Every skin flake, hair follicle, eyelash, and spit drop cast from your body contains instructions written in a chemical code, one that is unique to you.
According to a new study, technology has advanced to the point that it’s now possible to sift scraps of human DNA out of the air, water, or soil and decipher personal details about the individuals who dropped them.
As useful as this might seem, the study’s authors warn society might not be prepared for the consequences.
After being at the helm for over a decade of internet juggernaut Google, former CEO Eric Schmidt has switched gears and one of his latest activities is being an advocate for the fast-growing US bioeconomy, which is valued at over $1T. During his keynote at the 2022 SynBioBeta conference in Oakland, CA last year, he passed along advice for the next generation of biotechnologists, detailing what is needed from different stakeholders to fulfill the potential of the global bioeconomy to solve the world’s biggest problems. I caught up with Schmidt again recently, a year since his talk, to see what progress has been made. You can see the full Q&A here.
I think it’s time.
The cerebellum, a major part of the hindbrain in all vertebrates, is important for motor coordination, language acquisition, and regulating social and emotional behaviors. A study led by Dr. Roy Sillitoe, professor of Pathology and Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital, shows two distinct types of cerebellar neurons differentially regulate motor and non-motor behaviors during development and in adulthood.
The study, published in Nature Communications, provides the first in vivo evidence supporting the critical role of a specific subset of excitatory glutamatergic neurons in acquiring motor and sensory/emotional behaviors. Further, it shows that neurons present in different regions of the cerebellum contribute differently to motor versus non-motor behaviors during development and in adulthood.
The cerebellar nuclei are present in the deepest layer of the cerebellum. These nuclei are encased by an outer highly convoluted sheet of tissue called the cerebellar cortex, which contains most of the other types of neurons in the cerebellum. The cerebellar cortex receives information from most parts of the body and other brain regions. These inputs are integrated by many types of cerebellar neurons and the deep-set cerebellar nuclei—the sole output structures in the cerebellum—then send those signals to the other parts of the brain.
Polynesians exposed to fallout from France’s nuclear tests in the South Pacific have a slightly increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, a study suggested on Monday that used declassified military data for the first time.
France carried out 41 atmospheric nuclear weapon tests in French Polynesia between 1966 and 1975, exposing residents to fallout which has been a source of lasting friction between Paris and residents of the Pacific archipelago.
The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, used risk modeling to estimate that the nuclear tests were associated with between 0.6 percent and 7.7 percent of thyroid cancers in French Polynesia.
A newly discovered “zombie virus” was still able to infect hosts more than 48,500 years after it was trapped in Siberian permafrost.
Perhaps your real life is so rich you don’t have time for another.
Even so, the US Department of Defense (DOD) may already be creating a copy of you in an alternate reality to see how long you can go without food or water, or how you will respond to televised propaganda.
The DOD is developing a parallel to Planet Earth, with billions of individual “nodes” to reflect every man, woman, and child this side of the dividing line between reality and AR.
Using a specially designed capsule, researchers can now voyage through the digestive system, collecting new data about digestion and microorganisms. The work by a team including researchers at the University of California, Davis, Stanford University and Envivo Bio Inc., is published May 10 in papers in Nature and Nature Metabolism.
Most of the process of digestion takes place in our small intestine, where enzymes break down food so it can be absorbed through the gut wall.
“The small intestine has so far only been accessible in sedated people who have fasted, and that’s not very helpful,” said Professor Oliver Fiehn, director of the West Coast Metabolomics Center at UC Davis. Metabolomics is the study of the metabolome, the small molecules involved in metabolism in cells, tissues and organs. Fiehn is senior author on the Nature Metabolism paper and co-corresponding author on the Nature paper. Jacob Folz, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis, is first author on the Nature Metabolism paper.
As part of our SLAS US 2023 coverage, we speak to Luigi Da Via, Team Leader in Analytical Development at GSK, about the lab of the future, and what it may look like.
Please, can you introduce yourself and tell us what inspired your career within the life sciences?
Hello, my name is Luigi Da Via, and I am currently leading the High-Throughput Automation team at GSK. I have been with the company for the past six years, and I’m thrilled to be contributing to the development of life-saving medicines through the application of cutting-edge technology and automation.
Technology As A Force For Good In People’s Lives — Dr. Emre Ozcan, PhD, VP, Global Head of Digital Health & Walid Mehanna, Group Data Officer And Senior Vice President, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
EPISODE DISCLAIMER — At any time during this episode when anyone says Merck, in any context, it shall always be referring to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
Dr. Emre Ozcan, Ph.D. is VP, Global Head of Digital Health, at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (https://www.emdgroup.com/en), where he brings 15+ years experience in biopharma, med-tech and healthcare consulting with experience across strategy, research, marketing, and operations in several therapeutic areas. In his current role, he holds the accountability for the design and end-to-end delivery of digital health solutions to support Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany franchise strategies and shape the architecture of the offering “around the drug” including devices and diagnostics.
EPISODE DISCLAIMER — The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
Dr. Devi SenGupta, MD, MPhil, is Executive Director of Clinical Development at Gilead Sciences (https://www.gilead.com/), where she leads the company’s HIV cure development program and during her time at the company has led multiple HIV treatment and cure studies. As head of the HIV cure program, she provides strategic direction for cross-functional internal teams and external multi-stakeholder collaborations developing combination approaches aimed at achieving long-term HIV remission.
Before joining Gilead in 2015, Dr. SenGupta was a physician scientist leading translational HIV immunology research as an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Her NIH-funded program focused on identifying novel strategies to enhance cellular immunity against HIV.
Dr. SenGupta received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology and biology at Harvard University, MPhil. in neuropsychology at Cambridge University, UK, and MD at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and infectious diseases fellowship at UCSF.
