Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: biotech/medical – Page 918

Regulator says found no animal welfare breaches at Musk firm beyond 2019 incident

USDA found Neuralink to be in compliance with animal safety and welfare standards after an isolated incident of using an unapproved sealant to close a monkey’s skull in a surgery triggered an investigation. FDA granted a request to begin testing it’s implant device in humans.

July 19 (Reuters) — The head of the U.S. agency responsible for animal welfare has told lawmakers that it did not find any violations of animal research rules at Elon Musk’s Neuralink beyond a 2019 incident the brain implant company had already reported.

Officials with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducted a “focused” inspection in response to a complaint about the company’s handling of animal experiments, but identified no compliance breaches, the agency’s secretary Thomas Vilsack wrote to Congressman Earl Blumenauer in a July 14 letter reviewed by Reuters.

The inspection included visits at Neuralink’s two facilities in January 2023, Vilsack wrote, adding that there would be more inspections.

Researchers craft ‘origami DNA’ to control virus assembly

Griffith University researchers have played a key role in using DNA “origami” templates to control the way viruses are assembled.

The global team behind the research, titled “DNA-origami-directed virus capsid polymorphism,” published in Nature Nanotechnology, developed a way to direct the assembly of virus capsids—the shell of viruses—at physiological conditions in a precise and programmable manner.

Dr. Frank Sainsbury and Dr. Donna McNeale from the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery were part of the research team and said forcing viruses to assemble onto DNA folded into different shapes “like origami” was a question that this project answered.

Rare case of Myasthenia Gravis with Thymoma at Fortis, Vashi ft Dr Prriya Eshpuniyani

Akash Ingale, was admitted to Fortis Hospital, Vashi, diagnosed with the unusual combination of Myasthenia Gravis and Thymoma. Myasthenia Gravis is a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease causing muscle weakness, typically affecting older individuals, making it rare in young patients like Akash. Moreover, the presence of Thymoma in conjunction with Myasthenia Gravis is even rarer, occurring in only 10–12% of cases. For the past eight months, Akash faced significant mobility challenges, severely impacting his quality of life. Managing the conditions required him to be on multiple drug regimens, including steroids and immunosuppressants, further affecting his well-being.

In this video, Dr Prriya Eshpuniyani, Consultant-Thoracic OncoSurgeon Fortis Hospital, Vashi, Navi Mumbai talks about case history, challenges, prognosis.

Understanding Causes of Devastating Neurodegenerative Condition Affecting Children

A common theme among parents and family members caring for a child with the rare Batten disease is “love, hope, cure.” While inspiring levels of love and hope are found among these amazing families, a cure has been more elusive. One reason is rooted in the need for more basic research. Although researchers have identified an altered gene underlying Batten disease, they’ve had difficulty pinpointing where and how the gene’s abnormal protein product malfunctions, especially in cells within the nervous system.

Now, this investment in more basic research has paid off. In a paper just published in the journal Nature Communications, an international research team pinpointed where and how a key cellular process breaks down in the nervous system to cause Batten disease, sometimes referred to as CLN3 disease [1]. While there’s still a long way to go in learning exactly how to overcome the cellular malfunction, the findings mark an important step forward toward developing targeted treatments for Batten disease and progress in the quest for a cure.

The research also offers yet another excellent example of how studying rare diseases helps to advance our fundamental understanding of human biology. It shows that helping those touched by Batten disease can shed a brighter light on basic cellular processes that drive other diseases, rare and common.

Study sheds light on mechanisms underlying H. pylori-induced gastric cancer

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections are commonly associated with abdominal pain, bloating, and acidity. Clinical evidence suggests that infection with H. pylori cagA+ strains dramatically increases the risk of developing gastric cancer.

A specialized protein delivered by H. pylori to the host, oncoprotein “CagA,” has been shown to interact with multiple host proteins and promote gastric carcinogenesis (transformation of normal cells to ). However, the underlying mechanisms associated with its biochemical activity have not been fully determined yet.

A new study published in Science Signaling on 18 July insights into the additional mechanism of oncogenic CagA action.