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Engineered swarmbots rely on peers for survival

Could be used as a safeguard to stop genetically modified organisms from escaping into the wild
February 29, 2016

Design and modeling of safeguard control in microbial swarmbots. Design concept. Bacteria are engineered to exhibit collective survival. Bacteria confined in the microbial swarmbot can maintain a high local density and survive. Cells escaping the swarmbot will have a reduced density due to a larger extra-capsule environment. If their density drops below their survival threshold, they will die, leading to safeguard control. (credit: Shuqiang Huang et al./Molecular Systems Biology)

Duke University researchers have engineered microbes as “swarmbots” designed to only survive in a crowd.

The system could be used as a safeguard to stop genetically modified organisms (created with tools such as CRISPR) from escaping into the surrounding environment.

Collective survival

“Other labs have addressed this issue by making cells rely on unnatural amino acids for survival or by introducing a ‘kill switch’ that… read more

Topics: Biotech | Survival/Defense

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Engineered ‘mini-organs’ produce insulin in mice

Harvard scientists are now working on "mini-stomachs" with insulin-producing cells as a diabetes treatment
February 29, 2016

A section of the gastric mini-organ engineered to produce insulin-secreting cells, with immunofluorescent staining. This image shows many induced insulin-producing cells (red) present in the mini-organ. Gastric stem and progenitor cells (green) are detected at the base of the glands. Cell nuclei labeled in blue. (credit: Chaiyaboot Ariyachet)

Harvard University scientists have made major progress in dealing with a long-standing hurdle in treating diabetic patients.

People with diabetes have high blood sugar because their pancreatic beta cells (which store and release insulin) are not producing enough insulin. In type 1 diabetes (“juvenile diabetes”), the beta cells are even destroyed. In most cases, physicians treat type 1 diabetes with insulin injections, but people with complications may… read more

Topics: Biotech

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A practical solution to mass-producing low-cost nanoparticles

February 26, 2016

Nanoparticles form in a 3-D-printed microfluidic channel. Each droplet shown here is about 250 micrometers in diameter, and contains billions of platinum nanoparticles. (credit: Richard Brutchey and Noah Malmstadt/USC)

USC researchers have created an automated method of manufacturing nanoparticles that may transform the process from an expensive, painstaking, batch-by-batch process by a technician in a chemistry lab, mixing up a batch of chemicals by hand in traditional lab flasks and beakers.

Consider, for example, gold nanoparticles. Their ability to slip through the cell’s membrane makes them ideal delivery devices for medications to healthy cells, or fatal… read more

Topics: Nanotech/Materials Science

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Quantum dot solids: a new era in electronics?

February 26, 2016

Connecting the dots: Playing 'LEGO' at the atomic scale to build atomically coherent quantum dot solids. (credit: Kevin Whitham, Cornell University)

Just as the single-crystal silicon wafer forever changed the nature of communication 60 years ago, Cornell researchers hope their work with quantum dot solids — crystals made out of crystals — can help usher in a new era in electronics.

The team has fashioned two-dimensional superstructures out of single-crystal building blocks. Using a pair of chemical processes, the lead-selenium nanocrystals are synthesized into larger crystals, then fused together… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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The case of the silent synapses: Why are only 20% of synapses active during neurotransmission?

Unknown information coding in the brain?
February 26, 2016

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Columbia University scientists recently tested a new optical technique to study how information is transmitted in the brains of mice and made a surprising discovery: When stimulated electrically to release dopamine (a neurotransmitter or chemical released by neurons, or nerve cells, to send signals to other nerve cells), only about 20 percent of synapses — the connections between cells that control brain activity —… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

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Rapidly building artificial arteries for testing drugs

Could also help research in creating replacement arteries for patients
February 26, 2016

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Duke University researchers have developed a rapid new technique for making small-scale artificial human arteries for use in a system for testing drugs — one that is more accurate and reliable than using animal models. That means promising drugs could be better tested before entering human trials.

The new technique produces the artificial arteries ten times faster than current methods and the arteries are functional.

The… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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Regenerative medicine scientists ‘print’ replacement tissue

February 24, 2016

Completed ear and jaw bone structures printed with the Integrated Tissue-Organ Printing System (credit: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center)

Using a sophisticated, custom-designed 3D printer, regenerative medicine scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have proved that it is feasible to print living tissue structures to replace injured or diseased tissue in patients.

Reporting in Nature Biotechnology, the scientists said they printed ear, bone and muscle structures. When implanted in animals, the structures matured into functional tissue and developed a system of blood vessels. Most importantly,… read more

Topics: Biotech

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New electronic stethoscope and app diagnose lung conditions

February 24, 2016

Based on an analysis of the characteristics of respiratory sounds, the Respiratory Sounds Visualizer app generates this diagnostic chart. The total area in red represents the overall volume of sound, and the proportion of red around each line from the center to each vertex represents the proportion of the overall sound that each respiratory sound contributes. (credit: Shinichiro Ohshimo et al./Annals of Internal Medicine)

The traditional stethoscope has just been superseded by an electronic stethoscope and an app called Respiratory Sounds Visualizer, which can automatically classify lung sounds into five common diagnostic categories.* The system was developed by three physician researchers at Hiroshima University and Fukushima Medical University in collaboration with Pioneer Corporation.

The respiratory specialist doctors recorded and classified lung sounds of 878 patients, then turned these… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Electronics | Internet/Cloud/Telecom

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A ‘magic wand’ to simplify network setup and improve security

February 24, 2016

Dartmouth College Professor David Kotz demonstrates a commercial prototype of 'Wanda' imparting information such as the network name and password of a WiFi access point onto a blood pressure monitor. (credit: Dartmouth College)

Ever just want to wave a magic wand instead of dealing with a complex home network setup?

Well, Dartmouth College computer science professor David Kotz has figured out how to do just that. Called “Wanda,” it’s a small rod that makes it simple to link a new device (such as a blood-pressure meter or smartphone) to a WiFi network by just pointing the rod at the device.… read more

Topics: Internet/Cloud/Telecom

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Cancer cells in 3D

What researchers miss on glass slides
February 22, 2016

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Cancer cells don’t live on glass slides. Yet the vast majority of images related to cancer biology come from the cells being photographed on flat, two-dimensional surfaces — images sometimes used to draw conclusions about the behavior of cells that normally reside in a more complex environment.

Now a new high-resolution microscope, presented (open access) February 22 in Developmental Cell, makes it possible to visualize cancer cells in 3D and… read more

Topics: Biotech

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Real or computer-generated: can you tell the difference?

Training helps humans tell them apart ... but soon, only computers will know what's real or not
February 22, 2016

A Dartmouth College study shows that people find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between computer-generated images and real photos, but that a small amount of training greatly improves their accuracy. (credit: Dartmouth College)

As computer-generated characters become increasingly photorealistic, people are finding it harder to distinguish between real and computer-generated, a Dartmouth College-led study has found.

This has introduced complex forensic and legal issues*, such as how to distinguish between computer-generated and photographic images of child pornography, says Hany Farid, a professor of computer science, pioneering researcher in digital forensics at Dartmouth, and senior author of a paper… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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Could ‘smart skin’ made of recyclable materials transform medicine and robotics?

How to create sophisticated sensors in your kitchen with aluminum foil, scotch tape, sticky-notes, napkins, and sponges and a $25 computer
February 19, 2016

smart skin disposable pH sensor-ft

Here’s a challenge: using only low-cost materials available in your house (such as aluminum foil, pencil, scotch tape, sticky-notes, napkins, and sponges), build sensitive sensors (“smart skin”) for detecting temperature, humidity, pH, pressure, touch, flow, motion, and proximity (at a distance of 13 cm). Your sensors must show reliable and consistent results and be capable of connecting to low-cost, tiny computers such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi devices.

The… read more

Topics: Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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Physical rehab and athlete training in VR

February 19, 2016

ICSPACE exercise feedback display (credit: ICSPACE)

A virtual “intelligent coaching space” (ICSPACE) developed by Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University in Germany is assisting patients with physical rehabilitation and helping athletes improve their performance with sports exercises.

The user is 3D-scanned in advance and used to create an avatar. Participants wear 3D stereoscopic glasses, which create the impression of working out in a gym with a coach. Reflective markers… read more

Topics: VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

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New method enables discovery of 3D structures for molecules important to medicine

February 19, 2016

protein crystals ft

Researchers have overcome a long-standing technical barrier to imaging 3D structures of thousands of molecules important to medicine and biology.

The 3D structures of many protein molecules have been discovered using a technique called X-ray crystallography, but the method relies on scientists being able to produce highly ordered crystals containing the protein molecules in a regular arrangement. When X-rays are shone on highly ordered crystals, the X-rays scatter… read more

Topics: Biotech

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First detection of super-Earth atmosphere

February 17, 2016

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ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser  | Transit of 55 Cancri e

Astronomers have analyzed the atmosphere of a “super-Earth” exoplanet for the first time, according to The Hubble Space Telescope project, an international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Result: it’s mostly hydrogen and helium.

The data gathered with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and new analysis techniques also revealed that exoplanet 55 Cancri e has a dry atmosphere… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology

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