Menu

Blog

Page 6317

Mar 29, 2021

‘Superbugs’ kill more than 35K people in the US each year. Doctors may be partially to blame, study suggests

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

In the agency’s study, researchers looked at 1566 patients who received antibiotics and found that 55.9% shouldn’t have received them based on practice guidelines.


Studies have shown patients with antibiotic-resistant infections are at an increased risk of worse clinical outcomes, such as severe disease and death, compared with patients with infections that can be treated with antibiotics.

This may be due to significantly longer hospital stays, high risk of treatment failure and increased risk of undergoing surgery, Goff said. According to the CDC, more than 35000 people die from antibiotic-resistant infections in the U.S. each year.

Continue reading “‘Superbugs’ kill more than 35K people in the US each year. Doctors may be partially to blame, study suggests” »

Mar 29, 2021

‘Zombie’ genes? Research shows some genes come to life in the brain after death

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Studies on postmortem tissue may need to adjust for postmortem cell activity.


In the hours after we die, certain cells in the human brain are still active. Some cells even increase their activity and grow to gargantuan proportions, according to new research from the University of Illinois Chicago.

In a newly published study in the journal Scientific Reports, the UIC researchers analyzed gene expression in fresh brain tissue — which was collected during routine brain surgery — at multiple times after removal to simulate the post-mortem interval and death. They found that gene expression in some cells actually increased after death.

Continue reading “‘Zombie’ genes? Research shows some genes come to life in the brain after death” »

Mar 29, 2021

55 Chemicals From Unknown Origin Discovered in Pregnant Women

Posted by in category: chemistry

AuthorResearch paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.0c05984

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-detect-55-chemicals-neve…e-unknown/

https://particleandfibretoxicology.biomedcentral.com/article…0385-9

Continue reading “55 Chemicals From Unknown Origin Discovered in Pregnant Women” »

Mar 29, 2021

Google’s unusual move to shut down an active counterterrorism operation being conducted by a Western democracy

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, government

Google stops western government hacking.

“Instead of focusing on who was behind and targeted by a specific operation, Google decided to take broader action for everyone. The justification was that even if a Western government was the one exploiting those vulnerabilities today, it will eventually be used by others, and so the right choice is always to fix the flaw today.”


A decision to shut down exploits being used by “friendly” hackers has caused controversy inside the company’s security teams.

Continue reading “Google’s unusual move to shut down an active counterterrorism operation being conducted by a Western democracy” »

Mar 29, 2021

DNA damage “hot spots” discovered within neurons

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, health, neuroscience

Furthermore, it implies that defects in the repair process, not the DNA damage itself, can potentially lead to developmental or neurodegenerative diseases.


Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered specific regions within the DNA of neurons that accumulate a certain type of damage (called single-strand breaks or SSBs). This accumulation of SSBs appears to be unique to neurons, and it challenges what is generally understood about the cause of DNA damage and its potential implications in neurodegenerative diseases.

Because neurons require considerable amounts of oxygen to function properly, they are exposed to high levels of free radicals—toxic compounds that can damage DNA within cells. Normally, this damage occurs randomly. However, in this study, damage within neurons was often found within specific regions of DNA called “enhancers” that control the activity of nearby genes.

Continue reading “DNA damage ‘hot spots’ discovered within neurons” »

Mar 29, 2021

Fat and Healthy? What the Science Says About Longevity and Weight

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, science

Given the rate of overweight and obese people in the Western world, there are inevitably lots of fat people interested in life extension. Assuming that weight-loss trends continue with a high failure rate, the majority of fat spanners will not be able to lose and maintain their weight loss through diet and exercise.

This article explores effective life-extension interventions that do not include weight loss for people with an excess of adipose tissue.


Is it possible to be fat and healthy? Is obesity a death sentence? Learn about what the science says about life extension when fat.

Mar 29, 2021

FDA Approves First Cell-Based Gene Therapy for Adult Patients with Multiple Myeloma

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Treatment for Myeloma cancer.


The FDA approved Abecma, the first cell-based gene therapy to treat adult patients with multiple myeloma who have not responded to, or whose disease has returned after, at least four prior lines (different types) of therapy.

Mar 29, 2021

CRISPR Fixes Rare Mutation for the First Time in a Live Animal

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics

In the case of DMD caused by a duplication mutation, CRISPR can simply snip away the harmful duplicate gene, which is much simpler than delivering a new gene or replacing the old.


For the first time in a live animal, researchers have successfully reversed a gene mutation, called a “duplication mutation,” by gene editing.

Mar 29, 2021

See a dust devil whirl by the Mars Perseverance rover

Posted by in category: space

Desert sighting.


While taking images of its new surroundings on the arid Martian surface, the Perseverance rover recently spotted a dust devil whirling by in the distance.

Mar 29, 2021

Former prisoners struggle to re-enter society. What happens when society moves online?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, mobile phones

When Renaldo Hudson left the Danville Correctional Center on Sept. 2, he was beaming. As the sun shone down on a hot day in Eastern Illinois, Hudson took his first free steps in 37 years.

Later that day, he arrived at the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, a restorative justice nonprofit that helps former prisoners get on their feet. There, he saw friends for the first time in years and hugged his attorney, Jennifer Soble.

He was also handed a Samsung smartphone, a piece of technology that wouldn’t have been imaginable to an American in 1983.