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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 1849

Feb 26, 2020

How does this coronavirus outbreak end?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

This is a great outline of how the outbreak could end (from best to worst-case scenario): 1. Public health interventions control the 2019 n-CoV 2. The virus burns itself out (I love this analogy of viruses to fires) like the Spanish flu 3. It becomes a common virus like ex-pandemic H1N1 (swine) flu.


The World Health Organization has declared the growing coronavirus outbreak in China to be a global health emergency. It’s a recognition that the outbreak — now with nearly 10,000 cases — may continue to spread beyond China, and that the nations of the world should lend their assistance and be prepared.

Feb 26, 2020

Stabilizing freeze-dried cellular machinery unlocks cell-free biotechnology

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education

Researchers at California Polytechnic State University have developed a low-cost approach that improves cell-free biotechnology’s utility for bio-manufacturing and portability for field applications.

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) is a biotechnology that harnesses active in a without the presence of living cells, allowing researchers to directly access and manipulate biochemical processes. Scientists and engineers are looking to utilize cell-free biotechnology for numerous applications including on-demand biomanufacturing of biomaterials and therapeutics, point-of-care diagnostics of disease biomarkers and environmental pollutants, and transformative biochemical education platforms.

Cell-free biotechnology researchers have already made many of these applications a reality in the lab, but getting them to work in the field, clinic and classroom is more difficult. The cellular machinery extracted for use in cell-free biotechnology contains biomolecules such as proteins and RNAs, which break down at , greatly limiting the shelf life of the cellular machinery. Transporting it from one laboratory to another or taking it out of the lab for field applications requires refrigeration to maintain its activity. Being tethered to the “cold chain” is a fundamental limit to meeting cell-free biotechnology’s potential.

Feb 26, 2020

Brazil confirms first coronavirus case in Latin America

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Wuhan Coronavirus in Brazil in time for Carnival — what could possibly go wrong?


BRASILIA (Reuters) — Brazil’s Health Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the first case of a fast-spreading new coronavirus in Latin America, diagnosing a 61-year-old man in Sao Paulo who returned recently from Italy.

Feb 26, 2020

Korean Air flight attendant who flew to LA diagnosed with coronavirus

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

I wonder how many passengers caught the Wuhan Coronavirus on this flight to LA, but don’t know it because they are asymptomatic.


LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A Korean Air flight attendant was diagnosed with coronavirus shortly after working on a flight to Los Angeles, South Korean media is reporting.

The flight attendant worked on a flight from Incheon to Los Angeles and may have spent time in Los Angeles before boarding a return flight. The same person also had recently worked on an Incheon-Tel Aviv route.

Continue reading “Korean Air flight attendant who flew to LA diagnosed with coronavirus” »

Feb 26, 2020

Reduced stress associated with changes in plasma metabolite profile

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Reduced stress is linked to changes in the profile of plasma metabolites, a new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows. According to the researchers, the findings can shed light on the associations of psychological well-being with metabolism and the risk of disease. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

Psychological stress is known to be associated with obesity, low-grade inflammation and metabolic disorders, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the newly published study, the researchers used metabolite profiling to study whether improved psychological well-being is associated with measurable changes in metabolism. The study is a sub-study of Elixir, a large multi-center lifestyle intervention study conducted by the Universities of Helsinki, Eastern Finland and Jyväskylä, and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

The study participants were obese individuals with perceived psychological stress symptoms at the onset of the study. They were divided into two groups: one group to undergo a psychological lifestyle intervention (60 individuals) and a control group (64 individuals). Both groups managed to lose weight, but reduced stress and improved psychological well-being were reported by the intervention group in particular. Using metabolomics techniques, the researchers performed an extensive analysis of fasting metabolites in all study participants at beginning of the study and again nine months later, after the intervention had ended. Stress and psychological well-being were assessed by surveys and heart rate variability measurements.

Feb 26, 2020

AI could transform the treatment of brain tumours

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

Artificial intelligence can help doctors and patients with meningiomas make better treatment decisions, according to a new study.

Meningiomas are tumors that arise from the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. They are the most common primary central nervous system tumor, with an incidence of 8.14 per 100,000 population.

While they generally have better outcomes than other brain tumors, there is a great deal of variability in aggressiveness. Being able to predict malignancy and accurately estimate survival is therefore incredibly important in deciding whether surgery is the best option for the patient.

Feb 26, 2020

Dr. David Sinclair on aging and age reversal (compilation II on D. Sinclair by A. Grases)

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, life extension

Excerpts from Dr. David Sinclair appearances during 2019 and early 2020. The focus I highlight in this compilation is around the research in progress on aging, age-related diseases and biological age reversal.

Dr. Sinclair is a well-known geneticist, researcher and professor, first at MIT and since more than two decades ago, at Harvard University.

Continue reading “Dr. David Sinclair on aging and age reversal (compilation II on D. Sinclair by A. Grases)” »

Feb 26, 2020

How smart syringes, aimed at stopping HIV, work

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, sex

Download PDF sample copy of this Study @ http://bit.ly/2Vpk6YP

#needles #HIV #shots #sex #corona


Only smart syringes that break after one use should be used for injections by 2020, the World Health Organization has announced.

Continue reading “How smart syringes, aimed at stopping HIV, work” »

Feb 25, 2020

Henneguya salminicola: Microscopic parasite has no mitochondrial DNA

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

An international team of researchers has found a multicellular animal with no mitochondrial DNA, making it the only known animal to exist without the need to breathe oxygen. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of Henneguya salminicola, a microscopic, parasitic member of the group Myxozoa and its unique physiology.

One of the common characteristics of all multicellular animals on Earth is —the process by which oxygen is used to generate —the fuel used to power . The process takes place in mitochondria, which has both its own genome and the main genome found in the rest of the body’s cells. But now, there is a known exception: Henneguya salminicola.

H. salminicola is a microscopic parasite that infects salmon. When the host dies, spores are released that are consumed by worms, which can also serve as hosts for the parasite. When salmon eat the worms, they become infected as the parasite moves into their muscles. They can be seen by fishermen as white, oozing bubbles, which is why salmon with H. salminicola infections are sometimes said to have tapioca disease.

Feb 25, 2020

Genetically Modified Bacteria Could Save The Bees

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, genetics

That bees are downright awesome is not up for debate. After all, they pollinate about a third of all the crops that we consume and help to support ecosystems worldwide. Yet the bees are in trouble, with a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD) causing an alarming drop in numbers. Fortunately, a solution may be on the horizon in the form of genetically modified bacteria.

One thing that is a topic of great debate is the cause of CCD. Some studies point the finger at a particular class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, although many within the scientific community agree that multiple factors are probably at play.

What we do know is that CCD first became an issue once the Varroa mite became widespread, largely thanks to a global trade in European honeybees that brought them into contact with Asian parasites. At first, it was assumed that the mites were simply killing bees by sucking on their blood, although it later transpired that they also carried the lethal deformed wing virus (DWV), transmitting it into the bloodstream of the bees they feasted on.