Scientists at Rutgers UniversityâNewark have developed a first-of-its-kind RNA-based nanotechnology that assembles itself inside living human cells and can be programmed to stop propagation of harmful cells. The findings, recently published in Nature Communications, represent a major breakthrough in biomedical research. The researchers are now in the midst of testing the technology on human cancer cells as a potential cure for the disease but have not yet finished the study or published results.
This nanostructure technology, which was tested in human cell cultures, can be used as a molecular tool for biomedical research and therapeutics. Because it can be customized, it has the versatility to target multiple detrimental genes and proteins simultaneously.
The work was led by Professor Fei Zhang of the Rutgers-Newark Department of Chemistry and Professor Jean-Pierre Etchegaray of the Department of Biological Sciences at Rutgers-Newark, along with an interdisciplinary team of researchers.
Can surface charge reversal boost AgNP efficacy? đ§«Functionalizing silica-coated silver nanoparticles with amine groups significantly enhances activity against Salmonella and E. coli in polyurethane films.
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The global increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria poses a challenge to public health and requires the development of new antibacterial materials.
Proteins are the molecular machines of cells. They are produced in protein factories called ribosomes based on their blueprintâthe genetic information. Here, the basic building blocks of proteins, amino acids, are assembled into long protein chains. Like the building blocks of a machine, individual proteins must have a specific three-dimensional structure to properly fulfill their functions.
To achieve this, the newly produced protein chains in human cells are folded into their stable and functional form with the help of various protein folding helper proteins, known as chaperones, such as TRiC/PFD, or HSP70/40. The protein folding helpers isolate the amino acid chains, which have different chemical properties depending on the amino acid, from the cellular environment. This prevents the newly produced protein chains from clumping together and causing disease.
F.-Ulrich Hartl, a director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, has spent decades studying the mechanisms of protein folding. Niko Dalheimer, a scientist in Hartlâs department and one of the two lead authors of a new study published in Nature, explains: Much of what we know about protein folding has been learned from studies conducted in test tubes. However, it is virtually impossible to faithfully replicate the cellular environment in vitro.
What does it take to turn bold ideas into life-saving medicine?
In this episode of The Big Question, we sit down with @MITâs Dr. Robert Langer, one of the founding figures of bioengineering and among the most cited scientists in the world, to explore how engineering has reshaped modern healthcare. From early failures and rejected grants to breakthroughs that changed medicine, Langer reflects on a career built around persistence and problem-solving. His work helped lay the foundation for technologies that deliver large biological molecules, like proteins and RNA, into the body, a challenge once thought impossible. Those advances now underpin everything from targeted cancer therapies to the mRNA vaccines that transformed the COVID-19 response.
The conversation looks forward as well as back, diving into the future of medicine through engineered solutions such as artificial skin for burn victims, FDA-approved synthetic blood vessels, and organs-on-chips that mimic human biology to speed up drug testing while reducing reliance on animal models. Langer explains how nanoparticles safely carry genetic instructions into cells, how mRNA vaccines train the immune system without altering DNA, and why engineering delivery, getting the right treatment to the right place in the body, remains one of medicineâs biggest challenges. From personalized cancer vaccines to tissue engineering and rapid drug development, this episode reveals how science, persistence, and engineering come together to push the boundaries of what medicine can do next.
Chapters: 00:00 Engineering the Future of Medicine. 01:55 Failure, Persistence, and Scientific Breakthroughs. 05:30 From Chemical Engineering to Patient Care. 08:40 Solving the Drug Delivery Problem. 11:20 Delivering Proteins, RNA, and DNA 14:10 The Origins of mRNA Technology. 17:30 How mRNA Vaccines Work. 20:40 Speed and Scale in Vaccine Development. 23:30 What mRNA Makes Possible Next. 26:10 Trust, Misinformation, and Vaccine Science. 28:50 Engineering Tissues and Organs. 31:20 Artificial Skin and Synthetic Blood Vessels. 33:40 Organs on Chips and Drug Testing. 36:10 Why Science Always Moves Forward.
Australian researchers have developed a highâperformance coating made from peppermint essential oil that can be applied to the surfaces of many commonly used medical devices, offering a safer way to protect patients from infection and inflammation.
Matthew Flinders Professor and senior author of the new study, Professor Krasimir Vasilev, says the idea emerged after noticing that eating peppermint leaves from his drink significantly relieved his sore throat, inspiring him to explore whether its bioactivity could be converted into a durable coating using plasma technologyâsomething he has been researching for more than two decades.
The team from Flindersâs Biomedical Nanoengineering Laboratoryâincluding Professor Vasilev (Director), Associate Professor ViâKhanh Truong, Dr. Andrew Hayes, and Ph.D. candidates Trong Quan Luu and Tuyet Phamâcreated a nanoscale peppermintâoil coating that protects against infection, inflammation and oxidative stress, while remaining compatible with human tissue and suitable for medical materials.
Researchers study the transition from bound states in the continuum (BICs) to quasi-BIC caused by out-of-plane asymmetry and illustrate how quality factors of BIC resonances are valuable tools for precise chip patterning accuracy.
The authors report a large-scale spin-locking effect of light within a Brownian medium arising from the intrinsic spinâorbit interactions of scattering from multiple individual nanoparticles in a complex disordered system.
That low-frequency fuzz that can bedevil cellphone calls has to do with how electrons move through and interact in materials at the smallest scale. The electronic flicker noise is often caused by interruptions in the flow of electrons by various scattering processes in the metals that conduct them.
The same sort of noise hampers the detecting powers of advanced sensors. It also creates hurdles for the development of quantum computersâdevices expected to yield unbreakable cybersecurity, process large-scale calculations and simulate nature in ways that are currently impossible.
A much quieter, brighter future may be on the way for these technologies, thanks to a new study led by UCLA. The research team demonstrated prototype devices that, above a certain voltage, conducted electricity with lower noise than the normal flow of electrons.
