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Autism risk framework tracks genes, maternal factors and environment across 18,000 families

A new statistical framework developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Kaiser Permanente Northern California offers improved understanding of how genetics and environment contribute to autism risk.

Large-scale genetic studies have led to the development of genetic risk scores that estimate a person’s predisposition to diseases and health conditions based on their DNA profiles. The new framework allows researchers and clinicians to analyze these scores using family data and characterize the risk of conditions such as autism and other developmental conditions in children based on their own DNA, parental factors, and environmental influences such as maternal diet and lifestyle.

For their study published in Nature Genetics, the researchers analyzed more than 18,000 case-parent trios —autistic children and their parents—across diverse ancestral populations in the Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge consortium and the Genes and Environment Autism Research Study.

Biohybrid microrobots repair spinal cord by combining stem cells with magnetoelectric nanoparticles

Spinal cord injuries can have devastating consequences for those affected. Nerve cells in the spinal cord rarely regenerate naturally, while scarring often prevents the regrowth of nerve fibers. Modern therapies attempt to influence implanted stem cells using electrical stimulation to promote the growth of new nerve cells. This approach has several drawbacks: it requires implanted electrodes, and the transplanted cells do not always survive or integrate properly into the existing tissue.

Researchers in Zurich are pursuing a new approach, which they have published in the journal Nature Materials. This involves combining therapeutic stem cells with magnetoelectric nanoparticles in such a way that the cells can be guided magnetically to the precise site of an injury and stimulate the stem cells to accelerate repair.

To achieve this, the researchers created a biohybrid microrobot, which combines living neural progenitor cells (NPCs) with a technical component in the form of specially engineered nanoparticles.

Experimental Brain ‘Pacemakers’ May Rewire Circuits Linked to Depression

Every year, more than 2 million people in the United States are diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression.

Desperate for solutions, some brave patients are now volunteering to undergo surgery to place experimental ‘pacemakers’ into their brains.

These implanted electrodes are part of a treatment known as deep brain stimulation, which is currently used to address some cases of Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

Discovering That Hair Greying is Reversible

Looking at my reflection in the rearview mirror with morning sunlight streaming through the windows, it’s now hard to ignore the shimmering strands of silver that seem to be multiplying on my head. You may have seen this happen to your parents, friends, pets, and perhaps even yourself?

Is hair greying linked to life stress?

What if this was reversible?

A 29-year-old man has created magnetic cement, and his invention promises to revolutionize a construction sector that has not undergone a true transformation in decades

A 29-year-old’s magnetic cement could end drilling walls, turning everyday surfaces into flexible, reusable storage systems

When AI builds itself

Taken far enough, and given enough compute, that trend points to an AI system capable of fully autonomously designing and developing its own successor. This is called recursive self-improvement. We are not there yet, and recursive self-improvement is not inevitable. But it could come sooner than most institutions are prepared for.

Using public benchmarks and previously unreported data from within Anthropic, The Anthropic Institute is showing that AI is already accelerating the development of AI systems. To take just one example: today, Anthropic engineers on average ship 8x as much code per quarter as they did from 2021–2025.

The technical trends discussed in this piece suggest that AI systems are going to become much more capable in coming years. These trends have huge implications. AI that can build itself would be a major development in the history of technology—one that could bring enormous good for the world in science, healthcare, and beyond. But full recursive self-improvement also might increase the risks of humans losing control over AI systems. If systems are capable of fully building their own successors, the ways we secure them, monitor them, and shape their behavior all grow much more important.

AI paired with tiny optical device corrects distorted light for sharper imaging

Blurry light from lens imperfections is a problem everywhere, from microscopes to telescopes to smartphone cameras. Using a tiny yet carefully engineered optical element and artificial intelligence, University of California San Diego engineers have built a way to spot and correct those distortions from a single image—a step that could make advanced optical systems faster, smaller and easier to use.

“We used a combination of fundamental physics, nanofabrication and machine learning to make hidden distortions easier to detect and correct,” said senior author Abdoulaye Ndao, an electrical and computer engineering faculty member in the Jacobs School of Engineering and an affiliate of the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego.

“Our fast, robust solution is tiny and easy to integrate into different optical systems,” he continued. “The weight is almost nothing, because the size of the sample can be one by one centimeter and half a millimeter thick.”

Munk Debate on Gene Editing

On April 21, the Munk Debates convened a special debate about gene editing in Deerfield, Massachusetts for 650 students at Deerfield Academy.

Motion: Be it Resolved, let’s engineer better human beings.

About the Debate:
New powerful engineering technology is already being used to edit human embryos, curing diseases and repairing defective genes before a child is even born. Some welcome this new science as a powerful tool to enhance human intelligence, memory, appearance and physical health. Why wouldn’t we embrace a science that allows people to live longer, healthier, and happier lives? Others warn that this new technology will be used to create designer babies and a new class of genetically “enhanced” elites. It will undermine human dignity and autonomy, and risk unleashing new diseases into the human gene pool. Playing G-d with human nature, critics argue, will result in a dystopian nightmare of our own making.

About the Debaters:
Arguing in favour of the motion was the biophysicist, best-selling author, biotechnology entrepreneur, and the former director of the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA School of Medicine, Gregory Stock. His debate partner was the internationally acclaimed strategic philosopher and pioneering transhumanist Max More. Arguing against the motion was the prominent American bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, Special Advisor to the Director General of the WHO and a former founding chair of the Department of Bioethics at the NIH. His debate partner was the award-winning educator, author, and Professor of Reproductive Science at University College London, Joyce Harper.

Brain circuit links memory to hearing, revealing how learned sounds guide behavior

Short-term memories are thought to be formed deep within the brain in structures such as the hippocampus, but little is known about how and where memory-related information is kept in the brain or the process of drawing on this information. A good example is the sound of a car horn—most of us recognize it as a warning and know how to respond, even though not all horns sound the same and the circumstances in which we might hear a horn are different each time.

New research led by Professor Lucy Palmer from The Florey’s Neural Network Group has uncovered new insights into how and where memory-related information is stored and how these memory banks are used. These findings improve our fundamental understanding of how the brain works, providing a springboard for other scientists to make further, disease-specific discoveries. The paper is published in the journal Science Advances.

“Using mice that we trained to respond to similar, but slightly altered sounds, we identified a long-range cortical circuit that links memory and sensory systems,” Professor Palmer said. “Our findings provide valuable insights into the cellular and network mechanisms that support learning and memory-guided sensory behavior.

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