Researchers are warning of potential risks from the development of synthetic organisms called mirror bacteria, which have reversed molecular chirality.
These organisms could evade immune systems, disrupt natural ecosystems, and pose threats to human, animal, plant, and environmental health.
Potential Risks of Mirror Bacteria.
Stanford Medicine researchers have developed a new method for influenza vaccination that encourages a robust immune response to all four common flu subtypes, potentially increasing the vaccine’s efficacy.
In laboratory tests using human tonsil organoids, the modified vaccine showed promising results in combating both seasonal and bird flu strains. The approach involves a combined antigen methodology that might also protect against emerging flu variants with pandemic potential.
Innovative Flu Vaccine Development
NUS researchers found that deuterated water (D₂O) reduces pain by modulating the TRPV1 ion channel, offering a non-addictive alternative to conventional painkillers.
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), in partnership with Peking University, China, have uncovered new insights into the TRPV1 (transient receptor potential vanilloid 1) ion channel and its role in pain perception. Their findings demonstrate how solvent molecules can influence pain signals, paving the way for potential development of safer, non-addictive pain management strategies.
Effective pain management is vital for improving quality of life and overall well-being. The TRPV1 ion channel, which plays a key role in detecting pain, expands its pore when activated, enabling ions and larger molecules to pass through. However, the ability of water molecules to permeate the TRPV1 channel has remained uncertain.
The glymphatic system becomes more active during sleep, especially during deep sleep, allowing for more effective waste clearance, said psychiatrist Dr. Jingduan Yang, founder of the Yang Institute of Integrative Medicine in Pennsylvania.
In a mouse study published in Science, researchers used tracers to monitor changes in cerebrospinal fluid flow. They found that during sleep, the interstitial, or intervening, space expanded by more than 60 percent, and the tracer influx increased. The brain’s clearance rate of beta-amyloid doubled during sleep (or under anesthesia) compared to the awake state.
Fasting in office or starving yourself at work might be a health time bomb. Here’s how to stop it to avoid the risk of heart disease and keep it beating strong.
A dietary supplement may offer a novel way to enhance the effectiveness of CAR T cell therapy, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Although this method requires validation through clinical trials, early findings—recently presented during a press briefing at the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition—suggest a potentially affordable and accessible strategy to improve CAR T cell functionality and cancer-fighting capabilities.
CAR T cell therapy, first developed at Penn Medicine, is a personalized cancer treatment that reprograms a patient’s immune cells to target and destroy cancer cells.
“Thousands of patients with blood cancers have been successfully treated with CAR T cell therapy, but it still doesn’t work for everyone,” said co-lead author Shan Liu, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow who presented the study at ASH. “We took an outside-the-box approach to improve CAR T cell therapy, by targeting T cells through diet rather than further genetic engineering.”
Pig-to-human kidney transplants. A blood test for Alzheimer’s. Birth control without a prescription. These were just a few of the advancements in health and medicine in 2024.
Your body is one of the most complex natural structures ever. Billions of cells are put together in a specific way with the result being you. If you look closely between the cells you’ll find the extracellular matrix, a gel-like environment where cells reside and which helps them to talk to each other. However, when disease strikes, cells and the matrix alike can be irreparably damaged, which could lead to the loss of cell function.
In her Ph. D. research, Maritza Rovers looked at ways to make microgel-based scaffolds for cells, which could be used to support eye cells or even promote nerve growth in spinal cord injuries.
Every person on the planet is made up of billions of cells, which are the building blocks of our bodies. Between these cells lies the so-called extracellular matrix (ECM), a gel-like environment in which cells live out their lives.
A rare genetic variant, APOE3 Christchurch, delays Alzheimer’s onset by years in high-risk individuals, offering insights into disease resilience. This discovery could guide new treatments targeting similar protective pathways for Alzheimer’s prevention and therapy.
Two robots, Levita’s Mars and Da Vinci SP, combined for a groundbreaking prostate removal surgery, advancing precision in minimally invasive care.
