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AI aids colonoscopy by acting as ‘extra pair of eyes’, spotting tumors

He further mentioned that the AI tool functioned like an “extra pair of eyes,” identifying potential tumors within the video footage.

In short, the AI tool assists junior doctors during colonoscopies by analyzing video footage from the endoscope and identifying potential tumors. It aids in detecting adenomas, particularly those smaller than five millimeters (mm) in diameter.

Scientists fuse brain-like tissue with electronics to make computer

Scientists have fused brain-like tissue with electronics to make an ‘organoid neural network’ that can recognise voices and solve a complex mathematical problem. Their invention extends neuromorphic computing – the practice of modelling computers after the human brain – to a new level by directly including brain tissue in a computer.

The system was developed by a team of researchers from Indiana University, Bloomington; the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre, Cincinnati; and the University of Florida, Gainesville. Their findings were published on December 11.

Research Alert: More Colorectal and Endometrial Cancers Could Be Treated with Immunotherapy, Study Shows

In a new study published in Cancer Cell, YSM researchers at Yale Cancer Center find immunotherapy could benefit thousands of additional patients with colorectal and endometrial cancers who are not currently being offered it:


A new study shows thousands more patients diagnosed with colorectal and endometrial cancers could benefit from immunotherapy than are currently offered it. Researchers showed the importance of looking at DNA Mismatch Repair Deficiency (MMR-D) as a guiding marker for treatment decisions using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). MMR-D is associated with an increased risk of developing several types of cancer and is the most common cause of hereditary endometrial cancer.

The study, which published in Cancer Cell on December 28, compared two lab testing methods to diagnose cancers— traditional immunohistochemistry (IHC) (a lab technique that uses antibodies to detect antigens in tissues) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) — a new technology used for DNA sequencing that can detect specific patterns of mutations. The researchers discovered that NGS offers a more accurate assessment of MMR status.

Voyager Therapeutics, Novartis Enter Strategic Capsid Collaboration

Voyager Therapeutics entered a strategic collaboration and capsid license agreement with Novartis to advance potential gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy, providing Novartis a target-exclusive license to access its TRACER capsids and other intellectual property.


Novartis obtains target-exclusive access to Voyager’s TRACER capsids related to Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy.

World’s first partial heart transplant proves successful in first year

The world’s first partial heart transplant has achieved what researchers have spent more than a year hoping for—functioning valves and arteries that grow along with the young patient, as hypothesized by the pioneering team behind the procedure at Duke Health.

The procedure was performed in the spring of 2022, in an infant who needed . The previous standard of care—using valves that were non-living—would not grow along with the child, requiring frequent replacement, entailing surgical procedures that carry a 50% mortality rate.

A study led by Duke Health physicians, appearing online Jan. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that the new manner of procurement used during the partial transplant led to two well-functioning valves and arteries that are growing in concert with the child as if they were native vessels.

2024 is Expected to Be the Year of Drone Delivery

2024 is expected to be the year when drone delivery finally takes flight.

What’s different about this year?

Well, most regulatory hurdles have been cleared, opening the door for retailers, medical centers, and logistics platforms to start offering drone delivery.

During testing, visual spotters were required every mile. Last Fall, the FAA authorized some drone operators to fly BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight). Now, companies such as Zipline, Wing, DroneUp, and Amazon are about to take off.

Novel switch turns genes on/off on cue, a promising step toward safer gene therapy

Just like a doctor adjusts the dose of a medication to the patient’s needs, the expression of therapeutic genes, those modified in a person to treat or cure a disease via gene therapy, also needs to be maintained within a therapeutic window. Staying within the therapeutic window is important as too much of the protein could be toxic, and too little could result in a small or no therapeutic effect.

Although the principle of has been known for a long time, there has been no strategy to implement it safely, limiting the potential applications of gene therapy in the clinic.

In their current study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine report on a technology to effectively regulate gene expression, a promising solution to fill this gap in gene therapy clinical applications. A Research Briefing on the breakthrough has been published in the same journal issue.

Bionic artificial skin with a fully implantable wireless tactile sensory system for wound healing and restoring skin tactile function

Although artificial skins can facilitate the healing of damaged skin, the restoration of tactile functions remain a challenge. Here, Kang et al. report an artificial skin with an implantable tactile sensor that can simultaneously replace the tactile function by nerve stimulation and promote skin regeneration.

Gene on/off? New tech lets scientists control genes like a light switch

Unlike older methods that use things foreign to our bodies, this one doesn’t trigger our immune system and employs small molecules to interact with RNA.


Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have developed a breakthrough technology to regulate gene expression in gene therapy, addressing the crucial issue of maintaining therapeutic gene levels within a safe range.

This is important because having too much or too little of a gene’s activity within a therapeutic window can cause problems. Their method uses tiny substances in amounts approved by the FDA to control the genes.

Current methods have issues

The current methods for regulating genes have some problems, like causing harmful immune responses.