When imaging histology samples using a microscope at high resolution, 3D scans are often acquired by shining a flat beam of light through the target volume. While this has allowed for a multitude of discoveries, the technique still suffers greatly from the light scattering through the sample and washing out the sharpness of the image. This […]
Tag: Genetics
Researchers Induce Skin to Turn to Nerves and Vessels In-Vivo
Over the last couple of decades researchers have figured out how to induce stem cells to turn into different types of tissues, and have even managed to convert skin cells into other types of cells. This is still a long and meticulous laboratory process that requires a lot of precision and attention to detail. Now […]
Tissue Paper Made of Various Organs for Use in Wound Healing, Regenerative Medicine, Hormone Production
If you thought sheepskin paper, also known as vellum, is gross, get ready for “tissue paper” from Northwestern University. The material, made from organs mixed with a polymer in a multi-step process, may have a number of uses that are obvious, such as wound repair, and others that will have to be discovered. The tissue paper is […]
Skin Grafts for Gene Therapy Could Treat Type II Diabetes and Obesity
Scientists at the University of Chicago genetically modified skin cells to produce glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) protein that is beneficial in diabetes and reduces appetite, and these investigators grew the cells in a dish to form a skin graft. The grafts could potentially be used to treat diabetes and obesity, and could provide a new […]
New Method Visualizes Individual Neural Pathways Using Light
The brain’s functional network is both highly complex and hard to peer into, making it difficult to understand how some neurons are related to others and what their interconnectivity is like. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, Germany have now developed a way to visualize the electrical activity that single neurons generate […]
New Way to Grow Liver Tissue to Repair Damaged Organ
Here’s an interesting new technology that might ameliorate symptoms in patients with liver failure, improve liver function, and decrease demand for liver transplants. Researchers at MIT, Rockefeller University, and Boston University have created a new way of building hepatic tissue that can be used to replace diseased parts of livers. The investigators’ building process involves […]
Baker’s Yeast Now Used for Drug Discovery
Scientists at the University of Toronto and the RIKEN Center in Japan have developed a new approach to help with drug discovery. Rather than requiring human cells, the technique is based on baker’s yeast, which is well-understood at a molecular level. Discovering how drugs work in the body can be very complex. Similarly, it can […]
Homocystinuria: Causes, symptoms, and tests
What is homocystinuria? In this article, learn about the causes of this condition and who it affects, the symptoms, and how it is diagnosed and treated.
Homocystinuria: Causes, symptoms, and tests
What is homocystinuria? In this article, learn about the causes of this condition and who it affects, the symptoms, and how it is diagnosed and treated.
New Way to Reprogram Macrophages Helps Immune System Kill Tumors
Macrophages, as their greek-derived name implies, are hungry white blood cells that consume all kinds of foreign and unwanted objects within the body. They are one of the primary methods that the immune system uses to fight off disease, and they work by checking the protein content on the exterior of cells to identify whether […]
Expansion Microscopy Swells Samples for Better Imaging
When trying to use light and conventional optics to image a biological sample at great detail, one eventually encounters the fact that objects smaller than the light’s wavelength cannot be resolved. While technological tricks have been developed to overcome this limitation in some ways, a team of researchers from MIT and Harvard have instead focused on […]
New Microfluidic Chip Detects Circulating Tumor Cells in Real Time
At the Rovira i Virgili University in Catalan, Spain, researchers have developed and patented a microfluidic device for detecting circulating tumor cells within whole blood that originate from breast cancer tumors and which are responsible for metastasis. The device, reported on in journal Scientific Reports, and already tested on blood of breast cancer patients at different […]
Scientists Convince Stem Cells Within Brain to Migrate Toward Injury
To be able to fix the fine structure of damaged neural networks using transplanted stem cells would require a way to guide the stem cells to line up in a desired way. Researchers from University of California, Davis and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China have discovered that they can use electric current to point to […]
New Imaging Technique Provides Molecular Orientation in Samples to Help Study Neuro Diseases
A team of French scientists has developed a high speed imaging technique that provides them an unprecedented view of the chemical nature of biological samples. Not only does it provide an analysis of the chemical content, it also provides information about the orientation of the molecules detected. The newly available perspective of the molecular dynamics […]
Researchers Work to Grow Capillaries Inside 3D Printed Molds
Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have overcome an important challenge to using endothelial cells sourced from induced pluripotent stem cells to generate bioengineered blood vessels. Specifically, the investigators were able to watch and guide the formation of tiny blood vessels within specially built molds that promote cellular ingrowth. This development should […]
Using Light to Activate Genes and Kill Cancer
Scientists at Kyoto University in Japan have developed a gene delivery system, involving gold nanorods and a near infrared laser, which can transport a gene into cells and activate it. Changing gene expression is a powerful way to affect cell behavior, and scientists hope to use this approach to treat a variety of diseases. Researchers […]
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Shows Structure of Proteins at Atomic Resolution
Researchers at the University of Stuttgart and Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Germany have made quite a breakthrough by being able to study the atom by atom molecular configuration of proteins using a miniaturized version of an MRI scanner. These days the structures of individual protein molecules are impossible to see and […]
Genetically Engineered Baker’s Yeast Detects Variety of Fungal Pathogens
Researchers at Columbia University have developed a cheap and easy to use fungal pathogen sensor based on store bought baker’s yeast. Currently available methods for detecting specific fungi involve expensive equipment, the use of refrigeration, and trained personnel. Using the team’s technique may result in cheap, readily available testing for a variety of fungal pathogens […]
Engineering Immune Organoids : An Interview with Prof. Ankur Singh from Cornell University
Organ-on-a-chip technologies are redefining the way in which in vitro models help understand and recapitulate the in vivo environment. The immune system is particularly difficult to model in an in vitro environment because of the complexity of biological, mechanical, and chemical cues that modulate the immune cells. Prof. Ankur Singh, an assistant professor in the […]
High Speed Microfluidic Guillotine Helps to Study How Cells Repair Themselves
There are single cell organisms in existence that, after being cut in two, regenerate themselves into two separate fully functional living beings. Understanding the mechanism of this ability can help to better study cancer, improve treatment for physical injuries, and track the development of neurodegenerative diseases. But, carefully splitting single cells into two is a slow […]