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Category: biotech/medical – Page 3

Physicists reveal new paradigm for fiber growth in neurodegenerative diseases

Some proteins that are linked to neurodegenerative diseases can form both liquid droplets and amyloid fibers. But how are these two states connected, and where do the fibers grow? Leiden physicists Liru Feng and Louise Jawerth have discovered a counter-intuitive mechanism.

“We wanted to answer an open question: What happens to protein droplets as they age?” assistant professor Jawerth explains. “They look just like drops of oil in water, but they are droplets of proteins inside cells, also called condensates. Scientists have only relatively recently come to understand how they develop. Our findings on how they age— published in Nature Physics today—add an important piece to the puzzle.”

The droplets are very complex materials; they are liquid-like and can turn into solids that are glassy or fibrous. Jawerth states, “For 10 years or so, we have known that there is a link between fiber growth from these proteins and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease or ALS. Our goal was to visualize, quantify and model this aging process, and we succeeded in doing so.”

Scientists Trap a Rare-Earth Metal in a Molecular Cage, Unlocking a Strange New State

Molecular cages helped chemists remove one electron from terbium, making an unusual form easier to study for possible uses in quantum computing and advanced sensors.

Rare-earth metals are essential to modern technologies, from smartphones and high-performance magnets to advanced medical devices. Yet separating these valuable elements remains a major challenge because many share remarkably similar chemical properties. Terbium is particularly difficult to manipulate, as it strongly favors a stable electronic state that resists change.

Now, researchers led by the University of Iowa have found a way to overcome this barrier, trapping terbium inside specially designed molecular cages and stabilizing an unusual form of the metal under ordinary environmental conditions. The breakthrough could open new possibilities for rare-earth separation and technologies ranging from quantum computing to advanced sensors.

Scientists Uncover a Hidden Secret That Could Transform Chemical Manufacturing

A hidden variable in chemical reactions could hold the key to cleaner and more efficient manufacturing.

Scientists have identified a hidden factor that can determine whether a chemical reaction succeeds or fails. By controlling tiny changes in acidity near electrodes, researchers dramatically improved the production of valuable chemical ingredients, raising the proportion of the desired product from approximately 16% to 97%.

The breakthrough, led by Professor Jaeyune Ryu of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University College of Engineering, could help make chemical manufacturing safer, cleaner, and more efficient. The researchers developed a method that uses oxygen and electricity to produce compounds used in plastics, medicines, adhesives, and other everyday materials without requiring the separate addition of peroxide oxidants.

Scientists Develop a Clever New Way To Kill Cancer Cells From the Inside

Scientists have developed an experimental strategy that exploits a chemical byproduct of cancer cells to produce anticancer drugs directly inside them.

Scientists in Japan have developed an experimental method that uses a chemical produced by cancer cells to manufacture anticancer drugs directly inside them. The approach relies on carbon monoxide, a toxic gas that certain tumors produce in unusually high amounts, to activate a chemical reaction designed to destroy cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy tissue.

In a proof-of-concept study published in Nature Communications, researchers at the RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute (PRI) demonstrated that their system could generate drug compounds selectively in cultured cancer cells. The findings suggest a possible alternative to conventional chemotherapy, although the technique has not yet been tested in animals or humans.

UCreator Android Spyware Can Steal Telegram 2FA Passwords and Clone WeChat Accounts

A rentable Android spyware kit called uCreator takes over Telegram and WeChat accounts by hiding its code inside working copies of the two apps, researcher Ovi found. It only reaches people who install one of these tampered copies, spread outside the official app stores, or who run WeChat inside the kit makers’ own container app.

The kit’s Telegram part matches Baohuo, a backdoor that Doctor Web reported in October 2025. Doctor Web found Baohuo in tampered copies of Telegram X, an Android app from Telegram. At the time, the company estimated that more than 58,000 devices were infected.

The Hacker News compared the two reports. Doctor Web’s technical description of Baohuo lists the same code namespace, com.ucreator.tgjar, the same command-and-control (C2) server, and matching command names as Ovi’s analysis.

Implantable device uses ultrasound to improve drug delivery to the brain

Patients with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain tumor, usually undergo surgery to remove the tumor. However, it’s difficult for surgeons to remove all of the cancer cells, and the tumor often recurs.

MIT researchers have now designed an implantable drug-delivery device that they hope could help prevent recurrence of glioblastoma. Their device contains a reservoir that can release drugs over an extended period, along with ultrasound transducers that use sound waves to help drugs spread farther through the brain and bypass the blood-brain barrier.

Such a device could be implanted in the brain during surgery, then gradually release drugs that would help kill the remaining tumor cells. After implantation, a wireless controller can be used to program the exact ultrasound dosages to be delivered, enhancing the reach of the delivered therapy.

Rejuvenation breakthrough: Scientists reverse 60 years of aging in human cells

“We also know that this epigenetic rejuvenation ensures that the cells actually behave like young cells,” says the scientist.

A Slower Rejuvenation Process Reveals New Clues

Scientists have previously observed that reprogramming cells can reset their biological age. However, earlier demonstrations of this effect involved a more complicated process requiring two distinct stages.