Blog

Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 2499

Dec 14, 2016

First approved targeted therapy for Gastric Cancer in Singapore offers new way and hope of treating disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Lilly announced today that CYRAMZA® (ramucirumab) has been approved by the Singapore Health Sciences Authority to treat people with advanced gastric cancer, whose cancer has progressed after prior chemotherapy. First country in ASEAN to approve the new biologic therapy that extends survival in patients with advanced stomach cancer after prior chemotherapy

CYRAMZA® (ramucirumab) is now available to Singaporeans living with advanced gastric cancer. The drug gained approval by Singapore’s Health Science’s Authority (HSA) earlier this year, marking the first regulatory approval in ASEAN. CYRAMZA is already available to patients in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Read more

Dec 13, 2016

Why Machines Should Go To The University of Google, School of Artificial Intelligence

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education, information science, robotics/AI

Now that’s an idea; education for systems. I can see the online university advertisements now showing an autonomous car beeping and flashing its lights over the enjoyment of graduating.


What if I told you to tie your shoes, but you had no laces? Or to cook dinner, but you had no pots or pans.

There are certain tools we need to succeed, which we often don’t have access to or are held back by a gatekeeper.

Continue reading “Why Machines Should Go To The University of Google, School of Artificial Intelligence” »

Dec 13, 2016

The power of polymeric coating

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, materials

Nice write on polymeric coatings as a material option consider when developing implants replicating a natural electrode charge without creating damage or disruptions. Author proposes such materials could be leveraged beyond their use today and expanded to include BMI implants. Definitely, will take a closer look at.


Jeff Hendricks Biotectix outlines how polymeric coatings can help improve the performance of medical and consumer electronic devices.

Read more

Dec 13, 2016

Potential diabetes therapy: Engineered cells that control blood sugar

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical

Excellent. Now, the question is “has Microsoft seen this?” as they are working on solving Diabetes too as part of their Synbio program that has already shown us their DNA Data Storage.


People with type 1 diabetes must inject themselves with insulin multiple times per day. This is because their immune system has destroyed cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin to maintain a healthy blood glucose level.

A team of bioengineers now report a possible alternative to such injections. The researchers engineered human kidney cells to act like pancreatic β cells, namely to sense blood glucose levels and produce insulin accordingly (Science 2016, DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4006). When implanted in mice with type 1 diabetes, the cells prevent high blood glucose levels, also known as hyperglycemia.

Continue reading “Potential diabetes therapy: Engineered cells that control blood sugar” »

Dec 13, 2016

A New Form of Synaptic Plasticity in Pain Pathways

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Nice.


Chronic pain is thought to involve the long-lasting strengthening of synapses, akin to what happens during the formation of new memories. This phenomenon, known as long-term potentiation (LTP), is triggered when neurons on both sides of a synapse are active at the same time. But now, Jürgen Sandkühler, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and colleagues provide evidence that LTP in nociceptive circuits arises in a different way.

By simultaneously activating two types of glial cells―astrocytes and microglia―the researchers were able to produce LTP at synapses that connect peripheral C-fibers and lamina I neurons in the dorsal horn spinal cord. They also showed that with high-frequency stimulation of C-fibers, glial cells strengthen active and inactive synapses through their release of the NMDA receptor co-agonist D-serine and the cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Moreover, these molecules traveled to distant synapses, perhaps explaining why pain hypersensitivity can develop in areas surrounding or far away from an injury.

Continue reading “A New Form of Synaptic Plasticity in Pain Pathways” »

Dec 13, 2016

‘Turbocharged Artificial Intelligence’ Could Personalize Combination Therapy in Pediatric Leukemia

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

AI joins the fight against Leukemia.

Read more

Dec 13, 2016

Progress toward personalized treatments

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

More proof that Precision Medicine can predict and solve complex health issues.


Brain scans could help predict response to psychotherapy for anxiety and depression.

brain-scan-treatment-research

Continue reading “Progress toward personalized treatments” »

Dec 13, 2016

Squeezing life from DNA’s double helix

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

DNA replication begins when the double helix, caught in a vice of proteins, melts, scientists have discovered.

Read more

Dec 13, 2016

Two electrons go on a quantum walk and end up in a qudit: Russian scientists find a way to reliably connect quantum elements

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum physics, solar power, sustainability

This is a BIG DEAL in QC, and Russian Scientists solved it.


Abstract: Scientists from the Institute of Physics and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and MIPT have let two electrons loose in a system of quantum dots to create a quantum computer memory cell of a higher dimension than a qubit (a quantum bit). In their study published in Scientific Reports, the researchers demonstrate for the first time how quantum walks of several electrons can help to implement quantum computation.

“By studying the system with two electrons, we solved the problems faced in the general case of two identical interacting particles. This paves the way toward compact high-level quantum structures,” comments Leonid Fedichkin, Expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vice-Director for Science at NIX (a Russian computer company), and Associate Professor at MIPT’s Department of Theoretical Physics.

Continue reading “Two electrons go on a quantum walk and end up in a qudit: Russian scientists find a way to reliably connect quantum elements” »

Dec 13, 2016

The first-in-man clinical trial targeting Alzheimer’s Tau protein

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

Progress with Alzheimers and this time approaching it from the direction of Tau as a target rather than Beta Amyloid. This therapy has been tested in people and whilst it is only the first step hopefully this will lead to an effective treatment for this horrific diseases and and end to the suffering it brings.


Progress towards immunotherapies that can clear tau for Alzheimers here. Most therapies are focused on misfolded amyloid-β proteins but this particular approach targets Tau and the first in human test has proceeded!

“The authors of the study have developed a vaccine that stimulates the production of an antibody that specifically targets pathological tau, discovering its “Achilles’ heel”. It is able to do this because healthy tau undergoes a series of changes to its structure forming a new region that the antibody attacks. This new region (the “Achilles’ heel”), while not present in healthy tau, is present in diseased tau early on. Therefore, the antibody tackles all the different varieties of pathological tau. In addition to this important specificity, the antibody is coupled to a carrier molecule that generates a considerable immune response with the added benefit that it is not present in humans, thus avoiding the development of an immune reaction towards the body itself.”

#aging #crowdfundthecure

Read more