New insights could advance microfluidics and drug delivery systems. New study finds obstacles can trap rolling microparticles in fluid Through simulations and experiments, physicists attribute the trapping effect to stagnant pockets of fluid, created by hydrodynamics Random motions of the molecules within the fluid then ‘kick’ the microroller into a stagnant pocket, effectively trapping [...]

Findings, in mice, open up drug development possibilities for brain diseases linked to tau protein. Nearly two dozen experimental therapies targeting the immune system are in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, a reflection of the growing recognition that immune processes play a key role in driving the brain damage that leads to confusion, memory loss, and [...]

Just a few decades ago, the possibility of connecting the brain with a computer to convert neural signals into concrete actions would have seemed like something from science fiction. But in recent years, some scientific advances have been made in this regard, through so-called BCIs (Bran-Computer Interfaces) that establish communication bridges between the human [...]

  In an article published today in Frontiers in Science, the team outlines how biological computers could surpass today’s electronic computers for certain applications while using a small fraction of the electricity required by today’s computers and server farms. They’re starting by making small clusters of 50,000 brain cells grown from stem cells and known [...]

In 2017, I sat down to read a book entitled, A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution. Written by Jennifer Doudna it described a new tool called CRISPR that could edit DNA. Doudna first published a description of this gene editing tool in the journal Science in 2012. I wrote about CRISPR [...]

The new findings have the potential to improve our understanding of cancers and a multitude of other diseases. Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have finally discovered the role of an enzyme named O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) in maintaining cell health. The findings, which were published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, offer [...]

Inherent ‘noise’ in the system of gene expression in tumor cell death, is another tool cancer cells use to resist chemotherapy treatment. Cancer cells have an innate randomness in their ability to respond to chemotherapy, which is another tool in their arsenal of resisting treatment, new research led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research shows. [...]

By monitoring the body’s molecular response to a viral attack, the new method developed by Flatiron Institute researchers and their colleagues can diagnose even asymptomatic patients with 98.4 percent accuracy. By inspecting the body’s immune response at a molecular level, a research team has developed a new way to test patients for COVID-19. Their method can [...]

Decisions on cancer treatment could become better tailored to individual patients with the adoption of a new imaging method being developed by University of Michigan researchers that maps the chemical makeup of a patient's tumor. Today, treatment methods for cancer—whether surgery, radiation therapy or immunotherapy—are recommended based mainly on the tumor's location, size and aggressiveness. This [...]

Study Shows Those With a Higher Omega-3 Index Are More Protected From Severe COVID Infection Omega-3 fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, might be protective against contracting and/or suffering adverse outcomes of COVID-19 infection. A study just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) explored the role of omega-3 fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, and whether [...]