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Adam Alonzi has made another excellent film about the power of gene therapy.

Narrated and produced by Adam Alonzi. Music arranged by Leslee Frost. Sponsored by BioViva Sciences Inc.

Alzheimer’s Disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, neurodegenerative disorder. It is the leading cause of dementia. Typically the condition affects short-term memory, but as it advances it can result in disorientation, mood disorders, language difficulties and behavioral issues. Over time, body functions are lost, leading to death.

Current treatment options are extremely limited and the outlook is poor for sufferers with the average life expectancy being 3–9 years from diagnosis. According to RAND Corp, the average annual cost of care for someone with Alzheimer’s disease is $41,689 to $56,290.

Continue reading “BioViva Presents: Alzheimer’s Disease and Gene Therapy” | >

Equal parts interesting and disturbing.

Mass extinctions occurring over the past 260 million years were likely caused by comet and asteroid showers, a new study concludes. An artist’s illustration of a major asteroid impact on Earth. (credit: NASA/Don Davis)

Mass extinctions occurring over the past 260 million years were likely caused by comet and asteroid showers, scientists conclude in a new study published in an open-access paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

For more than 30 years, scientists have argued about a controversial hypothesis relating to periodic mass extinctions and impact craters — caused by comet and asteroid showers — on Earth.

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Coronary artery structure being 3-D bioprinted (credit: Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering)

Carnegie Mellon scientists are creating cutting-edge technology that could one day solve the shortage of heart transplants, which are currently needed to repair damaged organs.

“We’ve been able to take MRI images of coronary arteries and 3-D images of embryonic hearts and 3-D bioprint them with unprecedented resolution and quality out of very soft materials like collagens, alginates and fibrins,” said Adam Feinberg, an associate professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.

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Samsung’s latest battery prototypes could lead not only to more powerful wearables, but also to unusual ones. The first model called Band is meant to be attached to smartwatch straps, as its name implies, to add as much as 50 percent of the device’s original battery life. Stripe, on the other hand, is the thin, bendy strip the model above is holding in her hands — and the more versatile between the two. Since it’s extremely thin (it has a depth measuring 0.3mm), it could be used to create all kinds of wearables, such as smart necklaces and headbands, or even interactive clothing designs. According to Samsung, it has higher energy density than current comparable batteries, though it didn’t name any particular brand and model.

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