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Mar 27, 2024

Unlocking TNA: Researchers Develop Artificial Building Blocks of Life

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Groundbreaking research has led to the creation of threofuranosyl nucleic acid (TNA), offering enhanced stability and therapeutic potential, with applications in drug delivery and diagnostics.

The DNA carries the genetic information of all living organisms and consists of only four different building blocks, the nucleotides. Nucleotides are composed of three distinctive parts: a sugar molecule, a phosphate group, and one of the four nucleobases adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. The nucleotides are lined up millions of times and form the DNA double helix, similar to a spiral staircase.

Breakthrough in Nucleic Acid Research.

Mar 27, 2024

Antibody therapy makes the immune systems of old mice young again

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

A novel antibody therapy makes the immune system of old mice appear younger, allowing the animals to better fend off infections and reduce inflammation.

By Grace Wade

Mar 27, 2024

Developing a Protocol for Generating Genetically Modified NK Cells

Posted by in category: genetics

Natural killer (NK) cells target infected and oncogenic cells, but are difficult to work with in vitro. Discover novel approaches to producing genetically modified NK cells for cell therapy.

Mar 27, 2024

Is Eye Movement in Autism Tied to Facial Recognition?

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

Some teens with autism use a different set of eye-movement patterns than their peers without autism while recognizing faces, say researchers at Yale Child Study Center (YCSC).

In a new data analysis, YCSC researchers including James McPartland, PhD, and Jason Griffin, PhD, found teens with autism…


Eye movements are part of the process of telling people apart and could provide information to clinicians about how people with autism process social information differently from non-autistic persons.

Continue reading “Is Eye Movement in Autism Tied to Facial Recognition?” »

Mar 27, 2024

Genetic secrets from 4,000-year-old teeth illuminate the impact of changing human diets over the centuries

Posted by in categories: genetics, health

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have recovered remarkably preserved microbiomes from two teeth dating back 4,000 years, found in an Irish limestone cave. Genetic analyses of these microbiomes reveal major changes in the oral microenvironment from the Bronze Age to today. The teeth both belonged to the same male individual and also provided a snapshot of his oral health.

Mar 27, 2024

Construction of dual heterogeneous interface between zigzag-like Mo-MXene nanofibers and small CoNi@NC nanoparticles

Posted by in category: nanotechnology

Two-dimensional transition metal carbides (MXene) possess attractive conductivity and abundant surface functional groups, providing immense potential in the field of electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption. However, high conductivity and spontaneous aggregation of MXene suffer from limited EMW response. Inspired by dielectric–magnetic synergy effect, the strategy of decorating MXene with magnetic elements is expected to solve this challenge.

Mar 27, 2024

Anti–Interleukin-23 Autoantibodies and Severe Infections

Posted by in category: futurism

This editorial describes the science behind a study of an autoimmune response against cytokines in persons with thymoma and severe infections. Read the full editorial:

Mar 27, 2024

This robot predicts when you’re going to smile — and smiles back

Posted by in category: robotics/AI

An AI-powered robot named Emo watches people’s facial expressions and tries to match them, in an effort to make robots more relatable.

By Alex Wilkins

Mar 27, 2024

New “spiral” contact lenses let you see up close and far away

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Would you wear this? Researchers just revealed a “spiral diopter” contact lens that has multiple focus points, allowing the user to to see clearly at multiple distances. Here’s what volunteers said when they tried it:


New spiral-shaped multifocal lenses bend light in a way that corrects problems seeing up close and far away, even in poor lighting.

Mar 27, 2024

Making Long-Term Memories Requires Nerve-Cell Damage

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

March 27, 2024—(BRONX, NY)— Just as you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that you can’t make long-term memories without DNA damage and brain inflammation. Their surprising findings were published online today in the journal Nature.

“Inflammation of brain neurons is usually considered to be a bad thing, since it can lead to neurological problems such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” said study leader Jelena Radulovic, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and the Sylvia and Robert S. Olnick Chair in Neuroscience at Einstein. “But our findings suggest that inflammation in certain neurons in the brain’s hippocampal region is essential for making long-lasting memories.”

The hippocampus has long been known as the brain’s memory center. Dr. Radulovic and her colleagues found that a stimulus sets off a cycle of DNA damage and repair within certain hippocampal neurons that leads to stable memory assemblies—clusters of brain cells that represent our past experiences. Elizabeth Wood, a Ph.D. student, and Ana Cicvaric, a postdoc in the Radulovic lab, were the study’s first authors at Einstein.

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