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Patient With Transplanted Pig Kidney Leaves Hospital for Home

The first patient to receive a kidney transplanted from a genetically modified pig has fared so well that he was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, just two weeks after the groundbreaking surgery.

The transplant and its encouraging outcome represent a remarkable moment in medicine, scientists say, possibly heralding an era of cross-species organ transplantation.

Two previous organ transplants from genetically modified pigs failed. Both patients received hearts, and both died a few weeks later. In one patient, there were signs that the immune system had rejected the organ, a constant risk.

Immunotherapy Shows Promise as Alzheimer’s Treatment

Summary: Researchers unveiled a novel approach to combat Alzheimer’s disease by activating microglia, the brain’s immune cells, to devour amyloid beta plaques, a hallmark of the condition. This study highlights the potential of using immunotherapy to not only tackle Alzheimer’s but also other neurodegenerative diseases characterized by harmful protein accumulations.

The team’s method involves using an antibody to stimulate microglia into clearing these plaques, offering a promising alternative to current treatments that directly target amyloid beta and might cause side effects like ARIA. This breakthrough paves the way for new therapeutic strategies that harness the immune system to fight the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s and possibly other diseases like Parkinson’s and ALS.

Can Data be Stored in DNA?

This post is also available in: he ŚąŚ‘ŚšŚ™ŚȘ (Hebrew)

Analyzing and storing large amounts of data requires a lot of energy, so the future of technology might hold a different approach to data storage. At least, that is what Professor SĂžren Brunak from the University of Copenhagen thinks.

Brunak states that while Denmark is one of the best in the world at health data, analyzing and storing huge amounts of health data comes at a climate cost. “We have begun to consider the carbon footprint of bioinformatics and CO2 emissions resulting from data analysis,” he adds.

Researchers visualize quantum effects in electron waves

One of the most fundamental interactions in physics is that of electrons and light. In an experiment at Goethe University Frankfurt, scientists have now managed to observe what is known as the Kapitza-Dirac effect for the first time in full temporal resolution. This effect was first postulated more than 90 years ago, but only now are its finest details coming to light.

Intelligent liquid: Researchers develop metafluid with programmable response

By Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a programmable metafluid with tunable springiness, optical properties, viscosity and even the ability to transition between a Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid.