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Category: biotech/medical – Page 368

Fish oil supplements may protect against cancer

In addition to lowering your cholesterol, keeping your brain healthy and improving mental health, new research from the University of Georgia suggests omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may help ward off a variety of cancers.

The study relied on data from more than 250,000 people and found that higher…

But most Americans probably aren’t eating enough of these foods to reach the recommended amounts.

That’s why many individuals turn to fish oil supplements. They’re one of the most popular dietary pills on the market and for good reason.

Previous studies suggest omega-3 supplements can reduce the risk of developing high cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease.

Advanced sensing tech can detect lung cancer in your exhaled breath

Researchers have developed a nanoscale sensor that detects lung cancer simply by analyzing the levels of a chemical called isoprene in your breath. The team believes its breakthrough could unlock a non-invasive, low-cost method to catch the disease early, and potentially save a lot of lives.

When the human body breaks down fat in a process called lipolytic cholesterol metabolism, isoprene is released in exhaled breath. As it turns out, a decline in isoprene can indicate the presence of lung cancer. The team, led by researchers at China’s Zhejiang University, leveraged this insight through its work and developed an innovative gas sensing material to create a screening process.

The challenge with spotting biomarkers in breath is that your system needs to be able to differentiate between volatile chemicals, withstand the natural humidity of exhaled breath, and detect tiny quantities of specific chemicals. In the case of isoprene, you’d need sensors capable of detecting levels of the chemical in the parts-per-billion (ppb) range.

Promising cancer therapies target DNA circles

A trio of research papers from Stanford Medicine researchers and their international collaborators transforms scientists’ understanding of how small DNA circles – until recently dismissed as inconsequential – are major drivers of many types of human cancers.

The papers, published simultaneously in…

Tiny circles called ecDNA are critical in cancer development and drug resistance. An international Stanford Medicine-led team publishes landmark studies detailing new findings and potential therapies.

A prosthesis driven by the nervous system helps people with amputation walk naturally

State-of-the-art prosthetic limbs can help people with amputations achieve a natural walking gait, but they don’t give the user full neural control over the limb. Instead, they rely on robotic sensors and controllers that move the limb using predefined gait algorithms.

Using a new type of surgical intervention and neuroprosthetic interface, MIT researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, have shown that a natural walking gait is achievable using a prosthetic leg fully driven by the body’s own nervous system. The surgical amputation procedure reconnects muscles in the residual limb, which allows patients to receive “proprioceptive” feedback about where their prosthetic limb is in space.

In a study of seven patients who had this surgery, the MIT team found that they were able to walk faster, avoid obstacles, and climb stairs much more naturally than people with a traditional amputation.

First Drug to Prevent Heart Disease Is Approved

Doctors have long known that inflammation plays a significant role in triggering heart attacks and strokes. Now for the first time, an anti-inflammatory drug is on the market to prevent these cardiovascular events.

“It is a game changer,” says Ian Neeland, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Prevention at University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute.

“We’ve known that low-grade, systemic inflammation is a powerful determinant of recurrent cardiovascular events. Colchicine is the first drug we have on the market for inflammation that reduces this risk,” says Dr. Neeland.

One Stage of Sleep Seems to Be Critical in Reducing Dementia Risk

The risk of getting dementia may go up as you get older if you don’t get enough slow-wave sleep. Over-60s are 27 percent more likely to develop dementia if they lose just 1 percent of this deep sleep each year, a 2023 study found.

Slow-wave sleep is the third stage of a human 90-minute sleep cycle, lasting about 20–40 minutes. It’s the most restful stage, where brain waves and heart rate slow and blood pressure drops.

Deep sleep strengthens our muscles, bones, and immune system, and prepares our brains to absorb more information. Recently, research discovered that individuals with Alzheimer’s-related changes in their brain did better on memory tests when they got more slow-wave sleep.

New Discovery Paves The Way to Generating Energy From Body Heat

If you’ve ever seen yourself through a thermal imaging camera, you’ll know that your body produces lots of heat. This is in fact a waste product of our metabolism. Every square foot of the human body gives off heat equivalent to about 19 matches per hour.

Unfortunately, much of this heat simply escapes into the atmosphere. Wouldn’t it be great if we could harness it to produce energy? My research has shown this would indeed be possible. My colleagues and I are discovering ways of capturing and storing body heat for energy generation, using eco-friendly materials.

The goal is to create a device that can both generate and store energy, acting like a built-in power bank for wearable tech. This could allow devices such as smart watches, fitness trackers, or GPS trackers to run much longer, or even indefinitely, by harnessing our body heat.

RNA-targeting CRISPR reveals that hundreds of noncoding RNAs are essential—not ‘junk’

Can someone smarter than I tell me if this has any implications regarding the Covid vaccine?

Genes contain instructions for making proteins, and a central dogma of biology is that this information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins. But only two percent of the human genome actually encodes proteins; the function of the remaining 98% remains largely unknown.

Animal cells capable of photosynthesis created for the first time

In an incredible feat that redefines biological boundaries, scientists have successfully engineered animal cells capable of photosynthesis.

This breakthrough, led by Professor Sachihiro Matsunaga at the University of Tokyo, could transform medical research and aid in advancing lab-grown meat production.

Photosynthesis, traditionally exclusive to plants, algae, and certain bacteria, is a process that uses sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and sugars – essentially “feeding” the organism.