Researchers at Drexel University College of Medicine and the University of Texas at Austin were able to treat rats that have spinal cord injury with neurons grown in a petri dish. The animals, whose breathing abilities were severely stifled by the injury, showed improvement in their breathing following the therapy. This is an impressive result […]
Tag: Genetics
Imec Develops Organ-On-Chip Device to Improve Drug Candidate Screening
The drug development process is a long road that involves not only many years of research and large piles of money, but also a great deal of pre-clinical and clinical testing. Animals used during in vivo testing are not always good human analogues, and humans of course are always at risk for potentially serious side […]
3D Printed Artificial Corneas Seeded with Stem Cells to Alleviate Shortage of Donors
At Newcastle University in the UK researchers have managed to print replacement corneas, potentially alleviating the shortage of donor corneas that exists right now. The artificial corneas are made from a combination of alginate, collagen, and a pinch of human stem cells that are made to differentiate into corneal stromal cells. The mix, which has […]
E. Coli in an Electronic Pill Can Detect Bleeding in the Stomach
Researchers at MIT have developed an ingestible chip containing genetically engineered E. coli. When swallowed, the bacteria can detect blood in the stomach, and produce light. The chip contains components that measure the amount of light produced and relays this information to a nearby smartphone, allowing a simple and non-invasive diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding. In […]
Japanese Researchers Figure Out How to Connect Neurons Together
Cultured groups of neurons and even brain organoids are now routine in neuroscience research, and yet the connections between individual neurons that materialize are effectively random. In order to be able to setup tightly controlled experiments in which the neuronal networks are precisely designed, a scientist needs a method to connect individual neurons together. Now […]
Blood Test for Quick and Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is notoriously famous for being a merciless killer, but the reality is that our current inability to diagnose it early is what makes it so intractable. Earlier diagnosis would allow therapies to be initiated before the cancer becomes untreatable. Researchers at University of California, San Diego may have just developed a blood test that […]
Robot Taught to Grow Kidney Organoids from Pluripotent Stem Cells
Organoids have become a new way of studying the details of how our tissues function and to test potential new drugs in a highly realistic environment. Growing these three dimensional bits of organs from stem cells is not easy, which is why Petri dishes continue to be the standard in cellular culturing. Now researchers at […]
Scientists Create Maps of Gonorrhea’s Resistance to Antibiotics
A team of European researchers has mapped the genome of various strains of gonorrhea, creating a way to identify antibiotic resistance before trying different regimens of antibiotics. By sequencing DNA gathered from patient samples, the researchers were able to spot individual cases of resistance and to correct faulty lab test results. While important in itself, […]
AmnioStem Amniotic Fluid Stem Cell Therapy for Stroke
Creative Medical Technology Holdings, a Phoenix, Arizona firm, has filed for a patent for its AmnioStem amniotic fluid derived stem cell therapy for treatment of stroke. According to the company, “The patent application covers the use of the Company’s newly licensed AmnioStem stem cell as a production means for generation of nanoparticles termed “exosomes,” which […]
IonStar Delivers Nearly Perfect Proteomics in Large Groups of People
Measuring the amount of specific proteins present in the body can help to diagnose diseases that are otherwise difficult to identify. This has been a challenge and even the best existing technology, known as MaxQuant, is not great at measuring low concentrations of proteins and performs poorly in certain situations. Now researchers at State University of New […]
Researchers Present “Neuronal Cookbook” for Making Neurons from Skin Cells
A team of researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have developed a so-called “neuronal cookbook” that provides other scientists a set of instruction for how to convert skin cells into different types of brain neurons. The new methodology should allow researchers to generate exactly the type of cells they need and to study them in […]
Allen Integrated Cell Program for Easy but Powerful Analysis of Stem Cells
The Allen Institute for Cell Science in Seattle, Washington has released Allen Integrated Cell, a piece of software that models the intricate details of human induced pluri-potent stem cells. Specifically, it provides a view of these cells in their pluri-potent state, including the various important organelles that perform unique functions inside the cells. The system includes […]
Biomarker to Differentiate Between Type 1 Diabetes and Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young
Scientists from MedGenome, Genentech and Madras Institute of Technology in India have spotted a biomarker that may help avoid misdiagnosis of Type 1 diabetes in children. Those with Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY) have different treatment needs than Type 1 requires, but a genomic analysis like the one done by the researchers can help […]
Mirages of Reality: Holographic Laser Activates Groups of Brain Neurons
At University of California, Berkeley neuroscientists are engaged in activities normally reserved for sci-fi books. They’re using holographic projectors to control the activity of entire groups of neurons at the same time. Though there’s certainly room for abuse, the therapeutic and scientific potential for being able to manipulate the brain in a detailed fashion is […]
Squeezing Cells to Push Therapeutic Macromolecules Into Them
Large molecules are hard to work with and getting them to end up inside of cells is a particular challenge. Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed an easy way of doing this, which may help to hurry the introduction of cell-based therapies including those involving introducing genetically edited cells into the body. The Georgia Tech’s […]
Project to Develop Virus-Resistant Human Cells for Clinical Applications
Harvard’s Wyss Institute is partnering with Cellectis, a company working on immunotherapy technology involving editing the genes of allogeneic CAR T-cells, to create “virus-resistant human cells.” These would be used to produce therapeutic products and to create new cell-based clinical therapies. More from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering…
Bacteria Carrying Red Blood Cells as Microswimmers to Deliver Drugs Inside Body
Man-made nano and micro particles are a dime a dozen these days, with all sorts of mechanisms built-in to deliver drugs, help spot cancer, and destroy tumors. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany have developed a much more natural approach, combining red blood cells with bacteria to ferry cargoes rapidly […]
Bacteria Carrying Red Blood Cells as Microswimmers to Deliver Drugs Inside Body
Man-made nano and micro particles are a dime a dozen these days, with all sorts of mechanisms built-in to deliver drugs, help spot cancer, and destroy tumors. Now researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany have developed a much more natural approach, combining red blood cells with bacteria to ferry cargoes rapidly […]
BD Releases New Highly Accurate Cell Sorter for FACSymphony Cell Analyzer
BD is releasing its new BD FACSymphony S6 cell sorter, a device that works with the BD FACSymphony cell analyzer (shown at right). The device features six-way sorting, measuring up to 30 different parameters to decide into which compartment to send each cell. The company touts the “ultra-quiet” electronics within the device that optimize accuracy, […]
NuProbe Global to Commercialize Multiplexed, Rare Gene Testing Technology
Harvard’s Wyss Institute researchers are bringing a specific and multiplexed genetic diagnostic technology to market with NuProbe Global, a Boston based company. It addresses the current need to detect rare genetic mutations, which may be present in only a few cells of the body. Current detection techniques using gene amplification are not specific enough and […]