HUMODS: July 2010

7/28/2010 PERMALINK

Having a good education lower your dementia risk.

Professor Carol Brayne and Dr Hannah Keage of the University of Cambridge explained there new research in this way. 'Previous research has shown that there is not a one-to-one relationship between being diagnosed with dementia during life and changes seen in the brain at death,' said Dr Keage. 'One person may show lots of pathology in their brain while another shows very little, yet both may have had dementia. Our study shows education in early life appears to enable some people to cope with a lot of changes in their brain before showing dementia symptoms.' The researchers analyzed a large body of data from the EClipSE collaboration, which combines the three European population-based longitudinal studies of ageing (the Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study, the Cambridge City Over-75s Cohort Study and Vantaa 85, a Finnish study).

7/28/2010 PERMALINK

A new implanted glucose sensor is another step towards docbot health monitoring for us all.

Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego and GlySens Incorporated have developed an implantable glucose sensor and wireless telemetry system that continuously monitors tissue glucose and transmits the information to an external receiver. The implant has been successfully used in animals for over a year. After human clinical trials and FDA approval, the device can eliminate all the finger sticking for people with diabetes.

7/27/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists 'reprogram' mouse fat cells into clinically useful stem cells.

Scientists from the Monash Institute of Medical Research have 'reprogrammed' adult mouse fat cells and neural cells to become stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of different cells (pluripotency). The cells, called 'induced pluripotent stem cells' (iPS), are nearly identical to the naturally occurring pluripotent stems cells, such as embryonic stem cells, which are highly pluripotent, in short supply and their access restricted in the U.S.

7/27/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers find that insufficient amounts of the the protein neogenin causes fragile bones.

These days, when researchers identify the cause of a problem, this discovery tends to be followed fairly shortly by the discovery of a genetic tweak to fix it. The latest such report is that too little of a protein called neogenin results in a smaller skeleton during development and sets the stage for a lifelong fragile bone framework, according to research at the Medical College of Georgia.

7/25/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists work to fix the fact that humans lack a key enzyme most animals have that reverses sun damage.

Researchers have long known that humans lack a key enzyme -- one possessed by most of the animal kingdom and even plants -- that reverses severe sun damage. For the first time, researchers have witnessed how this enzyme works at the atomic level to repair sun-damaged DNA. The discovery holds promise for future sunburn remedies and skin cancer prevention. The enzyme, called photolyase, injects a single electron and proton into an injured strand of DNA. The two subatomic particles healed the damage in a few billionths of a second. 'People have been working on this for years, but now that we've seen it, I don't think anyone could have guessed exactly what was happening,' said the leader of the research project, Ohio State University physicist and chemist Dongping Zhong.

7/23/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers find a safer way to reprogram normal cells into stem cells, using RNA instead of DNA.

In recent years, scientists have shown that they can reprogram human skin cells to an immature state that allows the cells to become any type of cell. This ability, known as pluripotency, holds the promise of treating many diseases by transforming the patients' own cells into replacements for the nonfunctioning tissue. However, the current technique of reprogramming the cells using viruses to carry the DNA, carries the risk of disrupting the cell's genome and leading it to become cancerous. Now, researchers have shown that they can deliver those same reprogramming genes using RNA, the genetic material that normally ferries instructions from DNA to the cell's protein-making machinery. This method could prove much safer than DNA-based reprogramming, say the researchers, Associate Professor of Electrical and Biological Engineering Mehmet Fatih Yanik and electrical engineering graduate student Matthew Angel of MIT.

7/23/2010 PERMALINK

Reduced levels of microRNA-138 may cause 90% of oral cancers.

MicroRNAs are small, noncoding RNA molecules that control the expression of a target gene after the intermediary message for the gene has been transcribed into RNA. Several microRNAs are believed to stimulate the spread of various types of cancer. A new study demonstrates that a reduced level of microRNA-138 is associated with enhanced ability of tongue squamous cell carcinoma cells to spread. Xiaofeng "Charles" Zhou, assistant professor in the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Molecular Biology of Oral Diseases lead this reasearch.

7/23/2010 PERMALINK

"Crisis" in wireless spectrum is a myth of the cell phone monopolists, time for an OpenFlow future, say top radio engineers.

A Nation Science Foundation study found that only 5.2% of the wireless spectrum from 30 MHz to 3000 MHz was in use at any one time. So why all the dropped calls and high prices and cries of 'spectrum shortages' from the wireless monopolists? Because says a group of communication engineers, we're you are locked into the spectrum offered by a single cell phone carrier. The technology exists for smart devices that can seamlessly switch between any available spectrum so that 95% of the spectrum could be utilized instead of 5% and you could almost never suffer poor service. Engineers have set up OpenFlow to push forward the technologies that can free the spectrum to us all. All that is keeping this from happening is the efforts of those few that hold government granted monopolies over pieces of spectrum. Congressmen will continue going against the public interest to uphold these monopolies in return for huge kickbacks in the form of campaign donations, vacation conference trips, cushy jobs for wives and kids of Congressmen and lucrative lobbying gigs after Congressmen retire. This corruption must be overcome for us all to enjoy near perfect connectivity for a cornucopia of wonderful wireless devices at affordable costs. Demand that all spectrum be OpenFlow spectrum. Stanford University.

7/23/2010 PERMALINK

The bio-ware regenerative future of joint replacement.

As you age your joints inevitably grind down, but when this becomes a problem, very few get the best remedy -- biological regeneration. Stem cells and animal tissues can do a far better job of regenerating joints than today's more common replacements joints. Cellular beat cyborg solutions, says Dr. Stone. A TED talk by Dr. Kevin Stone.

7/23/2010 PERMALINK

Your 'traffic light' neurons that let you know when it's time to start and stop.

The basal ganglia is a series of highly connected brain areas localised deep in the cerebral cortex that recently has attracted interest of neuroscientists when it was linked to learning, and discovered to be affected in a number of disorders of the addictive and obsessive spectrum, but also in Parkinson’s disease (PD). And now researchers think they have understood why as they found that neurons in this area signal the beginning and the end of voluntary actions. In fact, problems in these neurons could explain the incapacity to stop seen in obsession or compulsive behaviour, but also the problems in learning and control of movement characteristic of Parkinson's. The implications are many, as a better understanding of the neural mechanisms behind these problems means that better and more specific treatments for these diseases can one day be developed, possibly even by artificially stimulating or inhibiting individual neurons. Xin Jin and Rui M. Costa at the Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Maryland, USA and the Champalimaud Neuroscience Program at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal.

7/23/2010 PERMALINK

Graphene organic photovoltaics that can let your shirt power your wearware.

A research team has produced flexible transparent carbon atom films that the researchers say have great potential for a new breed of solar cells. 'Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells have been proposed as a means to achieve low cost energy due to their ease of manufacture, light weight, and compatibility with flexible substrates,' wrote Chongwu Zhou, a professor of electrical engineering.
The novel OPV cell design has significant advantages, particularly in the area of physical flexibility. A critical aspect of any OPV photo-electronic device is a transparent conductive electrode through which light can couple with active materials to create electricity. The new work indicates that graphene, a highly conductive and highly transparent form of carbon made up of atoms-thick sheets of carbon atoms, has high potential to fill this role. University of Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering.

7/23/2010 PERMALINK

Woman must flee to Germany to save her autistic son from Canadian regulatory holocaust.

Authorities not only won't pay for stem cell treatments that could cure her young son's autism. They have made them illegal for anyone to obtain in Canada, even with their own money. And to add insult to injury, the draconian state medical bureaucrats are threatening to kick her son out of a provincially funded treatment program. Because his progress hasn't met their rigid standards. So, Kristen Foster is desperately trying to raising the $18,000 to take her son to a more civilized country, Germany. Where children aren't denied the stem cell therapy that can change their lives. Antiquated medical regulation enforced by evil bureaucracies is preventing the rise of personalized genetic medicine in many countries around the world. By keeping millions locked in the old, obsolete one-pill-fits-all drug development regime, regulators are perpetrating a new holocaust. Millions are being prevented from getting the treatments that can save their lives and many of these will die for lack of the funds necessary to travel to a civilized country for treatment. Ottawa, Canada.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists discovery how to tweak bone cells into making new bone.

It is the spindly extensions of bone cells that sense mechanical stimulation and signal the release of bone-growth factors. The finding opens a path to therapies that treat the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis and bone loss associated with aging. 'Osteocytes are the most abundant cells in bone,' Dr. Jiang said. 'In the field of bone biology, there was a long-standing debate as to which part of the osteocyte senses mechanical loading. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that it is the extensions, which are called dendrites.' Jean Jiang, Ph.D. the senior corresponding author is from the School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

'Runaway' development implicated in the loss of function as your brain ages.

The brain undergoes rapid growth and development in the early years of life and then degenerates as we progress into old age, yet little is known about the biological processes that distinguish brain development and aging. Researchers have identified a gene regulatory link between changes in the young and aging brain, describing 'runaway' development as a potentially significant factor in age-related loss of function. Previous work has shown that neuronal genes gradually lose activity with age, attributed to an accumulation of damage in neuronal cells over a lifetime. Somel and colleagues have now shown that this process begins as early as three to four years of age, suggesting that these changes may be normal developmental regulation that continues long into old age. While this regulation is likely to be beneficial during development, at old age continuation of the gene regulation, or "runaway" development, might be detrimental. Philipp Khaitovich of the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences is senior author of the study. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany), La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia), the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (Berlin, Germany), and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (Berlin, Germany) also contributed to this study.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

Newly developed biophotonic tools can reveal real-time dynamics of how cells die.

Apoptosis, programmed cell death, is essential to normal development, healthy immune system function, and cancer prevention. The process dramatically transforms cellular structures but the limitations of conventional microscopy methods have kept much about this structural reorganization a mystery. Now, scientists have developed a biophotonic imaging approach capable of monitoring in real-time the transformations that cellular macromolecules undergo during programmed cell death. The work could help realize the potential of customized molecular medicine, in which chemotherapy, for example, can be precisely targeted to cellular changes exhibited by individual patients. Paras N. Prasad, PhD, executive director of the UB Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics, University at Buffalo.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers find that a mixture of nanoparticles and adult stem cells can eliminate plaque from your arteries.

A technique that combines nanotechnology with adult stem cells appears to destroy atherosclerotic plaque and rejuvenate the arteries, according to a study reported at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2010 Scientific Sessions – Technological and Conceptual Advances in Cardiovascular Disease. In the study, nanoparticles (microscopic particles with at least one dimension less than 80 nm) were infused into the heart of pigs along with adult stem cells. After the nanoparticles were heated by laser light, they burned away arterial plaque. However, nanoparticles were less effective at eliminating plaque if not combined with adult stem cells. 'This unique approach holds promise for use in humans for acute care and urgent restoration of blood flow,' said Alexandr Kharlamov. 'Biophotonics (light therapy), plasmonics (plasma therapy), stem cell therapy and nanotechnology might someday offer a completely novel treatment to reduce artery plaque build-up.' Alexandr Kharlamov, M.D., lead author and research manager, Department of Internal Medicine and Research Center of Regenerative Medicine, Ural State Medical Academy in Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists tweak microRNA levels to mod your cells so that viruses can't survive in them.

University of Edinburgh The microRNA's are modded to control a network of proteins in a way that stops viruses from growing. Most existing antiviral therapies only work against one virus. However, by adapting the virus host environment the researchers were able to target different types of viruses. It is hoped that the research could lead to new treatments for patients suffering from a range of infections. Dr Amy Buck, of the University's Centre for Immunity, Infection & Evolution, said: 'A problem with current antiviral therapies, which generally target the virus, is that viruses can mutate to become resistant. Since new viral strains emerge frequently, and many infections are difficult to diagnose and treat, it is important to find new ways of targeting infection. Our hope is that we will be able to use host-directed therapies to supplement the natural immune response and disable viruses by taking away what they need to survive.'

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

A low-cost, simple to use headset that really does let you control devices with your brainwaves.

Tan Le of Emotiv Systems demos their device at TED : Tan Le's astonishing new computer interface reads its user's brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts (and a little concentration). In this clip, she demos the headset on an audience member, and talks about its far-reaching applications.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

New techniques are allowing astronomers to finding hundreds of Earth-like planets.

Astronomer Dimitar Sasselov Talk at TED : Using improvements in observation technologies, astronomers are now finding lots Earth-like planets. How many such planets have they found already? Several hundred, says Sasselov. This is vitally important to the future of our kind, because our Cosmos is an extremely dangerous neighborhood. So dangerous, in fact, that it function as an intelligence generation engine. Beyond the normal survival of the fittest law that challenges all species. Our Cosmos also features macro events like gamma ray burst and rouge black holes creating a rain of comets, which can only be survived by means of intelligence. Unless humans (homo sapiens) take the next evolutionary step to become humods (homo novo) as quickly as possible, the duration of our kind will be but the tiniest fraction of what it could have been.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

SIRT1 gene, previously linked to aging, has now also been linked to Alzheimer's.

MIT : Biologists report that they have discovered the first link between the amyloid plaques that form in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and a gene previously implicated in the aging process, SIRT1.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

Study links more time spent sitting to higher risk of death.

American Cancer Society : In a new study researchers find that it's not just how much physical activity you get, but how much time you spend sitting that can affect your risk of death.

7/22/2010 PERMALINK

Blueprint for polymer-based artificial cells that can communicate, move independently, and transport chemical "cargo."

University of Pittsburgh : Inspired by the social interactions of ants and slime molds, University of Pittsburgh engineers have designed artificial cells capable of self-organizing into independent groups that can communicate and cooperate. The research is a significant step toward producing synthetic cells that behave like natural organisms and could perform important, microscale functions in fields ranging from the chemical industry to medicine. The "biologically inspired" devices function entirely through simple physical and chemical processes, behaving like complex natural organisms but without the complicated internal biochemistry, said corresponding author Anna Balazs, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering in Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering. The microcapsules interact by secreting nanoparticles in a way similar to that used by biological cells signal to communicate and assemble into groups. And with a nod to ants, the cells leave chemical trails as they travel, prompting fellow microcapsules to follow.

7/21/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists isolate the first stages of tissue production in human embryonic stem cells.

Broad Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles : Scientists have described a population of cells that mark the very first stage of differentiation of human embryonic stem cells as they enter a developmental pathway that leads to production of blood, heart muscle, blood vessels and bone. Researchers hope that these cells could one day be used for clinical treatments of a wide range of medical conditions as the discovery may help scientists create better and safer tissues for use in regenerative medicine. It also will allow scientists to better understand the differences between pluripotent stem cells, which can become every cell in the body, and cells that have lost their pluripotency and are on their way to becoming specific types of tissue cells.

7/21/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers pinpoint key stem cells for eating, social interaction and sex.

George Washington University Medical Center : Dr. Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, professor of Pharmacology and Physiology and director of the newly formed GW Institute for Neuroscience, and colleagues have identified the stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells – olfactory receptors (ORNs), vomeronasal (VRNs) and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons. These cells are responsible for enabling animals and humans to eat, interact socially, and reproduce and this research is the first evidence identfying the associated stem cells.

7/21/2010 PERMALINK

Reprogrammed cells 'remember,' retain characteristics of their cells of origin only for a time.

Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine : Investigators have confirmed that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) retain some characteristics of the cells from which they were derived, something that could both assist and impede potential clinical and research uses. In their report, the researchers also describe finding that these cellular 'memories' fade and disappear as cell lines are cultured through successive generations. 'How faithfully iPSCs can be reprogrammed into a truly embryonic state has been a longstanding question, and we have found that the cell of origin does affect the capacity of iPSCs to differentiate in vitro into particular cell types,' says Konrad Hochedlinger, PhD, who led the research team. 'But when cultured iPSCs go through many rounds of cell division, they lose that memory.'

7/21/2010 PERMALINK

Students developing smart bots to protect the world from synthetic biology malpractice.

Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech : Synthetic biology offers huge potential for practical applications in medicine, energy production, agriculture, and other areas. For a few thousand dollars, it is now possible to design custom DNA sequences the size of a viral genome, order these sequences from a DNA manufacturer, and receive the DNA in the mail within a few weeks. A new student project that is a part of Virginia Tech's iGEM initiatives is designed to help DNA fabricators avoid assisting rogue microbiologists by creating smart bots that can quickly compare new designer DNA to the existing DNA database of hazardous organisms maintained by the Centers for Disease Control.

7/21/2010 PERMALINK

Nano chip implant designed to program brain activity to fix function loss due to aging and other diseases.

University of Tel Aviv : An international team of researchers led by Dr. Matti Mintz is working on a biomimetic computer chip for brain stimulation that is programmable, responsive to neural activity, and capable of bridging broken connections in the brain. Called the Rehabilitation Nano Chip, or ReNaChip, the device could be used to replace diseased or damaged brain tissue, restore brain functions lost to aging, and even treat epilepsy. The chip is currently in animal testing, but should reach human applications within a few years.

7/21/2010 PERMALINK

New evidence that capsaicin in chili peppers prevents fat.

Department of Biotechnology, Daegu University : Capsaicin, the stuff that gives chili peppers their kick, may cause weight loss and fight fat buildup by triggering certain beneficial protein changes in the body, according to a new study on the topic. Jong Won Yun and colleagues point out that obesity is a major public health threat worldwide, linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other health problems. Laboratory studies have hinted that capsaicin may help fight obesity by decreasing calorie intake, shrinking fat tissue, and lowering fat levels in the blood. Nobody, however, knows exactly how capsaicin might trigger such beneficial effects. In an effort to find out, the scientists fed high-fat diets with or without capsaicin to lab rats used to study obesity. The capsaicin-treated rats lost 8 percent of their body weight and showed changes in levels of at least 20 key proteins found in fat. The altered proteins work to break down fats. 'These changes provide valuable new molecular insights into the mechanism of the antiobesity effects of capsaicin,' the scientists say.

7/21/2010 PERMALINK

Head-mounted retinal display coming this September.

Brother Industries, Ltd. : President, Toshikazu Koike has announced that the company's new AiRScouter mobile spectacle-type wearable Retinal Imaging Display (RID) will be launched in the 2010 fiscal year. A RID is a display that focuses light of an intensity harmless to the eyes directly onto the retina and then moves the light at high speed to create afterimages. Images projected onto the retina appear as if they existed in front of the user. Air refers to the fact that the display is both lightweight and easy to wear, while showing an object as if it is floating in the air. While Scouter comes from the fact that the device is ideally suited to serve as a Reality Enhancement System (RES) to put a geodata overlay on everything around you.

7/19/2010 PERMALINK

The ability to make custom-order stem cells for regenerative medicine may be more complex than thought.

Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard University : New research has found that adult-derived cells reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells act differently depending on where the cells came from. Working in mice, George Daley and colleagues compared embryonic stem cells from SCNT and iPS cells derived from different tissues. SCNT-derived cells behaved more like other embryonic stem (ES) cells, while iPS cells were more able to make cells from their tissue of origin. In separate work looking at iPS cells, Konrad Hochedlinger and colleagues also saw that what tissue the original cells came from determined how the cells behave.

7/16/2010 PERMALINK

Improving human health by genetically modifying other creatures that can harm us.

University of Arizona's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences : Entomologists have succeeded in genetically altering mosquitoes in a way that renders them completely immune to the parasite, a single-celled organism called Plasmodium. Someday researchers hope to replace wild mosquitoes with lab-bred populations unable to act as vectors, i.e. transmit the malaria-causing parasite. 'If you want to effectively stop the spreading of the malaria parasite, you need mosquitoes that are no less than 100 percent resistant to it. If a single parasite slips through and infects a human, the whole approach will be doomed to fail,' said Michael Riehle, the professor of entomology who led the research effort.

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Hard to culture muscle stem cells will thrive if you make them think they are growing on actual muscle tissue.

Stanford University's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine : 'Cells don't normally exist in contact with a rigid cell culture dish,' said Helen Blau, PhD. 'They sit on soft tissue. By mimicking this environment we can really influence their function and allow them to self-renew in ways we've never been able to achieve before.' Adult stem cells already exist in the body, and are important in regenerating tissues like blood, muscles and neurons in the brain. But scientists have struggled to produce them in quantities needed for therapies because the cells differentiate and lose their stemness as soon as they're placed in a tissue culture dish. This new method of growing the cells creates a way to study the behavior of many types of adult stem cells in culture and may revolutionize the ability to produce these cells for future therapies, say the researchers.

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Astrocytes, the neurons that make sure you keep breathing.

University College London : "Astrocytes, the brain cells named after their characteristic star-shape and previously thought to act only as the 'glue' between neurons, have a central role in the regulation of your breathing, according to scientists. The finding provides a new dimension for research into fundamental principles of brain organization and function.

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Bina48 not the best spokesperson for a digital afterlife.

Hanson Robotics : Chatbots aren't the real thing yet, as the New York Times recently discovered when they sent a reporter out to interview Bina48. Bina48 is an attempt by Hanson Robotics to replicate a real person named Bina Rothblatt. To create a realistic chatbot, the first step is to begin recording ALL the interactions with the world of the person you want to replicate. Because even after chatbot code improves to the point that it can pass the Turing test. You will still need a massive knowledge-base on the thinking and behavior of the person your cognobot is entended to pattern. The smart cognobot I most wish for is one based on a really good personal assistant. A smart bot able to interfacing with the world on my behalf, filtering out all the noise and bringing to my attention all the stuff I'd really like to know about.

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Are physicians keeping pace with genomic medicine? No, neither docs nor regulators, and it is killing millions annually.

TedMed conference : There's a genomic revolution under way, argues Greg Lucier in a video from the last TedMed conference, and the medical profession has far to go to keep pace. (This is an extreme understatement. Doctors are still applying obsolete and primitive treatments in hospitals all over the world on a daily basis. Partly, due to their own failure to keep up, but mostly because regulators are holding back the move to personalized genetic medicine. A regulatory regime designed for the primitive one-drug-fits-all era of medical treatment is completely incompatible with the state-of-the-art personalize genetic medicine world we have now entered. Millions will die needlessly every year, until the old medical regulatory order is swept into the dustbin of history.

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Construction is complete on what may be the world's largest lab devoted exclusively to stem cell research.

Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine : The new 200,000 square foot laboratory entirely dedicated to innovative stem cell research is set to open its doors at the heart of the School of Medicine at Stanford in late September.

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists have discovered the part of your brain that lets you track your limb movements with great accuracy.

University College London, Pompeu Fabra University, ICREA and University of Barcelona : When a mosquito lands on your hand, you can rapidly and effortlessly make a movement of the other hand to brush it away, even in darkness. But performing this seemingly simple action involves a surprisingly complex coordination of different types of sensory information in order for your brain to construct a constantly updated 'map' of the body in space. Now, scientists have identified an area of the human brain called the parietal cortex that constructs this body model from the combination of tactile information from your skin (for example, where the mosquito is on your hand) with 'proprioceptive' information about the position of your hand relative to your body. In an experiment they found that impairing the parietal cortex, using a brief pulse of magnetic stimulation, significantly impaired volunteers' judgements about the spatial relationship between their face and arms, but not their perception of touch or location alone.

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Gene therapy pushing drugs into history, and it can't happen quickly enough.

Genzyme : A drug called Lucentis, made by Genetech, has proved effective at treating the wet form of age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness. Lucentis has to be injected into the eye every month or two (where is Dr. Mengele when you really need him). Lucentis binds to and neutralizes a wound-healing growth factor known as VEGF. This binding action stalls the excess growth of blood vessels in the eye that characterizes age-related macular degeneration. Genzyme's gene therapy drug, officially called AAV2-sFLT01, would insinuate itself into the patient's retinal cell to produce the same VEGF-binding protein as Lucentis. 'I know it is hard to believe,' you will one day soon say to the kid sitting next to you. 'But it is true that doctors once cut people open, stuck them with needles, and gave them poisons with terrible side effects, instead of curing them by repairing their DNA.'

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers find a way to cut years off drug development times using nano-beads.

Wake Forest : New research accepted by the Journal of Molecular Recognition confirms that a revolutionary technology developed at Wake Forest University will slash years off the time it takes to develop drugs – bringing vital new treatments to patients much more quickly. Lab-on-Bead uses tiny beads studded with 'pins' that match a drug to a disease marker in a single step, so researchers can test an infinite number of possibilities for treatments all at once. When Lab-on-Bead makes a match, it has found a viable treatment for a specific disease – speeding up drug discovery by as much as 10,000 times and cutting out years of testing and re-testing in the laboratory. "It helps the most interesting new drugs work together to stick their heads up above the crowd," said Jed C. Macosko, Ph.D., an associate professor of Physics and primary inventor of the Lab-on-Bead technology.

7/15/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists demonstrate role of RNA polymerase in gene transcription.

University of Maryland biophysicists Devarajan (Dave) Thirumalai and Jie Chen, along with Rockefeller University collaborator Seth Darst : In all organisms, RNA synthesis is carried out by proteins – known as RNA polymerases (RNAPs) – that transcribe the genetic information from DNA in a highly-regulated, multi-stage process. RNAP is the key enzyme involved in creating an equivalent RNA copy of a sequence of DNA. This transcription is the first step leading to gene expression. While the major steps in RNA synthesis have been known for several decades, scientists have only recently begun to decipher the detailed molecular steps of the complex transcription process. Their simulation of the initiation phase of transcription in bacterial RNA polymerase showed a three-step process. It begins when the RNA polymerase binds with transcription promoting regions of DNA. Through interactions with the RNA polymerase, the DNA helix then unwinds, forming an open "bubble" that allows the polymerase access to the exposed DNA sequence to begin transcription. The DNA molecule then bends to relieve stress produced by the opening.

7/14/2010 PERMALINK

In a step towards a virtual digital assistant with true human-like capabilities, Microsoft's Milo showcased at TED.

Entertainment and Design (TED) conference in Oxford : What could be a more useful mind enhancement than a smart bot that can function as your intelligent digital assistant, able to handle most any type of chore for you autonomously. Such devices could create an intellectually stimulating world that might be like Athens at its peak. When ideas like democracy were being invented. But without the one element that seriously spoiled the picture, the slaves that allowed the citizens of Athens to lead such intellectual lives. (This assumes, of course, that the smart bots aren't quite smart enough that they come to regard themselves as slaves.) Microsoft's Milo, a virtual human-like artificially intelligent digital avatar appeared for only the second time in public at TED's latest conference in Oxford (we will link to the clip when it is posted). Peter Molyneux, the British video games designer famed for adventure role playing games Fable and Fable II, is the brains behind the advanced artificial intelligence technology which is Milo. He is trying to develop a smart bot that can make games more realistic in their interactivity, but the real killer app for this technology is going to be a smart bot personal digital assistant with capabilities that approach those of a human assistant. That is the technology that can serious change our lives, elevating humanity to a new world of 'Athens without the slaves.'

7/14/2010 PERMALINK

A new generation of biological scaffolds can revolutionize organ replacement.

The University of Leeds : Professor Fisher and his colleague Professor Eileen Ingham are working on new techniques for producing biological scaffolds, derived from natural human or animal tissues such as vascular patches, meniscus (knee cartilage), and tendons that will not be rejected by a patient's immune system and can be repaired and renewed like normal tissue. The technique developed by the Leeds group removes the cells from natural tissues to leave a biological scaffold which can be regenerated by the patient's own cells. Scaffolds derived from human donor tissue are being developed by the NHS Blood and Transplant Tissue Services, while scaffolds developed from animal tissues are being developed and commercialised by Tissue Regenix Group PLC. 'If you take a natural tissue and strip off all of the donor's cells,' explained Professor Fisher. 'You're left with a biological scaffold made mostly of a protein called collagen, which is compatible with the patient receiving the scaffold. That scaffold is good from an engineering perspective because it's strong, flexible and retains the properties of the natural tissue. It also has the appropriate shape and size, and from a biological perspective is good because a patient's cells can bind to it and repopulate it easily.'

7/14/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers use stem cell technology to turn skin cells into specialized dopamine neurons that could replace lost brain neurons.

Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre : Dr Richard Wade-Martins, head of the Center and his team have begun gathering data from over 1,000 patients with early stage Parkinson's disease and taking small samples of skin tissue to grow special stem cells - induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). iPS cells can be generated from accessible tissue such as the skin and then used to generate specific types of cell. In this case, the researchers are using the iPS cells to grow dopamine neurons - the brain cells responsible for the production of dopamine, as it is these cells which die in patients with Parkinson's, leading to the onset of the disease.

7/14/2010 PERMALINK

A noninvasive device that uses pulsed audio shock waves to stimulate damaged tissue regeneration launches in Europe.

SANUWAVE, Inc. of Alpharetta, Georgia : The company describes itself as an emerging medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of non-invasive, biological response activating devices in the regenerative medicine area. Reports the European launch of orthoPACE, a device intended for use in orthopedic, trauma and sports medicine following CE mark approval last month. The orthoPACE incorporates the Company’s proprietary Pulsed Acoustic Cellular Expression (PACE) technology platform that delivers extracorporeal shock wave technology (ESWT) to treat a wide variety of chronic and acute conditions in hard and soft tissue. This award-winning device platform generates high energy, electrohydraulic shock waves that activate biological signaling and angiogenic responses, including revascularization and microcirculatory improvement, helping restore the body’s normal healing processes and promote regeneration. The orthoPACE™ has a compact, portable design and allows for treatments to be performed by a single operator in both the hospital and office setting. The device features a new, unique applicator that is less painful for some indications and may reduce or completely eliminate anesthesia for some patients.

7/13/2010 PERMALINK

Stem cell company offering regenerative therapies and products.

Stematix, Inc. : Based in Houston, Texas the company offers stem cell products and therapies with a simple goal: to make regulated adult stem cell products and treatments available to patients as quickly as possible, at as reasonable a cost as possible, while maintaining internationally recognized medical standards.

7/13/2010 PERMALINK

Layar augmented reality app for contextualizing your surroundings won Best Overall Cross Platform App (Gettie Award).

The Gettie Award : Ceremony took place on July 12 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and highlighted innovative and creative mobile applications across all major mobile phone platforms. More than 7,000 applications were nominated for the awards in the categories of best overall, Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Java, Symbian and Windows Mobile application, and Layar took the top spot.

7/13/2010 PERMALINK

Study shows common over-the-counter meds millions use daily do long-term cognitive damage to the brain.

Indiana University School of Medicine, the Regenstrief Institute and Wishard Health Services : A long-term study of cognitive impairment in older African-Americans has just found that drugs called anticholinergics, that are used to block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter can negatively effect cognition over time. Over the counter brands include Benadryl®, Dramamine®, Excedrin PM®, Nytol®, Sominex®, Tylenol PM®, and Unisom®. Others like Paxil®, Detrol®, Demerol® and Elavil® are available only by prescription. Older adults most commonly use drugs with anticholinergic effects as sleep aids and to relieve bladder leakage problems. The six-year observational study evaluated 1,652 Indianapolis area African-Americans over the age of 70 who had normal cognitive function when the study began. In addition to monitoring cognition, the investigators tracked all over-the-counter and prescription medications taken by study participants. 'We found that taking one anticholinergic significantly increased an individual's risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and taking two of these drugs doubled this risk,' said Noll Campbell, PharmD, first author of the study. Added Malaz Boustani, M.D., IU School of Medicine associate professor of medicine Center for Aging Research center scientist, 'Simply put, we have confirmed that anticholinergics, something as seemingly benign as a medication for inability to get a good night's sleep or for motion sickness, can cause or worsen cognitive impairment, specifically long-term mild cognitive impairment which involves gradual memory loss. As a geriatrician I tell my patients not to take these drugs.'

7/13/2010 PERMALINK

Find that old rabbit's foot, new research shows lucky tokens can improve performance by increasing your self-confidence.

University of Cologne : 'I watch a lot of sports, and I read about sports, and I noticed that very often athletes – also famous athletes – hold superstitions,' says Lysann Damisch. Michael Jordan wore his college team shorts underneath his NBA uniform for good luck; Tiger Woods wears a red shirt on tournament Sundays, usually the last and most important day of a tournament. 'And I was wondering, why are they doing so?' Damisch thought that a belief in superstition might help people do better by improving their confidence. With her colleagues Barbara Stoberock and Thomas Mussweiler, she designed a set of experiments to see if activating people's superstitious beliefs would improve their performance on a task. In one of the experiments, volunteers were told to bring a lucky charm with them. Then the researchers took it away to take a picture. People brought in all kinds of items, from old stuffed animals to wedding rings to lucky stones. Half of the volunteers were given their charm back before the test started; the other half were told there was a problem with the camera equipment and they would get it back later. Volunteers who had their lucky charm did better at a memory game on the computer, and other tests showed that this difference was because they felt more confident. They also set higher goals for themselves. Researchers also tried wishing volunteers good luck, and actually found that it improved success at a task that required manual dexterity.

7/13/2010 PERMALINK

New placental stem cell procedure available for children suffering from Cerebral Palsy.

International Stem Cell Institute : ISCI has announced the launch of highly effective Stem Cell Therapy treatments aimed at providing a better quality of life for those suffering with Cerebral Palsy. 'Every parent wants their child to live a happy, healthy life as a baby, as a toddler, as a first grader," said ISCI Executive Director Rita Alexander. 'CP is a tremendously overwhelming condition -- it's really hard to understand the daily frustrations parents go through when a child is diagnosed with CP. And while the condition can't be completely cured, our stem cell treatment is dramatically improving the quality of life for many children, much beyond their parent's expectations. The results are truly amazing.' The procedure involves administering placental stem cells into several key parts of the body.

7/13/2010 PERMALINK

A leading company in regenerative medicine launches a new blog to discuss industry trends.

BioTime, Inc. : A leading regenerative medicine company has launched a new blog 'to comment on trends in the field of regenerative medicine especially as they relate to the business of BioTime, Inc.'

7/13/2010 PERMALINK

Embryome.com is part of the growing stem cell infrastructure available to medical labs and clinics.

Embryome Sciences, Inc. : Specializes in serving the needs of researchers studying ES cell differentiation and embryomics. We provide quality ESpanTM cell culture media optimized for the growth of human embryonic progenitor cell types, and will soon be offering clonal and polyclonal human embryonic progenitor cell lines, including fluorescent and luminescent cell lines (ESpyTM), and specific pathogen free (SPF) embryonic chick extracts useful in the differentiation and propagation of cell lines. In addition, the company sponsors the International Embryome Initiative through the online database Embryome.com which provides a growing systematic description of the cell lineages and molecular markers of developing vertebrate species.

7/13/2010 PERMALINK

Company working with army to develop topically applied bone marrow-derived adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for rapid wound healing.

NeoStem Inc. : 'Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and very small embryonic-like (VSEL) stem cells can be harvested with relative ease from individuals,' said Vincent Falanga, M.D., F.A.C.P., Professor, Boston University School of Medicine and Chairman and Program Director at Roger Williams Medical Center, who is to be Co-Principal Investigator. 'Our studies indicate that an individual's own (autologous) stem cells can be highly successful in healing wounded tissues and in regenerative processes. Together with the wound delivery methods we have developed, these stem cells could bring about a quantum step forward in the way we treat non-healing chronic wounds and many types of injuries, both in the civilian and military population.'

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

Using a synthetic copy of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) to regenerate bone, ligament, tendon and cartilage.

BioMimetic Therapeutics : Developers of recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor (rhPDGF-BB), a synthetic copy of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF), which is a naturally occurring protein. PDGF is released when platelets (blood cells involved with clotting) activate in response to injury. Upon release, PDGF activates a number of critical events essential for the initiation of musculoskeletal tissue repair. rhPDGF-BB has the same functionality, potency and specificity as endogenous (natural) PDGF and is available in a well-characterized, purified and concentrated preparation. rhPDGF-BB is the active biological agent in two successfully marketed and FDA approved products†, both of which have an excellent safety profile. BioMimetic is actively developing products based upon the potent regenerative capacity of rhPDGF-BB, to address unmet needs in the repair and treatment of bone, ligament, tendon and cartilage.

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists now able to create an army of tumor-fighting immune cells and watch them as they attack cancer inside the body.

UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center : Researchers created a large, well armed battalion of tumor-seeking immune system cells and watched, in real time using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), as the special forces traveled throughout the body to locate and attack dangerous melanomas. The gene therapy work, done with melanomas grown in mice, employed a crippled HIV-like virus to serve as a vehicle to arm the lymphocytes with T cell receptors, which caused the lymphocytes to become specific killers of cancerous cells. A reporter gene, which glows "hot" during PET scanning, also was inserted into the cells so researchers could track the genetically engineered lymphocytes after they were injected into the blood stream, made their way to the lungs and lymph nodes and then specifically homed in on the tumors wherever they were located within the body. "We're trying to genetically engineer the immune system to become a cancer killer and then image how the immune system operates at the same time," said Dr. Antoni Ribas, an associate professor of hematology/oncology and the senior author of the study. "We knew this approach of arming the lymphocytes with T cell receptors showed significant anti-tumor activity based on studies in humans. Now, by tracking the immune system's reaction to cancer and imaging it in real time, we can project how the same process that succeeded in mice might behave in people."

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

Chemists achieve potential breakthrough in nano fabrication.

University of Toronto : A team of scientists led by Eugenia Kumacheva of the Department of Chemistry has discovered a way to predict the organization of nanoparticles in larger forms by treating them much the same as ensembles of molecules formed from standard chemical reactions. 'Currently, no model exists describing the organization of nanoparticles,' says Kumacheva. 'Our work paves the way for the prediction of the properties of nanoparticle ensembles and for the development of new design rules for such structures.' The focus of nanoscience is gradually shifting from the synthesis of individual nanoparticles to their organization in larger structures. In order to use nanoparticle ensembles in functional devices such as memory storage devices or optical waveguides, it is important to achieve control of their structure."

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

Want to stay a child for life? Just knock out the signalling molecule that triggers puberty.

Johns Hopkins University : The onset of puberty is triggered by pulsatile release of the hormone GnRH from nerve cells in a region of the brain known as the hypothalamus. Exactly what signals tell these nerve cells to release GnRH has not been known, although it has been suggested that hormones associated with good nutritional status (such as insulin and IGF-1) may have a role. Now a team of researchers, led by Sara DiVall, has confirmed that in mice IGF-1 does indeed have a key role in coordinating the timing of puberty onset. To study the issue, the team generated mice lacking either the receptor for insulin or the receptor for IGF-1 in GnRH-producing nerve cells. Male and female mice in which the receptor for insulin had been deleted displayed normal timing of puberty and fertility, but male and female mice with the receptor for IGF-1 deleted showed delayed pubertal development but normal fertility. Furthermore, administration of IGF-1 to normal female mice triggered the onset of puberty. The authors therefore conclude that IGF-1 signaling is necessary for timely triggering of pulsatile GnRH production at puberty and that it helps coordinate puberty with a specific stage of body development.

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers create fibers that can detect and produce sound.

MIT's Research Lab of Electronics : Yoel Fink, an Associate professor of Materials Science, Yoel Fink's lab has for the past decade been working to develop fibers with ever more sophisticated properties, to enable fabrics that can interact with their environment. Now Fink and his collaborators have announce a new milestone on the path to functional fibers: fibers that can detect and produce sound. Applications could include clothes that are themselves sensitive microphones, for capturing speech or monitoring bodily functions, and tiny filaments that could measure blood flow in capillaries or pressure in the brain. The technology offers many possibilities for enabling more capable wearware.

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

Stem cell transplantation can cure therapy-resistant chronic leukemia.

Heidelberg University Hospital : The transplantation of stem cells from a healthy donor (allogeneic) offers the chance of cure for patients with an aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), irrespective of genetic prognostic factors and the prior course of the disease. The German CLL Study Group proved this in a multicentric clinical phase II study led by Professor Dr. Peter Dreger, senior consultant and head of the division of stem cell transplantation at the Department of Internal Medicine V. CLL is the most frequent form of leukemia in western countries. In many cases, it has a rather benign course. However, there are patients in whom the disease does not respond to the standard treatment with chemotherapy or antibodies. Patients with this high-risk CLL often die within a few years of the diagnosis.

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists find a way to regenerate the peripheral nerves that connect your brain and spinal cord to your body.

University of Calgary : This important discovery could lead to new treatments for nerve damage caused by diabetes or traumatic injuries. Peripheral nerve damage is common and often irreversible. In addition to discovering for the first time that PTEN is found in the peripheral nervous system, Zochodne's team demonstrated that following nerve injury, PTEN prevents peripheral nerves from regenerating. The team was able to block PTEN, an approach that dramatically increased nerve outgrowth. Kimberly Christie says, 'We were amazed to see such a dramatic effect over such a short time period. No one knew that nerves in the peripheral system could regenerate in this way, nerves that can be damaged if someone has diabetes for example. This finding could eventually help people who have lost feeling or motor skills recover, and live with less pain.

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

Rule 1: take care to insure that your species isn't pushed into an early extinction.

University of Kansas and the Smithsonian Institute : Over the last 500 million years or so, life on Earth has been threatened on many occasions; the fossil record is littered with extinction events. What's curious about these events is that they seem to occur with alarming regularity. Adrian Melott and Richard Bambach recently re-examine the paleo-record. They analyzed a massive set of extinction data from the last 500 million years, a period that is twice as long as anybody else has studied. And their analysis shows an excess of extinctions every 27 million years, with a confidence level of 99%. The cause of this amazing 27 million year periodicity is still unknown, but one thing we do know is that our universe is a dangerous neighborhood in which to live, and inhabiting a single planet in a single star system is the fast track to a premature extinction.

7/12/2010 PERMALINK

A biotech firm has created a printer that prints veins using a patients' own cells.

Organovo : The device could potentially create whole organs in the future. 'Right now we’re really good at printing blood vessels,' says Ben Shepherd, senior research scientist at regenerative-medicine company Organovo. 'We printed 10 this week. We’re still learning how to best condition them to be good, strong blood vessels.' Most organs in the body are filled with veins, so the ability to print vascular tissue is a critical building block for complete organs. The printed veins are about to start testing in animal trials, and eventually go through human clinical trials. If all goes well, in a few years you may be able to replace a vein that has deteriorated (due to frequent injections of chemo treatment, for example) with custom-printed tissue grown from your own cells.

7/11/2010 PERMALINK

Positive results in bone marrow regeneration using stem cells.

Mesoblast Limited : Australian regenerative medicine company, Mesoblast Limited has announced that based on positive results from its bone marrow transplant clinical trial, conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, a formal meeting has been scheduled with the FDA to discuss a proposed Phase 3 clinical trial program. For this Phase 3 program, the patented allogeneic, or 'off-the-shelf', Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) will be used under a US FDA Orphan Drug Designation to expand haematopoietic stem and progenitor cell numbers in patients with haematologic malignancies. Mesoblast's objective is to develop a therapy that results in effective bone marrow reconstitution without the potentially life-threatening complication of graft-versus-host disease that occurs in as many as 60 per cent of patients who receive bone marrow transplants from unrelated adult donors.

7/11/2010 PERMALINK

Molecular mechanism that increases lifespan through calorie restriction (Sirtuin1) may also boost memory & cognition.

MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory : Resveratrol, found in wine, has been touted as a life-span enhancer because it activates a group of enzymes known as sirtuins, which have gained fame in recent years for their ability to slow the aging process. Now MIT researchers report that Sirtuin1 — a protein that in humans is encoded by the SIRT1 gene — also promotes memory and brain flexibility. "We have now found that SIRT1 activity also promotes plasticity and memory," said Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "This result demonstrates a multi-faceted role of SIRT1 in the brain, further highlighting its potential as a target for the treatment of neurodegeneration and conditions with impaired cognition, with implications for a wider range of central nervous system disorders."

7/11/2010 PERMALINK

Interesting diagram shows how a replacement 'neo-organ' is developed from your own progenitor cells.

Tengion : While it has long been believed that the body contains cells with regenerative power, Tengion is the first company to be able to identify these cells and harness them to create a specific neo-organ, with the potential to create a variety of neo-organs and tissues on a commercial scale. These committed progenitor cells, which come from the patient, are genetically committed to becoming a specific cell type e.g., a bladder cell, but they are not yet fully differentiated. Tengion, based in East Norriton, Pa., is developing the regenerative-medicine research of Dr. Anthony Atala, its founder. Dr. Atala is head of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston Salem, NC.

7/11/2010 PERMALINK

Here is an excellent definition of Regenerative Medicine that makes its revolutionary nature clear.

'Regenerative medicine is a revolutionary approach that focuses on curing conditions as opposed to treating them. Regenerative medicine empowers doctors with the ability to replace damaged tissue in patients with healthy organic tissue that is accepted and functions like...the body’s own.... What truly differentiates regenerative medicine from many current therapies is that regenerative medicine has the potential to provide a cure [for] failing or impaired tissues.' (2020: A New Vision, A Future for Regenerative Medicine. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005)

7/10/2010 PERMALINK

New clip describing Harvard's lung on a chip technology is worth watching.

Harvard University's WYSS Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering : Researchers have combined microfabrication techniques from the computer industry with modern tissue engineering techniques, human cells and a plain old vacuum pump to create a living, breathing human lung-on-a-chip. The device mimics the most active part of the lung, the boundary between the air sac and the bloodstream. More at WYSS Institute.

7/09/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists uncover previously unknown microRNA mechanism that controls substance dependency.

Scripps Research Institute : MicroRNA-212 is a type of small non-protein coding RNA that can regulate the expression levels of hundreds or even thousands of genes. As such, microRNA-212 and other types of microRNAs are considered "master regulators" of gene expression. Because of their ability to coordinate the expression of related genes responsible for brain structure and function, it is thought that microRNAs might play important roles in complex psychiatric disorders, but little has been known about their involvement in addiction—until now. New findings suggest that individuals with serious addiction problems may have damaged supplies of this particular non-coding RNA, or the microRNA may not function properly. "It might be possible to develop a small molecule therapeutic that mimics or stimulates the production of this particular microRNA," said Paul Kenny, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Therapeutics at Scripps Florida. "Once we understand the precise mechanism, we might uncover novel targets that would have a similar effect to acting on the microRNA directly."

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

New research proves that dietary antioxidants help your arteries stay healthy.

Wolfson Medical Center, Israel : Long-term supplementation with dietary antioxidants has beneficial effects on sugar and fat metabolism, blood pressure and arterial flexibility in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Researchers found these positive results in a randomized controlled trial of combined vitamin C, vitamin E, coenzyme Q10 and selenium capsules. 'Antioxidant supplementation significantly increased large and small artery elasticity in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors,' said Reuven Zimlichman, who worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study in 70 patients from the centre's hypertension clinic. 'This beneficial vascular effect was associated with an improvement in glucose and lipid metabolism as well as significant decrease in blood pressure.'

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

Biologists identify a new protein involved in regulating cellular aging.

University of Massachusetts Medical School : To combat age-related diseases, scientists must unlocking clues about the molecular and cellular processes governing aging. In the search to understand these molecular processes, researchers have uncovered an important new DAF-16 isoform – DAF-16d/f – that collaborates with other DAF-16 protein isoforms to regulate longevity. Previous studies have identified the isoform – a different form of the same protein – DAF-16a as a regulator of longevity. Now Heidi A. Tissenbaum, PhD, associate professor of molecular medicine, and colleagues in the Program in Gene Function and Expression has show that the newly discovered isoform DAF-16d/f works in concert with DAF-16a to promote organismal life span. "Up until now, research has focused on the DAF-16a and DAF-16b isoforms," said Dr. Tissenbaum. "What we're able to show is that DAF-16a alone is insufficient for lifespan regulation. Moving forward, any discussion about the process of aging will have to include this new protein isoform."

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers find a new compound that can boost learning and memory and reverse age-related declines.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center : Over a three-year period, the research team led by Dr. McKnight and Dr. Andrew Pieper, assistant professor of psychiatry and biochemistry at UT Southwestern, screened 1,000 individual molecules to see which ones might enhance the production of neurons in the adult mouse hippocampus, a region of the brain critical to learning and memory. The scientists found that one of the compounds, called P7C3, achieved this by protecting newborn neurons from dying. The researchers then administered P7C3 to 'knockout' mice lacking a gene that controls the generation of new neurons in the hippocampus. Humans who lack this gene have a variety of learning disabilities, and the 'knockout' rodents show related abnormalities as well as a poorly formed hippocampus. When the 'knockout' mouse received P7C3, however, normal structure and function of the hippocampus were restored. In elderly rats, which characteristically show a decline in the birth and formation of hippocampal neurons, the researchers found that P7C3 increased both the birth and survival of new neurons, and the memory and learning capability of the aged rats. 'It's been a wonderful experience,' Dr. Pieper said. 'At first there was a lot of doubt, because we could have gone through the whole screen and found nothing.'"

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

New device transfers quantum data between single ionized atoms and optical fiber.

National Institute of Standards and Technology : Physicists have demonstrated an ion trap with a built-in optical fiber that collects light emitted by single ions (electrically charged atoms), allowing quantum information stored in the ions to be measured. The advance could simplify quantum computer design and serve as a step toward swapping information between matter and light in future quantum networks. The new device is a 1-millimeter-square ion trap with a built-in optical fiber. Researchers use ions as quantum bits (qubits) to store information in experimental quantum computing, which could someday make possible incredibly powerful computers implanted within your brain that would let you extend your cognition across an army of net and mobile bots. An ion can be adjustably positioned 80 to 100 micrometers from an optical fiber, which detects the ion's fluorescence signals indicating the qubit's information content. 'The design is helpful because of the tight coupling between the ion and the fiber, and also because it's small, so you can get a lot of fibers on a chip,' says researcher Aaron VanDevende.

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

Check out this amazing clip of a microfluidics chip in action.

RainDance Technologies : With the cost of DNA sequencing dropping even faster than Moore's Law brought down silicon chips. Medical diagnosis is about to take a giant leap from the primitive art form practiced well today by only a small number of highly intuitive medical diagnosticians to a vastly more accurate and powerful bot-driven genetic science. Watch as Co-founder and Vice President Darren Link demonstrates RainDance Technologies' amazing microfluidics lab on a chip. Using microscopic droplets for test tubes the tiny assembly line lab can perform 180,000 reaction per minute, which can be used to speed DNA sequencing along with a vast array of other potential applications.

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

A telescopic implant that treats age-related macular degeneration has just received FDA approval.

VisionCare Inc. : A telescopic implant that fits directly into the eye to treat certain kinds of blindness has finally received FDA approval for use in the US after more than five years of waiting. (At least keeping this product off the market for years only blinded people. Worldwide, millions of people die every year due to the delays of cures for their fatal diseases ordered by the murderous FDA gestapo. -- Editor). The Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT) is used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that affects millions around the world. For many, the center part of their vision becomes blurred or completely dark. The IMT is surgically implanted into the cornea and acts to expand an incoming image onto the peripheral parts of the retina that are undamaged by AMD. More than two-thirds of those treated enjoy significantly improved vision. The commercial version of the IMT is called CentraSight and is in development by VisionCare Inc. The company says this device can restore vision to hundreds of thousands of patients in the USA alone.

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

Knocking out a single gene called fucose mutarotase causes female mice to behave like males.

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology : The mammalian fucose mutarotase enzyme is known to be involved in incorporating the sugar fucose into protein. Female mice that lack the fucose mutarotase gene refuse to let males mount them, and will attempt copulation with other female mice. Chankyu Park worked with a team of researchers from the and intriguingly gained some insight into the neurological basis of sexual preference. He said, "Knockout mice displayed drastically reduced sexual receptivity, although pregnancy after forced mating attempts by normal sexually experienced males showed that the animals were fertile." The mutant female mice were healthy, and behaved normally towards young mice. When approached by male mice, however, they would not adopt the sexually receptive 'lordosis' position. Furthermore, they lost interest in investigating male urine, unlike normal females, and would attempt to mount other females. Speaking about the results, Park said, "We speculate that these behavioural changes are likely to be related to a neurodevelopmental change in pre-optic area of the female mutant brain, becoming similar to that of a normal male."

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

New smart swap station lets marXbot automatically exchange its battery.

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Miniature Mobile Robotics Group (Mobots) : The autonomous mobile robot called marXbot has the feature to hot-swap his battery. During the swap, the robot maintian power to vital sub-systems with high energy capacitors during 15 seconds. This video show the battery exchange station we developped to make continous experiemnt with the robot. The station can recharge 15 battery stock in the barrel. Being able to hot swap batteries and go right back to work is a problem that needed solving to make mobile bot agents truly useful tools.

7/08/2010 PERMALINK

Biologists find a way to lower tumor risk in stem cell therapies.

University of California, San Diego : One of the characteristics of embryonic stem cells is their ability to form unusual tumors called teratomas. These tumors, which contain a mixture of cells from a variety of tissues and organs of the body, are typically benign. But they present a major obstacle to the development of human embryonic stem cell therapies. Now a team of biologists report that they have identified a new signaling pathway critical for unlimited self propagation of embryonic stem cells. Using small molecule compounds that inhibit this pathway, the scientists were able to dramatically reduce the potential of embryonic stem cells to form teratomas.
"This is a proof of concept to show how we can avoid teratomas in human embryonic stem cell therapies by studying the basic biology of these cells," said Yang Xu, a professor of biology who headed the research team. "At this point, we only see a significant but partial effect because we are targeting only one pathway. Once we identify more pathways required for teratoma formation by embryonic stem cells, we might be able to completely suppress the formation of teratomas by targeting multiple pathways simultaneously."

7/07/2010 PERMALINK

Microbiologists have genetically reprogrammed the herpes virus to hunt and destroy cancer cells.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center : Scientists have created a genetically reprogrammed herpes virus and an anti-vascular drug to shrink spreading distant sarcomas in mice. Less than 30 percent of patients with metastatic cancer survive beyond five years, despite the aggressive use of modern combination therapies, including chemotherapy. This creates a significant need for new sarcoma therapies to treat metastatic disease, said Timothy Cripe, M.D., Ph.D., a physician/researcher in the division of Hematology/Oncology and the study's senior investigator.

7/07/2010 PERMALINK

New research suggests that vitamin E protects you from cognitive deterioration as you age.

Aging Research Center (ARC), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden and the Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, University of Perugia, Italy : The study included a sample of 232 participants from the Kungsholmen Project, a population-based longitudinal study on aging and dementia in Stockholm (Kungsholmen parish). All participants were aged 80 years and were dementia-free at the beginning of the study (baseline). After 6-years of follow-up, 57 cases of dementia were identified. The blood levels of all eight natural vitamin E components were measured at the beginning of the study. Subjects with higher blood levels (highest tertile) were compared with subjects who had lower blood levels (lowest tertile) to verify whether these two groups developed dementia at different rates. The study found that subjects with higher blood levels of all the vitamin E family forms had a reduced risk of developing dementia, compared to subjects with lower levels. After adjusting for various confounders, the risk was reduced by 45-54%, depending on the vitamin E component.

7/07/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists have designed a nanoparticle that appears to effectively deliver genetic material into cells with minimal toxic effects.

Ohio State University : In lab experiments, the researchers have found that this device, a vector, is able to deliver DNA deeply enough into a cell to allow genetic material to be activated – a critical step in gene therapy. This vector is between 2 and 10 times more effective than other experimental materials, according to the research. Biomedical researchers continue to pursue efforts to ensure the safety of gene therapy and find the most effective way to deliver the genes. In many experiments, deactivated viruses that retain their ability to infect other cells are used as vectors to deliver normal genes intended to replace, or turn off, defective genes. But because some of the viruses can generate an immune response that complicates the treatment, scientists also are pursuing nonviral vector techniques for gene therapy.

7/06/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers say that tweaking ten genes can do far more than antioxidants to extend your lifespan.

McGill University : Don't put down the red wine and vitamins just yet, but if you're taking antioxidants because you hope to live longer, a new study casts doubt on the theory that oxidative stress to our tissues shortens lifespan. Researchers have identified mutations in 10 different genes of worms (genes believed to have counterparts in humans) that extend their lifespan without reducing the level of oxidative stress the worms suffer. The results contradict the popular theory that production of toxic reactive oxygen species in tissues is responsible for aging. 'We hope that our study will help in tempering the undue emphasis put on the notion that oxidative stress causes aging and thus that antioxidants could combat aging,' said Siegfried Hekimi, Ph.D, the senior author of the study from the Department of Biology. 'We also hope that the genes we have discovered can be used in the future to modulate energy metabolism in a way that can help delay the health issues linked to aging, and possibly increase lifespan itself.'

7/06/2010 PERMALINK

Scientists use magnetic nano-particles to remotely control neurons and animal behavior.

University at Buffalo : Clusters of heated, magnetic nanoparticles targeted to cell membranes can remotely control ion channels, neurons and even animal behavior, according to a new research paper. 'By developing a method that allows us to use magnetic fields to stimulate cells both in vitro and in vivo, this research will help us unravel the signaling networks that control animal behavior,' says Arnd Pralle, PhD, assistant professor of physics in the UB College of Arts and Sciences and senior/corresponding author on the paper. The research could have broad application, such as treatments that remotely manipulate selected proteins or cells in specific tissues, or stimulate pancreatic cells to release insulin or treat neurological disorders.

7/06/2010 PERMALINK

Romantic rejection lights up areas of your brain involved in motivation, reward and addiction.

Rutgers University, Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Stony Brook University, State University of New York : Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record brain activity in 15 college-age, heterosexual men and women who had recently been rejected by their partners but reported that they were still intensely 'in love.' The average length of time since the initial rejection and the participants' enrollment in the study was 63 days, and all participants scored high on a psychological test called the Passionate Love Scale, which determines the intensity of romantic feelings. All participants said they spent more than 85% of their waking hours thinking of the person who rejected them, they yearned for the person to return and they wanted to get back together. The researchers found that looking at photographs of the participants' former partners stimulated several key areas of the participants' brains more than looking at photos of neutral persons did. The stimulated areas were: the ventral tegmental area in the mid-brain, which controls motivation and reward and is known to be involved in feelings of romantic love, the nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal/prefrontal cortex, which are associated with craving and addiction, specifically the dopaminergic reward system evident in cocaine addiction, and the insular cortex and the anterior cingulate, which are associated with physical pain and distress.

7/06/2010 PERMALINK

Adding a protein to specific brain cells can prevent you from gaining weight due to over eating.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center : If a protein found in cells throughout the body is present in a specific set of neurons in your brain it will prevent weight gain after chronic feeding on high-calorie meals. Nicknamed the 'longevity' protein because of its apparent role in mediating the effects of dietary restriction on life span, SIRT1 has been studied as a potential target for anti-aging drugs. Prior research also has shown that this metabolic sensor protein in peripheral tissues plays an important role in regulating metabolism, but its physiological relevance in brain neurons remained unclear. 'This is the first study to show that SIRT1 in hypothalamic neurons, specifically POMC neurons, is required for preventing diet-induced obesity and maintaining normal body weight,' said Dr. Roberto Coppari, assistant professor of internal medicine.

7/06/2010 PERMALINK

A new kind of biosensor can monitor your vital signs without any direct skin contact.

University of California, San Diego : Many medical sensors, like the sort used for heart-monitoring electrocardiograms (ECGs) or brain-monitoring electroencephalograms (EEGs), require direct skin contact and a sticky layer of gel to help conduct electrical signals. Both technologies can be remarkably precise, but they don't transfer easily from hospital to wearware for regular everyday use. Now researchers believe they may have solved this sticky situation with a sensor that can read your ECG and other data right through your clothing, without even touching your skin.

7/06/2010 PERMALINK

Prototype bot agent makes it possible for even you net phobic grandma to communicate online.

Zurich University of the Arts : Bot agent makes it possible for the elderly to connect with the digital world. BA Project of Nino Cometti & Florian Wille.

7/01/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers identify a gene that regulate human brain development.

University of Wisconsin-Madison : With more than 100 billion neurons and billions of other specialized cells, the human brain is a marvel of nature. It is the organ that makes people unique. Now, a team of scientists has identified a single gene that seems to be a master regulator of human brain development, guiding undifferentiated stem cells down tightly defined pathways to becoming all of the many types of cells that make up the brain. The new finding is important because it reveals the main genetic factor responsible for instructing cells at the earliest stages of embryonic development to become the cells of the brain and spinal cord. Identifying the gene, known as Pax6, is a first critical step toward routinely forging customized brain cells in the lab.

7/01/2010 PERMALINK

Genetic regulator opens new avenues to immune system research.

Oregon State University and the California Institute of Technology : Researchers have discovered that a genetic regulator which is critical to many life functions also plays a key role in the formation of 'T cells,' a type of white blood cell that's important in immune function. The discovery suggests that some types of immune function might be influenced by manipulation of this genetic regulator. This could open the door to new immune system-based therapies for numerous diseases. Other aspects of the research could be of interest to scientists trying to re-program cells to perform different functions, which is the basis of stem cell research. The genetic regulator, or transcription factor, is called Ctip2, and it's also known as Bcl11b. It's a protein that controls gene 'expression,' or what aspects of a cell's genetic code will be turned on and which will be left silent. Discovered in 2000, Ctip2 has in recent years been found to be a master regulator of gene expression, controlling tissue formation in organs as diverse as tooth enamel, brain cells, skin, and T cells.

7/01/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers achieve a breakthrough in understanding the role of genes in determining human lifespan.

Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine and the Boston Medical Center : While environment and family history are factors in healthy aging, genetic variants play a critical and complex role in conferring exceptional longevity, according to a new study by a team of researchers. The research team identified a group of genetic variants that can predict exceptional longevity in humans with 77 percent accuracy. Based upon the hypothesis that exceptionally old individuals are carriers of multiple genetic variants that influence their remarkable survival, the team conducted a genome-wide association study of centenarians. Centenarians are a model of healthy aging, as the onset of disability in these individuals is generally delayed until they are well into their mid-nineties. Researchers built a unique genetic model that includes 150 genetic variants, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). They found that these 150 variants could be used to predict if a person survived to very old ages (late 90s and older) with a high rate of accuracy. In addition, the team's analysis identified 19 genetic clusters or "genetic signatures" of exceptional longevity that characterized 90 percent of the centenarians studied. The different signatures correlated with differences in the prevalence and age-of-onset of diseases such as dementia and hypertension, and may help identify key subgroups of healthy aging, the authors said.

7/01/2010 PERMALINK

Study of Chile's school voucher program proves that forcing schools to compete for students significantly improves education.

University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chile : Researchers have completed a lengthy study on the effectiveness of school vouchers, which were introduced by reforms of Chile's schools in 1981. Chile is the only nation in the world to have a nationwide school voucher program. School voucher programs inject a health competition into stagnant schools systems by allowing parents to choose which school to send their child to. It is the bane of lazy and incompetent teachers and has been ferociously opposed by public employee unions dedicated to keeping their lazy and incompetent members feeding at the public trough, regardless of how much damage this does to the future prospects of your children. The study, which looked at students who began school in the early 1970s all the way up through students who began school in the early '90s, showed that the reforms increased high school graduation rates by 3.6 percent, and increased college-going rates by 3.1 percent. It also increased the rate of those completing at least two years of college by 2.6 percent, and the rate of those completing at least four years of college by 1.8 percent. The study also showed that individuals from poor and non-poor backgrounds in Chile. Giving parental the choice of schools for their children with vouchers is a meme that works for kids. However, don't expect the fact that vouchers produce better educational outcomes for their students to change the minds of teacher's unions. They have proven their willingness to sacrifice your kids for their own self interests. You will not get choice of schools for your children unless you are willing to fight hard enough to overcome the entrenched political power of the many lazy and incompetent feather-bedders ensconced in America's school system. Sweeping out the bad teachers with competition will not only get rid of them, it will also re-energize all the good teachers. Nothing is more debilitating than to see your hard work go unappreciated and unrewarded, with the lazy and incompetent teacher in the next classroom getting the same pay as you do.

7/01/2010 PERMALINK

Researchers design a new implantable med bot for helping to regenerate damaged inner ear cells.

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School : Researchers are working on ways to treat hearing loss by engineering regenerated hair cell tissue in the inner ear. A new implantable bot is designed to make it possible to introduce compounds to the hard-to-reach inner ear. "It takes some heroic efforts to get compounds into the inner ear," says Professor Sharon Kujawa, a part of the team that developed the implantable device. This device should make this process much easier.

7/01/2010 PERMALINK

Mesenchymal stem cell therapy may triple the survival rate for sepsis.

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, St. Michael's Hospital and the University Health Network in Toronto : Researchers have found that a commonly used type of bone marrow stem cell may be able to help treat sepsis, a deadly condition that can occur when an infection spreads throughout the body. Use of these cells, called mesenchymal stem cells, can triple survival rates in an experimental model of sepsis. In addition to their stem cell properties, the cells used in this study are also known to influence the immune system and help repair tissue damage. They are found in adult bone marrow and they have been used extensively in clinical trials for other diseases.

7/01/2010 PERMALINK

Study finds new key to avoiding unsuccessful corneal transplant.

Polyclinic of the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg : Although already one of medicine's most successful transplant procedures, doctors continue to seek ways to improve corneal transplants. Now, for the first time, a team of German and British researchers have confirmed that failure and rejection of transplanted corneas are more likely in patients whose eyes exhibit abnormal vessel growth, called corneal neovascularization, prior to surgery. The findings also suggest a new treatment approach that could improve transplant success rates.