressive and increasingly resistant to the very treatments that once seemed effective.

But now, there could be new hope. In a study published in the journal Med, UCLA researchers have detailed their development of a new type of immune cell , called CAR-NKT cell therapy, that could transform care by delivering superior cancer-fighting power.

“This is the culmination of over a decade of work in my lab and represents over six years of collaboration with gynecologic oncologist Dr. Sanaz Memarzadeh,” said co-senior author Lili Yang, a professor of microbiology, immunology and and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA.

Releasing a molecular brake on T cells could supercharge cancer immunotherapy

In a discovery that could expand the array of current cancer immunotherapy treatments, scientists at Harvard Medical School have identified a new molecular brake that hinders the ability of T cells to attack tumors.

The research, published in Nature Immunology, offers a new pathway to design treatments that help more patients—a welcome development given that current immunotherapies work in less than half of those who receive them.

The research, done in mice and in , shows that a protein called STUB1 restrains the immune system’s elite cancer-fighting CD8+ T cells. It does so by interfering with immune-signaling receptors—particularly one for the molecule IL-27—that are crucial for T cells’ ability to mount a vigorous anti-tumor response.

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