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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,718

Chinese Doctors Are Using Modified T-Cells to Treat Advanced Forms of Cancer

According to China’s National Central Cancer Registry, Esophageal cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in China. Like many other types, cancer of the esophagus can be treated with chemotherapy. But, as is also true of other forms of cancer, chemotherapy isn’t always successful. In China, and around the world, there’s a great need for the development of new treatments.

Dr. Shixiu Wu, president of the Hangzhou Cancer Hospital, has tested a somewhat new treatment that takes a patient’s T-cells from the body, genetically edits them to target cancerous cells, then puts the altered cells back. If the process sounds at all familiar, it’s probably because using T-cells in this manner was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration back in August 2017.

We reported on a pair of CAR-T studies in December that used T-cells to fight cancer, as will the first CRISPR trial set to take place in the United States.

Artificial intelligence quickly and accurately diagnoses eye diseases and pneumonia

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, researchers at Shiley Eye Institute at UC San Diego Health and University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in China, Germany and Texas, have developed a new computational tool to screen patients with common but blinding retinal diseases, potentially speeding diagnoses and treatment.

Using big data analysis to significantly boost cancer treatment effectiveness

Summary: Treatability of cancer was raised to over 80% by a new intelligent system that sifts through massive genetic datasets to pinpoint targets for cancer treatment, say these scientists. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

Scientists in Singapore have discovered a significantly improved way to treat cancer by listening to many different computer programs rather than just one.

Their new computer program reaches a consensus on how to treat a specific tumor, and it is significantly more accurate than existing predictive methods. The system isolates the Achilles heel of each individual tumor, helping doctors to choose the best treatment.

UCSD researchers report these bacteria prevent skin cancer

Summary: UCSD researchers just reported that a strain of bacteria prevents skin cancer. [This article first appeared on LongevityFacts. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

The human microbiome is emerging a major player in protecting our health and researchers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) just reported that some strains of skin bacteria safeguard against cancer.

Leading the study is Richard Gallo, MD, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor and the chair of the Department of Dermatology at the UCSD School of Medicine, who says.

Crick and Watson decipher the DNA

On February 28, 1953, American molecular biologist James D. Watson and English biophysicist Francis Crick announced to friends that they succeeded to determine the chemical structure of DNA.

Already in the 19th century biochemists were able to isolate DNA and RNA from the cell nuclei mixed together. They later found out that DNA and RNA had to be distinct from each other. The nuclein was identified by Friedrich Miescher in 1869 and he later on isolated the pure DNA from a salmon’s sperm. The term ‘nucleic acid’ was then coined by Richard Altmann and it was only found in the chromosomes. The Lithuanian-American biochemist Phoebus Levene at Rockefeller Institute made further achievements concerning the DNA’s structure, showing that its components, the sugar and phosphate chain were linked in the order phosphate-sugar-base. Each of these was named nucleotide and the scientist assumed that the DNA molecule consisted of a string of nucleotide units, which were linked together through phosphate groups.

The predictive powers of AI could make human forecasters obsolete

Thousands of years ago, oracles read the future through divine inspiration. Today, we’ve still got Oracle making predictions (along with many other forward-thinking tech firms), but it uses something a little more grounded. Artificial intelligence and its capacity to assess approaching events are pretty awe-inspiring even without the supernatural flair.

Many industries are looking to artificially intelligent software to help make predictions on everything from a customer’s buying decisions to which medical treatments will be most effective for a sick patient. Though we live in a world that still depends on the educated guesses of experts, it is becoming increasingly clear that next generation of prognosticators will be more silicon-based than carbon-based.

AI is a prediction technology at its very essence. With the ability to evaluate data exponentially faster than any person, machine learning programs can assess patterns, make connections, and test hypotheses in less time than it takes their human equivalent to pour a cup of coffee. Thanks to its advanced capabilities, AI’s predictions are already taking shape, with strong implications for retail, health care, and the way we understand the world around us.