Bioengineers are designing aortic heart valve replacements made of polymers rather than animal tissues. The goal is to optimize valve performance and enable increased use of a minimally-invasive method for valve replacement over the current practice of open heart surgery.
Los Alamos National Laboratory and partners are inviting the algae industry and academia to contribute to research to find the best algae strains for biofuels and bioproducts and to reduce the cost of producing bioenergy from algae feedstocks.
If ship hulls were coated with special high-tech air trapping materials, up to one percent of global CO2 emissions could be avoided. This is the conclusion reached by scientists from the University of Bonn together with colleagues from St. Augustin and Rostock in a recent study. According to the study, ships could save up to 20 percent of fuel as a result of reduced drag. If so-called antifouling effects are also considered, such as the reduced growth of organisms on the hull, the reduction can even be doubled. The study has now been published in the journal Philosophical Transactions A.
Permanently arrested cell growth is known as "cellular senescence", and the accumulation of senescent cells may be one cause of aging in our bodies. Japanese researchers have discovered that a certain enzyme in our bodies promotes cellular senescence by producing reactive oxygen species. Drugs that target this enzyme could potentially suppress this process, and inhibit aging and aging-related illnesses.
This is the first visual function for incident AMD in older adults with normal macular health and early AMD. Older adults with delayed dark adaptation have a heightened risk for developing AMD within the next few years. Vision in bright light was known to be relatively preserved late into the disease. Night vision is affected much earlier.
Engineers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have created the first 3D-printed fluid circuit element so tiny that 10 could rest on the width of a human hair. The diode ensures fluids move in only a single direction--a critical feature for products like implantable devices that release therapies directly into the body.
How can you recycle the world's stockpiles of treated sewage sludge and boost sustainability in the construction industry, all at the same time? Turn those biosolids into bricks. Biosolids are a by-product of the wastewater treatment process that can be used as fertiliser, in land rehabilitation or as a construction material.
A simple blood test reliably detects signs of brain damage in people on the path to developing Alzheimer’s disease – even before they show signs of confusion and memory loss, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Recap of program featuring biotech startups building platforms in the fight against the opioid crisis.
Dallas is well-known for its oil industry, corporate headquarters, and technology startups. But did you know that the science behind some of the best-selling prescription drugs of all time was developed here?
The University of Delaware's Kelvin Lee has received the 2019 Marvin J. Johnson Award in Microbial & Biochemical Technology from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Biochemical Technology.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed an artificial enzymatic pathway for synthesizing isoprenoids, or terpenes, in E.coli. This shorter, more efficient, cost-effective and customizable pathway transforms E. coli into a factory that can produce terpenes for use in everything from cancer drugs to biofuels.
Food Genes and Me is a site and software that lets users figure out health risks and how to solve them within minutes.
A new study in Conservation Physiology shows that over time, bears get used to drones. Previous work indicated that animals behave fearfully or show a stress response near drone flights. Using heart monitors to gauge stress, however, researchers here found that bears habituated to drones over a 3 to 4-week period and remained habituated.
For the first time, researchers at University of California San Diego have used rapid 3D printing technologies to create a spinal cord, then successfully implanted that scaffolding, loaded with neural stem cells, into sites of severe spinal cord injury in rats.
A University of Wisconsin–Madison researcher and his collaborators at the University of California, San Francisco have repurposed the gene-editing tool CRISPR to study which genes are targeted by particular antibiotics, providing clues on how to improve existing antibiotics or develop new ones.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have discovered how grasses count the short days of winter to prepare for flowering. The new research provides valuable insight into how winter-adapted grasses gain the ability to flower in spring, which could be helpful for improving crops, like winter wheat, that rely on this process.
FDA approves first U.S. clinical trial of an intravenously administered bacteriophage-based therapy to treat resistant bacterial infections.
Summaries of recent Fred Hutch research, with links for additional background and media contacts.
Engineers have developed a neuroinspired hardware-software co-design approach that could make neural network training more energy-efficient and faster. Their work could one day make it possible to train neural networks on low-power devices such as smartphones, laptops and embedded devices.
Sandra Guzmán will lead the center’s irrigation and hydrology program.
The new study, covering the largest study area on this animal group in peninsular territory, is now published in the journal Biodiversity Data Journal. Other participants in the study are the experts from the Experimental Station of Arid Zones (EEZA-CSIC) and the University of Helsinki (Finland).
In Nature Biotechnology, as more and more researchers continue to assemble new genome sequences of uncultivated viruses, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) led a community effort to develop guidelines and best practices for defining virus data quality.
Gene trees, much like family trees, trace the lineage of a particular gene from its deep ancestral roots to its still-growing stems. By comparing gene trees to species trees, which map the evolutionary history of species, scientists can learn which species have which genes, what new functions those genes gained over time, and which functions they may have lost. Now, scientists at the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have unveiled a new tool to perform these analyses quickly and without computational headaches.
Oregon State University College of Engineering researchers are developing novel lab-on-a-chip biosensors for testing food quality and safety as well as illicit drug use.
NIBIB-funded researchers have created a novel, low-cost biosensor to detect HER-2, a breast cancer biomarker in the blood, allowing for a far less invasive diagnostic test than the current practice, a needle biopsy. Scientists at the Universities of Hartford and Connecticut and funded in part by NIBIB, combined microfluidic technology with diagnostics, including electrochemical sensors and biomarkers, into a powerful package that can give results in about 15 minutes.
Emily Day recognized as promising young scholar and researcher
Composite materials made from agricultural waste could be used to produce sustainable, lightweight and low-cost applications in the automotive and marine industries.
On 3 December 2018, the laboratory of Professor Axel Meyer, University of Konstanz published new findings of an experimental evolutionary project that ran for 30 years on the genomic mechanisms of sex determination in swordtail fish in the journal "Nature Communications". Dr Paolo Franchini, evolutionary biologist and Junior Research Group Leader at the University of Konstanz is the lead author of this collaboration with the laboratory of Professor Manfred Schartl of the University of Würzburg
By enabling super-fast remote control of specific cells, light-activated proteins allow researchers to study the function of individual neurons within a large network - even an entire brain. Now one of the pioneers of 'optogenetics' and colleagues have created two new tools - protein pores which when illuminated allow Ca2+ into cells or K+ out - for switching neurons on or off using light. Published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, their study shows that these synthetic 'ion channels' can be used to control specific neurons, even in live animals.
Can turning seawater into drinking water be a cost-effective way to provide clean, fresh water for the growing numbers of people facing water scarcity? Bahman Abbasi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is taking up that challenge with a mobile, modular, solar-powered, desalination system.
A glucose-powered biofuel cell that uses electrodes made from cotton fiber could someday help power implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and sensors. The new fuel cell, which provides twice as much power as conventional biofuel cells, could be paired with batteries or supercapacitors to provide a hybrid power source for the medical devices.
An unprecedented comparison of hundreds of species of yeasts has helped geneticists brew up an expansive picture of their evolution over the last hundreds of millions of years, including an analysis of the way they evolved individual appetites for particular food sources that may be a boon to biofuels research.
With their new finding, Canadian scientists urge revision of decades-old dogma on protein synthesis
How can we remove toxic contaminants like TNT from groundwater? Jack Istok and Mandy Michalsen are using pioneering bioremediation and bioaugmentation methods developed here at Oregon State to restore the groundwater at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
After eight years of study, a team of researchers from the University of California San Diego and Johns Hopkins University published new findings about how to read the body’s histone code in the Nov. 7 issue of Science Advances. The findings answer a key question in the dynamic research area of epigenetics—adding chemical tags to DNA and histone proteins to alter cell functions without changing DNA sequence. Understanding the fundamental principles of how epigenetic information is transduced in the cell eventually could lead to developing new drugs for fighting diseases like cancer.
The American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics 71st Annual Meeting will take place Nov. 18-20 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It will be one of the largest conferences in fluid dynamics this year, with more than 3,000 attendees expected from around the world. Journalists are invited to attend the meeting for free. Press registration may be obtained by emailing the American Institute of Physics' Media Line at [email protected].
Evolutionary theory predicts that the fitness of an individual is maximized when the genetic differences between its parents are neither too small nor too large but some ideal amount known as the optimal mating distance.
An eco-friendly technology for greener cosmetics and cleaner engine lubricants, made from approximately 50 percent biomass (grasses, corn husks, wood chips, etc.) and 50 percent common cooking oil.
Launches Newly Renamed Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology
With the updated technology, a laser shoots infra-red energy pulses at citrus tree leaves. That energy cracks the cuticles on the leaves and increases the penetration of agrochemicals – including bactericides -- into the leaves by more than 4,000 percent.
Scientists at Scripps Research and their collaborators have created microorganisms that may recapitulate key features of organisms thought to have lived billions of years ago, allowing them to explore questions about how life evolved.
Aspergillus fungi play roles in fields including bioenergy, health, and biotechnology. In Nature Genetics, a team led by scientists at the Technical University of Denmark, the DOE Joint Genome Institute, and the Joint Bioenergy Institute, present the first large analysis of an Aspergillus fungal subgroup, section Nigri.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota, with support from NIBIB, used a 3-D bioprinting technique to print photordetectors onto a curved surface. Through the combination of design innovation and the use of materials—including synthetic conducting polymers, functional electronics, and biological tissue—the team is creating prototypes of multiple replacement body parts, including skin, ears, spinal cord, and now a bionic eye.
A new derivative of a compound found in the bark of a rare Chinese tree has powerful anticancer properties and a low toxicity profile, according to new research from a Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center published in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research.
A briefing featuring key data presented at the 6th International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound. Researchers and clinicians will highlight breakthrough advances in the use of focused ultrasound in cancer immunotherapy and for opening the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
The U.S. Department of Energy is supporting development of a system for producing biobased chemicals that's based on the idea of "bioprivileged molecules." Researchers at the Center for Biorenewable Chemicals based at Iowa State University say such molecules have new and valuable properties.
Northern Arizona University professor Kiisa Nishikawa and her team studied how titin, actin and calcium interact and how those interactions can affect the treatment of diseases like muscular dystrophy.
Dr. Keerti Rathore, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant biotechnologist, received word that Texas A&M’s “Petition for Determination of Non-regulated Status for Ultra-Low Gossypol Cottonseed TAM66274” has been approved by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
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