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Category: biotech/medical – Page 432

Gene Therapy Restores Vision

Summary: A new gene therapy has restored vision in patients with Leber congenital amaurosis type I (LCA1), a rare genetic condition causing blindness. In a small trial, those receiving the highest dose saw up to a 10,000-fold improvement in light sensitivity and significant gains in reading and navigation abilities.

The therapy, developed by researchers, uses a virus-based system to deliver a functioning gene into the retina’s light-sensitive cells. The results show promise for expanding this treatment, with further trials planned to confirm safety and efficacy.

Tiny magnetic robots could treat bleeds in the brain

The development could enable precise, relatively low-risk treatment of brain aneurysms, which cause around 500,000 deaths globally each year. The medical condition – a blood-filled bulge on a brain artery that can rupture and cause fatal bleeds – can also lead to stroke and disability.

The study points to a future where tiny robots could be remotely controlled to carry out complex tasks inside the human body – such as targeted drug delivery and organ repair – in a minimally invasive way, researchers say.

A window into the body: New technique makes skin invisible

Researchers have developed a new way to see organs within a body by rendering overlying tissues transparent to visible light. The counterintuitive process—a topical application of food-safe dye—was reversible in tests with animal subjects, and may ultimately apply to a wide range of medical diagnostics, from locating injuries to monitoring digestive disorders to identifying cancers.

Brain scans reveal that mindfulness meditation for pain is not a placebo

Pain is a complex, multifaceted experience shaped by various factors beyond physical sensation, such as a person’s mindset and their expectations of pain. The placebo effect, the tendency for a person’s symptoms to improve in response to inactive treatment, is a well-known example of how expectations can significantly alter a person’s experience. Mindfulness meditation, which has been used for pain management in various cultures for centuries, has long been thought to work by activating the placebo response. However, scientists have now shown that this is not the case.

A new study, published in Biological Psychiatry, has revealed that mindfulness meditation engages distinct brain mechanisms to reduce pain compared to those of the . The study, conducted by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, used advanced brain imaging techniques to compare the pain-reducing effects of mindfulness meditation, a placebo cream and a “sham” mindfulness meditation in healthy participants.

The study found that mindfulness meditation produced significant reductions in pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings, and also reduced brain activity patterns associated with pain and negative emotions. In contrast, the placebo cream only reduced the brain activity pattern associated with the , without affecting the person’s underlying experience of pain.

Language-like communication improves learning in artificial networks, finds study

Across all species, critical skills are passed on from parents to offspring through communication. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Researchers at the University of Bonn showed that effective communication relies on how both the sender and receiver represent information. Their study reveals how this process underlies training efficacy and task performance. Their results have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Communication—be it through sounds, smells or movements—is crucial for survival. Its is fundamental to cognition, as our task descriptions in the brain are shaped not only by sensory experiences, but also by the information communicated to us.

“We know from our everyday lives that social communication is essential to our learning abilities in the real world, which is summed up by the saying ‘teaching is learning for the second time,” says Prof. Tatjana Tchumatchenko, from the Institute of Experimental Epileptology and Cognition Research at the UKB and member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) “Modelling” at the University of Bonn.

Exosomal Non-Coding RNA Mediates Macrophage Polarization: Roles in Cardiovascular Diseases

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) or exosomes are nanosized extracellular particles that contain proteins, DNA, non-coding RNA (ncRNA) and other molecules, which are widely present in biofluids throughout the body. As a key mediator of intercellular communication, EVs transfer their cargoes to target cells and activate signaling transduction. Increasing evidence shows that ncRNA is involved in a variety of pathological and physiological processes through various pathways, particularly the inflammatory response. Macrophage, one of the body’s “gatekeepers”, plays a crucial role in inflammatory reactions. Generally, macrophages can be classified as pro-inflammatory type (M1) or anti-inflammatory type (M2) upon their phenotypes, a phenomenon termed macrophage polarization.

Scientists reveal how DNA methylation drives astrocytes to become stem cells, unlocking new potential for brain repair

Researchers have discovered that DNA methylation is crucial for reprogramming astrocytes into stem cells in the adult mouse brain, especially after ischemic injury, with potential implications for regenerative medicine.