Three of these procedures have thus far been undertaken in Canada.
A neurosurgeon in Canada has become the first in the nation to perform robot-assisted deep brain stimulation surgery on a patient suffering from epilepsy with success.
This is according to a report by CTV News published on Wednesday.
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Background
Many everyday tasks can fall under the mathematical class of “hard” problems. Typically, these problems belong to the complexity class of nondeterministic polynomial (NP) hard. These tasks require systematic approaches (algorithms) for optimal outcomes. In the case of significant complex problems (e.g., the number of ways to fix a product or the number of stops to be made on a delivery trip), more computations are required, which rapidly outgrows cognitive capacities.
A recent Science Advances study investigated the effectiveness of three popular smart drugs, namely, modafinil (MOD), methylphenidate (MPH), and dextroamphetamine (DEX), against the difficulty of real-life daily tasks, i.e., the 0–1 knapsack optimization problem (“knapsack task”). A knapsack task is basically a combinatorial optimization task, the class of NP-time challenging problems.
This week, during The Global Stem Cell Event in Boston, Mass., scientists revealed that they have created a synthetic human embryo without an egg or sperm.
It isn’t clear yet whether these embryos could eventually mature into living, breathing, humans. However, their mere existence is “groundbreaking,” according to The Guardian, the first outlet to report on the discovery.
Details of this research has not yet been published.
Researchers have used a machine learning model to identify three compounds that could combat aging. They say their approach could be an effective way of identifying new drugs, especially for complex diseases.
Cell division is necessary for our body to grow and for tissues to renew themselves. Cellular senescence describes the phenomenon where cells permanently stop dividing but remain in the body, causing tissue damage and aging across body organs and systems.
Ordinarily, senescent cells are cleared from the body by our immune system. But, as we age, our immune system is less effective at clearing out these cells and their number increases. An increase in senescent cells has been associated with diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and the hallmarks of aging such as worsening eyesight and reduced mobility. Given the potentially deleterious effects on the body, there has been a push to develop effective senolytics, compounds that clear out senescent cells.
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A human cell harbors roughly 2 meters of DNA, encompassing the essential genetic information of an individual. If one were to unwind and stretch out all the DNA contained within a single person, it would span a staggering distance—enough to reach the sun and back 60 times over. In order to manage such an astounding volume of biological information, the cell compacts its DNA into tightly packed chromosomes.
“Imagine DNA as a piece of paper upon which all our genetic information is written,” says Minke A.D. Nijenhuis, co-corresponding author. “The paper is folded into a very tight structure in order to fit all of that information into a small cell nucleus. To read the information, however, parts of the paper have to be unfolded and then refolded. This spatial organization of our genetic code is a central mechanism of life. We therefore wanted to create a methodology that allows researchers to engineer and study the compaction of double-stranded DNA.”
Natural DNA is often double-stranded: one strand to encode the genes and one backup strand, intertwined in a double helix. The double helix is stabilized by Watson-Crick interactions, which allow the two strands to recognize and pair with one another. Yet there exists another, lesser-known class of interactions between DNA. These so-called normal or reverse Hoogsteen interactions allow a third strand to join in, forming a beautiful triple helix (Figure 1).
Synthetic human embryos – derived from stem cells without the need for eggs or sperm – have been created for the first time, scientists say. The structures represent the very earliest stages of human development, which could allow for vital studies into disorders like recurrent miscarriage and genetic diseases. But questions have been posed about the legal and ethical implications, as the pace of scientific discovery outstrips the legislation.
The breakthrough was reported by the Guardian newspaper following an announcement by Professor Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, a developmental biologist at the University of Cambridge and Caltech, at the 2023 annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. The findings have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed paper.
It’s understood that the synthetic structures model the very beginnings of human development. They do not yet contain a brain or heart, for example, but comprise the cells that would be needed to form a placenta, yolk sac, and embryo. Żernicka-Goetz told the conference that the structures have been grown to just beyond the equivalent of 14 days of natural gestation for a human embryo in the womb. It’s not clear whether it would be possible to allow them to mature any further.
This research designed polymersomes with inhomogeneous membranes capable of programmed drug release with accurate control by modifying the molecular architecture and photo-cross-linking degree of the polymer. The process involved introduced crystalline PCL moiety as part of the membrane’s molecular structure via the synthesis of three polymersomes with different hydrophobic chains, PEO43-b-P(CL45-stat-CTCL25), PEO43-b-P(CL108-stat-CTCL16), and PEO43-b-PCTCL4-b-PCL79. As a result of the amorphous PCTCL moieties in the membranes, high permeability with finely tunable drug release rate was achieved. A series of mesoscopic dynamics (MesoDyn) simulations and doxorubicin release tests affirmed that the membrane permeability is indeed related to the membrane phase separation of the polymersome. In conclusion, membrane phase separation technique used for the modification of polymersomes improved programmed drug release rate; thus, promising great significance in the field of drug delivery.
In the field of biomedicine, small molecules relied on membranes such as polymersomes as carriers for drug delivery. Thus, the effectiveness and efficiency of drug delivery become key focus points when considering treatment development for a range of diseases, including cancer. Despite being heavily researched and among the promising choice as drug delivery vessels, conventional polymersome membranes lack efficiency due to its homogeneity, making it harder for the drug to be released. This led to recent research centering their attentions in modifying and customizing polymersome membranes to allow programmed release of small molecular drugs to meet the demands of biomedical practices. As a continuation of past efforts, this research intends to overcome the challenge of high permeability of the PCTCL-based polymersomes caused by their amorphous nature, rendering it efficient to deliver small molecules for broader applications.
As the global population continues to expand along with longevity, the importance and use of medicines are expected to increase. However, this will lead to a greater impact on the ecosystem and our health in the long term. Hence, there is a growing need to support precision medicine and to reduce ineffective medicine use which could burden patient, society and environment in the long run. The outcome of this research, the enhanced capability of programmed drug release via the modification of polymersomes, meets such demand. (SDG 3: Good health and well-being)