Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: biotech/medical – Page 448

CRISPR-Cascade test detects bloodstream infections in minutes without amplification

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a CRISPR-based diagnostic tool capable of detecting bloodstream infections in minutes without the need for nucleic acid amplification. The CRISPR-Cascade assay achieves attomolar sensitivity and incorporates an OR-gated logic function to identify multiple pathogens simultaneously through DNA from pathogens associated with bloodstream infections.

Bloodstream infections require rapid identification to prevent complications, yet standard diagnostic methods rely on (PCR) and isothermal amplification techniques that have built-in processing times. CRISPR-based detection tools such as SHERLOCK and DETECTR have improved specificity but continue to depend on amplification, limiting their turnaround time and practicality in clinical settings.

In the study, “Amplification-free, OR-gated CRISPR-Cascade reaction for pathogen detection in blood samples,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers conducted a laboratory-based investigation to determine whether a CRISPR-driven feedback loop could detect pathogenic DNA at ultra-low concentrations without amplification.

Spinning, twisted light could power next-generation electronics

Researchers have advanced a decades-old challenge in the field of organic semiconductors, opening new possibilities for the future of electronics. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge and the Eindhoven University of Technology, have created an organic semiconductor that forces electrons to move in a spiral pattern, which could improve the efficiency of OLED displays in television and smartphone screens, or power next-generation computing technologies such as spintronics and quantum computing.

The semiconductor they developed emits circularly polarized light—meaning the light carries information about the ‘handedness’ of electrons. The internal structure of most inorganic semiconductors, like silicon, is symmetrical, meaning electrons move through them without any preferred direction.

However, in nature, molecules often have a chiral (left-or right-handed) structure: like human hands, are mirror images of one another. Chirality plays an important role in like DNA formation, but it is a difficult phenomenon to harness and control in electronics.

Spinning Electrons Just Solved a Decades-Old Semiconductor Mystery

A major breakthrough in organic semiconductors.

Semiconductors are materials with electrical conductivity that falls between conductors and insulators, making them essential for modern electronics. They are typically crystalline solids, the most common of which is silicon, used extensively in the production of electronic components such as transistors and diodes. Semiconductors are unique because their conductivity can be altered and controlled through doping—adding impurities to the material to change its electrical properties. This property allows them to serve as the foundation for integrated circuits and microchips, powering everything from computers and smartphones to advanced medical devices and renewable energy technologies. The behavior of semiconductors is also crucial in the development of various electronic, photonic, and quantum devices.

Regaining mobility quickly after a stroke

Twenty-four stroke patients have already used the complete system, consisting of an exoskeleton for the arm and shoulder in combination with FES as part of the ReHyb research project. Half of them were patients at the Schön Klinik Bad Aibling Harthausen, which is leading the study. The researchers also used a computer game that automatically adapts to the individual player’s capabilities. It trains them to grip and move their arms shortly after a stroke by reacting to colored balls flying toward them at varying speeds on a screen. The task is to catch the balls and match them with color-coded boxes.

At the center of TUM Professor Sandra Hirche’s setup is a digital twin that records the individual requirements of each patient and places them in a control loop. Among other things, the researchers have to determine how well each patient can move their arm and hand. In the event of a stroke, for example, paralysis can be caused by damage to the motor area in the brain responsible for movement. However, it is impossible to predict how severely the signals transmitted from the brain to the muscles in the forearm will be impaired after the stroke. “Individual muscle strands in the forearm can be stimulated to the right extent for hands and fingers to move,” says Prof. Hirche, who holds the Chair of Information-Oriented Control at TUM. In addition to information on muscle activity in the forearm, the researchers need to know how strongly the muscles should be stimulated in conjunction with the exoskeleton assistance.

3D-printed blood vessels bring artificial organs closer to reality

Growing functional human organs outside the body is a long-sought “holy grail” of organ transplantation medicine that remains elusive. New research from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering brings that quest one big step closer to completion.

A team of scientists created a new method to 3D print vascular networks that consist of interconnected blood vessels possessing a distinct “shell” of smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells surrounding a hollow “core” through which fluid can flow, embedded inside a human cardiac tissue. This vascular architecture closely mimics that of naturally occurring blood vessels and represents significant progress toward being able to manufacture implantable human organs. The achievement is published in Advanced Materials .

Tumour-agnostic kinase inhibitors

Multiple tumour-agnostic kinase inhibitors have been approved that are clinically effective regardless of tumour location. This Review describes the origins of tumour-agnostic drug development, focusing on small-molecule inhibitors that target kinase pathway aberrations, and discusses the challenges in developing tissue-agnostic agents.

Bridging the gaps between JCV infection models and human disease

Glial replication and proliferation support JC virus demyelination.

In HIV infected patients, JC virus (JCV) can cause a devastating demyelinating disease of the CNS known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

JCV replicates in human glial progenitor cells and astrocytes, which undergo viral T-antigen-triggered mitosis, enabling viral replication.

The authors were able to demonstrate that dividing human astrocytes supported JCV propagation to a substantially greater degree than did mitotically quiescent cells.

They also show that JCV infection greatly accentuated by cuprizone-induced demyelination and its associated mobilization of glial progenitor cells and triggered the death of both uninfected and infected glia, reflecting significant bystander death. https://sciencemission.com/JCV-infection-models

This scientific commentary refers to ‘JC virus spread is potentiated by glial replication and demyelination-linked glial proliferation’ by Li et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae252).

Continue reading “Bridging the gaps between JCV infection models and human disease” | >

/* */