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New device based on concert hall acoustics enables noninvasive, ultrasound brain treatments

A team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed a device that is a first step to enabling noninvasive, ultrasound-based therapies for the brain.

23 Mar 2022

Using mRNA to introduce gene editor into human muscle stem cells

Mutations that lead to muscle atrophy can be repaired with the gene editor CRISPR-Cas9. A team led by ECRC researcher Helena Escobar has now introduced the tool into human muscle stem cells for the first time using mRNA, thus discovering a method suitable for therapeutic applications.

14 Mar 2022

Slowing down the DNA replication speed increases cell reprogramming efficiency

Adult cells in our body can only give rise to the same cell type. For example, a skin cell cannot give rise to a muscle cell but to skin cells only.

7 Mar 2022

Scientists identify a new protein that prevents cancer cell migration

When tumors spread, cancer cells migrate to other parts of the body through the blood or lymphatic vessels. Scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria have now found a new protein that prevents cancer cells from doing so by making them stick more tightly to their surroundings.

9 Feb 2022

It’s Day 6 of covid, and a rapid antigen test comes back positive. stay home, say virologists.

What does it mean if a person's rapid antigen test result comes back positive after five days of isolation due to covid-19? According to the experts, that person is most likely still carrying a viral load high enough to infect others.

31 Jan 2022

New approach using RNA therapeutic can fix protein problems in cystic fibrosis

The process of generating proteins from genes is akin to a factory, where workers follow a set of instructions that, ideally, are effective and clear.

27 Jan 2022

Intestinal organoids used to explain why bats infected with viruses do not succumb to diseases

Experiments attempting to explain why bats can be infected with many viruses at a time without succumbing to diseases such as COVID-19-;knowledge that could help us to reduce the threat to humans of infectious disease-;have struggled until now with the fact that live wild bats make poor research subjects.

30 Dec 2021

CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing enables sonodynamic therapy to effectively shrink tumors

Sonodynamic therapy uses ultrasound in combination with drugs to release harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the site of a tumor.

8 Dec 2021

Deactivating the cancer-causing protein by cutting off other proteins that activate it

In a line of dominos, if you take out a single piece, the last one will never fall. Similarly, a lot of pieces have to line up and be pushed at the same time in a cell to result in cancer.

1 Dec 2021

Study discovers new role of Hox genes in adulthood

Among their many extraordinary feats, some planarian flatworms reproduce by tearing off pieces of themselves to regenerate new worms.

18 Nov 2021

Potent extended anti- SARS-CoV-2 effect of titanium dioxide surface coatings

A team of researchers has explored the possibility of coating surfaces with TiO2 as a tool to inactivate SARS-CoV-2.

7 Oct 2021

Wiggling worms offer new clues into the potential impact of diet on Alzheimer's

Worms don't wiggle when they have Alzheimer's disease. Yet something helped worms with the disease hold onto their wiggle in Professor Jessica Tanis's lab at the University of Delaware.

29 Sep 2021

Pairing bacteriophages with antibiotics to fight drug-resistant pathogens

Mycobacterium abscessus, a relative of the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and leprosy, is responsible for particularly severe damage to human lungs and can be resistant to many standard antibiotics, making infections extremely challenging to treat.

18 Sep 2021

Defective versions of tumor suppressor genes can help cancer cells evade the immune system

Hundreds of cancer-linked genes play a different role in causing disease than scientists had expected.

16 Sep 2021

Researchers develop brain organoids that show neural activity similar to living human brains

Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have developed brain organoids -; 3D, brain-like structures grown from human stem cells -; that show organized waves of activity similar to those found in living human brains.

24 Aug 2021

UC San Diego scientists develop new method to keep cultured cells healthy

Hematopoietic stem cells — the precursors to blood cells — have been notoriously difficult to grow in a dish, a critical tool in basic research.

12 Aug 2021

Researchers develop new low-cost reproducible system for co-cultivation of cells

Scientists of the MIPT Cell Signaling Regulation Laboratory have developed a new low cost reproducible system for the co-cultivation of cells. This system is based on a polymerized BSA membrane.

8 Aug 2021

A quantitative assessment of SARS-CoV-2 bioaerosol production

In an effort to improve the sensitivity and sample recovery of mask sampling, researchers developed a mask sampling tool to assess bioaerosol variation.

28 Jul 2021

Mount Sinai researchers use cerebral organoids to study frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementias are a group of fatal and debilitating brain disorders for which there are no cures.

26 Jul 2021

Researchers develop a cell culture test to detect substances that harm the placenta and embryo

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a cell culture test to detect substances that are directly or indirectly harmful to embryos. Based on an existing test used for developing new drugs and chemicals, the augmented version is designed to help reduce the number of animal experiments.

22 Jul 2021