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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 1993

Dec 2, 2018

The Future of HIV Treatment Might Not Involve Pills

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, futurism

HIV treatments have come a long way in the more than 30 years since the virus was first identified.

Powerful antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) can now keep the virus controlled at levels that current tests cannot detect in the blood. Perhaps just as important, people who take these drugs diligently soon after they’re infected are unlikely to pass the virus to others. But the treatment isn’t perfect. Those with HIV need to take a pill every day for the rest of their lives, and even if they do, the virus can easily morph to become resistant to the drugs. That’s why patients on ARV treatment should faithfully monitor their virus and cycle between different combinations of drugs.

Finding new, easier ways to more effectively treat HIV and stop its spread is therefore an urgent priority, and researchers are now looking beyond daily drugs to therapies that might provide people with more lasting protection.

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Dec 2, 2018

Screening for Early Lung Cancer

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing

But while screening can be extremely helpful, it also carries some risks. Here’s what you need to know about lung cancer screenings.

How does lung cancer screening work?

Currently, there’s only one recommended screening test for lung cancer: low-dose computer tomography (low-dose CT scan). This test creates images of the inside of the body — or in this case, the lungs — using low doses of radiation.

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Dec 2, 2018

Can Artificial Intelligence Make Doctors Better?

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

Artificial intelligence and machine learning: the next revolution in medicine and cancer research.

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Dec 2, 2018

Cafe in Japan Hires Paralyzed People to Control Robot Servers

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

The OriHime-D can also be used by people involved in childcare, nursing care or other activities that prevent them from leaving home or a certain location.


A cafe with an all-robot staff controlled by paralyzed people has opened in Tokyo.

Continue reading “Cafe in Japan Hires Paralyzed People to Control Robot Servers” »

Dec 2, 2018

Proton beam failure leaves hundreds of child cancer patients at risk

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, government

Hundreds of children with cancer are resorting to inferior treatment because of a failure to open two flagship specialist centres, experts have warned.

NHS officials have admitted that no patient has yet received state-of-the-art proton beam therapy (PBT) at either its new London or Manchester sites, despite a Government pledge to be treating 1,500 a year by 2018.

Leading oncologists have called for transparency after two promised opening dates at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust were missed this year and the deadline quietly pushed back.

Continue reading “Proton beam failure leaves hundreds of child cancer patients at risk” »

Dec 2, 2018

Researchers develop painless method to evaluate tumor progression

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

NANJING — Chinese researchers have developed a new evaluating model using medical imaging to help painlessly evaluate tumor progression in patients.

Doctors usually use the biological characteristics of tumors to observe the progress and response to treatment, such as if there are gene mutations or malignant features. Previous studies have shown that identifying the biological characteristics may contribute to better treatment and may increase survival rates.

Traditional methods to get tumor tissue include surgery and puncture, which are invasive, painful and costly.

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Dec 2, 2018

Untangling the Origin of String Theory

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, quantum physics

In the summer of 1968, while a visitor in CERN’s theory division, Gabriele Veneziano wrote a paper titled “Construction of a crossing-symmetric, Regge behaved amplitude for linearly-rising trajectories”. He was trying to explain the strong interaction, but his paper wound up marking the beginning of string theory.

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Dec 2, 2018

Gene editing not on the agenda as University of Hong Kong and Harvard join forces in bid to make disease detection faster, easier and smarter

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical

Two institutions collaborate for first time in setting up new laboratory in Hong KongFocus will be on inventing means of improving diagnosis of diseases so treatment can start earlier.

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Dec 2, 2018

Over 6,000 antibiotic resistance genes found in bacteria that inhabit the gut

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Researchers have identified over 6,000 antibiotic resistance genes found in bacteria that inhabit the human gut, which is home to trillions of micro-organisms, mainly bacteria.

“Most gut bacteria live in a harmless relationship with the human host. However, the gut is also home to bacteria that can cause infections in hospitalised patients,” said one of the researchers Willem van Schaik, Professor at the University of Birmingham.

“Unfortunately, these bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and we need to understand the processes that contribute to this development,” he added.

Continue reading “Over 6,000 antibiotic resistance genes found in bacteria that inhabit the gut” »

Dec 2, 2018

Precision genome engineering

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

Biotechnology
Genome editing through CRISPR-Cas systems has the potential to correct genetic mutations that occur in diseased cells, such as cancer cells. However, the ability to selectively activate CRISPR-Cas systems in diseased cells is important to ensure that gene editing only occurs where it is wanted. Zhu et al. developed a system whereby gene editing could be activated by a magnetic field, thus allowing spatial control. The use of nanomagnets in their system also improved transduction into target cells in tumor-bearing mouse models. This approach could potentially allow the translation of CRISPR-Cas systems into therapeutic agents.

Nat. Biomed. Eng. 10.1038/s41551-018‑0318-7 (2018).

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