Lifeboat Foundation

Turns out, altering bacteria from within could be the solution to antibiotic resistance. In an ironic twist, researchers used viruses engineered with the CRISPR-Cas system to alter bacterial defense mechanisms and edit their genomes selectively in complex environments. Significantly, the novel approach may help address the pressing issue of antibiotic resistance.

Glaucoma impacts tens of millions of people globally, and is the second leading cause of blindness, after cataracts. Now, Purdue University researchers have developed smart contact lenses that may help save people’s sight.

Glaucoma is a multifactorial optic degenerative neuropathy characterized by the loss of retinal ganglion cells. It is a combination of vascular, genetic, anatomical, and immune factors. Glaucoma poses a significant public health concern as it is the second leading cause of blindness after cataracts, and this blindness is usually irreversible. It is estimated that 57.5 million people worldwide are affected by primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). People over 60 years of age, family members of those already diagnosed with glaucoma, steroid users, diabetics, as well as those with high myopia, hypertension, central cornea thickness of.

Video on prosthetic Esper hand.

New York-based engineering startup Esper Bionics has developed a flexible prosthetic mind-controlled hand that learns how to suggest the best grip faster than similar prosthetics.
Esper Bionics’ robotic arm is designed to be lighter and learn faster than many of the prosthetics currently available for amputees. The more the wearer uses the hand, the better and quicker it is to suggest the right grip.

Continue reading “Esper Hand is a ‘human-like’ prosthetic arm that can be controlled by the mind” »

Mental health practitioners and meditation gurus have long credited intentional breathing with the ability to induce inner calm, but scientists do not fully understand how the brain is involved in the process. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electrophysiology, researchers in the Penn State College of Engineering identified a potential link between respiration and neural activity changes in rats.

Their results were made available online ahead of publication in eLife. The researchers used simultaneous multi-modal techniques to clear the noise typically associated with brain imaging and pinpoint where breathing regulated neural activity.

“There are roughly a million papers published on fMRI—a non-invasive imaging technique that allows researchers to examine brain activity in real time,” said Nanyin Zhang, founding director of the Penn State Center for Neurotechnology in Mental Health Research and professor of biomedical engineering.

Watch any episode of “CSI,” and a character will use forensic DNA profiling to identify a criminal. A new study from San Francisco State University suggests that these forensic profiles may indirectly reveal medical information—perhaps even those of crime victims—contrary to what the legal field has believed for nearly 30 years. The findings, now published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could have ethical and legal implications.

“The central assumption when choosing those [forensic] markers was that there wouldn’t be any information about the individuals whatsoever aside from identification. Our paper challenges that assumption,” said first author Mayra Bañuelos, who started working on the project as a San Francisco State undergraduate and is now a Ph.D. student at Brown University.

Continue reading “Study questions the medical privacy of forensic samples” »

Cheers!

𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐡𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐳𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧

𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙩, 𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙨 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 “𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙮” 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙨. 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝘾𝙎 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙉𝙚𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙤𝙥 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣, 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙗 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙢𝙮𝙡𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘼𝙡𝙯𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙧’𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 (𝘼𝘿).

Continue reading “Beer Ingredient May Inhibit Clumping of Alzheimer’s Protein” »