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Category: biotech/medical – Page 545

A thin-film optogenetic visual prosthesis

Retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration lead to photoreceptor death and loss of visual perception. Despite recent progress, restorative technologies for photoreceptor degeneration remain largely unavailable. Here, we describe a novel optogenetic visual prosthesis (FlexLED) based on a combination of a thin-film retinal display and optogenetic activation of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). The FlexLED implant is a 30 µm thin, flexible, wireless µLED display with 8,192 pixels, each with an emission area of 66 µm2. The display is affixed to the retinal surface, and the electronics package is mounted under the conjunctiva in the form factor of a conventional glaucoma drainage implant. In a rabbit model of photoreceptor degeneration, optical stimulation of the retina using the FlexLED elicits activity in visual cortex. This technology is readily scalable to hundreds of thousands of pixels, providing a route towards an implantable optogenetic visual prosthesis capable of generating vision by stimulating RGCs at near-cellular resolution.

### Competing Interest Statement.

All authors have a financial interest in Science Corporation.

A year in training: ESA’s new astronauts graduate

ESA’s newly graduated astronauts reach the end of one year of rigorous basic astronaut training. Discover the journey of Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Raphaël Liégeois, Marco Sieber, and Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg. Selected in November 2022, the group began their training in April 2023.

Basic astronaut training provides the candidates with an overall familiarisation and training in various areas, such as spacecraft systems, spacewalks, flight engineering, robotics and life support systems as well as survival and medical training. They received astronaut certification at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre on 22 April 2024.

Following certification, the new astronauts will move on to the next phases of pre-assignment and mission-specific training — paving the way for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond.

Credits:
Video: ESA — European Space Agency.
ISS and EVA footage: ESA/NASA

Music: Scorekeepers.

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Is prime editing ready for prime time?

Prime editing, a mightier version of CRISPR/Cas9 technology, has been part of rigorous research and development in recent years. Now, U.S. regulators have greenlit the first-ever clinical trial for this technology.

Massachusetts-based Prime Medicine received the go-ahead from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after preclinical data showed that its candidate was able to correct mutations in chronic granulomatous disease (CGD).

CGD is a rare condition and affects around one in 200,000 people worldwide. It is caused by mutations in any of the six genes that code for the molecule nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), which is responsible for carrying electrons within cells. White blood cells called phagocytes don’t function properly, and as a result, they fail to protect the body from bacterial and fungal infections.

Bone-marrow-homing lipid nanoparticles for genome editing in diseased and malignant haematopoietic stem cells

The ability to genetically modify haematopoietic stem cells would allow the durable treatment of a diverse range of genetic disorders but gene delivery to the bone marrow has not been achieved. Here lipid nanoparticles that target and deliver mRNA to 14 unique cells within the bone marrow are presented.

A new gene-editing system tackles complex diseases

The human genome consists of around 3 billion base pairs and humans are all 99.6% identical in their genetic makeup. That small 0.4% accounts for any difference between one person and another. Specific combinations of mutations in those base pairs hold important clues about the causes of complex health issues, including heart disease and neurodegenerative diseases like schizophrenia.

Chinese researchers successfully revive human brain frozen for 18 months

In a stunning scientific feat in the field of cryonics, a team from Fudan University in Shanghai achieved a monumental breakthrough by successfully reviving a human brain that had been frozen for as long as 18 months. This record breaking achievement not only shatters previous records in cryogenic technology but has also been published in the esteemed academic journal Cell Reports Methods.

The team led by Shao Zhicheng created a revolutionary cryopreservation method, dubbed MEDY, which preserves the structural integrity and functionality of neural cells, allowing for the preservation of various brain tissues and human brain specimens. This advancement holds immense promise not only for research into neurological disorders but also opens up possibilities for the future of human cryopreservation technology.

Professor Joao Pedro Magalhaes from the University of Birmingham K expressed profound astonishment at the development, hailing the technology’s ability to prevent cell death and help preserve neural functionality as nothing short of miraculous. He speculated that in the future, terminally ill patients could be cryopreserved, awaiting cures that may emerge, while astronauts could be frozen for interstellar travel, awakening in distant galaxies.