JULY 27TH, 2022 CONN HASTINGS MATERIALS, MEDICINE, PUBLIC HEALTH Researchers at MIT have created a microparticle vaccine that can provide booster doses automatically. The hollow microparticles resemble a coffee cup with a lid, and are made using poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), otherwise known as PLGA. The polymer breaks down over time in the body, releasing the contents of...
by KAIST Functional shift of somatostatin (SST) by factors in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Credit: KAIST With nearly 50 million dementia patients worldwide, Alzheimers’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease. Its main symptom is the impairment of general cognitive abilities, including the ability to speak or to remember. The importance of finding a...
JULY 28TH, 2022 CONN HASTINGS MATERIALS, NEWS, PUBLIC HEALTH Researchers at the University of Kentucky created a novel membrane that can enzymatically degrade the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, rendering the virus inactive. The membrane is intended to act as an insert within face masks, providing extra protection for groups at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, such as...
JULY 28TH, 2022 CONN HASTINGS MEDICINE, ONCOLOGY, SURGERY Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany have developed tumor-targeting microrobots using bacteria. The team exploited the tendency of bacteria to naturally gravitate towards areas of low oxygen and low ph, which both tend to occur in the vicinity of a tumor. Once near...
by La Jolla Institute for Immunology This image captures intraepithelial T cells (blue dots) and collagen in the basement membrane (green). This view shows how the cells and the basement membrane are connected. The black space is not empty—it is filled with cells in the intestinal villus, but they were not labeled with fluorescent antibodies so...
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY MRI, electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography have long served as the tools to study brain activity, but new research from Carnegie Mellon University introduces a novel, AI-based dynamic brain imaging technology which could map out rapidly changing electrical activity in the brain with high speed, high resolution, and low cost....
by Mallory Locklear, Yale University Neurons in the hypothalamus (B) project to the ventral tegmental area (C), where cells send connections to the prefrontal cortex (A). Through this pathway, AgRP cells in the hypothalamus affect cortical structure and function. Credit: Yale University The prefrontal cortex region of the human brain is responsible for a range of...
BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION An injectable cure for inherited heart muscle conditions that can kill young people in the prime of their lives could be available within a few years, after an international team of researchers were announced as the winners of the British Heart Foundation’s Big Beat Challenge. The global award, at £30m, is one...
ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA IMAGE: WORRY ABOUT CONTRACTING MONKEYPOX OR COVID-19 OVER THE NEXT THREE MONTHS. ASKED OF 1,580 ADULTS ON THE ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER ASK SURVEY, JULY 12-18, 2022. CREDIT: ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER PHILADELPHIA – As Covid-19 cases surge across the United States dominated by a highly...
by Ananya Sen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign From left: Brian Cunningham, Amanda Bacon, Aaron Jankelow, Katherine Koprowski, Han Keun Lee, Weijing Wang, Robert Stavins, and Enrique Valera. Bacon and Koprowski are holding the instrument and the cartridge, respectively. Credit: Julia Pollack As seen with the COVID-19 pandemic, detection methods that are rapid, simple, accurate, and...
