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First working synthetic immune organ with controllable antibodies

Promises to lead to better understanding of the immune system, develop new therapies, improve testing of new classes of drugs and toxic chemicals
June 11, 2015

When exposed to a foreign agent, such as an immunogenic protein, B cells in lymphoid organs undergo germinal center reactions. The image on the left is an immunized mouse spleen with activated B cells (brown) that produce antibodies. At right, top: a scanning electron micrograph of porous synthetic immune organs that enable rapid proliferation and activation of B cells into antibody-producing cells. At right, bottom: primary B cell viability and distribution is visible 24 hours following encapsulation procedure. (credit: Singh Lab)

Cornell University engineers have created a functional, synthetic immune organoid (a lab-grown ball of cells with some of the features of a normal organ) that produces antibodies. The engineered organ has implications for everything from rapid production of immune therapies to new frontiers in cancer or infectious disease research.

The first-of-its-kind immune organoid was created in the lab of Ankur Singh, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who applies… read more

Topics: Biotech | Nanotech/Materials Science

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IBM researchers develop new technique for integrating ‘III-V’ materials onto silicon wafers

A breakthrough that may allow for an extension to Moore's Law
June 10, 2015

semiconductor integration-ft

A team of IBM researchers in Zurich, Switzerland with support from colleagues in Yorktown Heights, New York has developed a relatively simple, robust and versatile process for growing crystals made from compound semiconductor materials. The new method will allow the materials to be integrated onto silicon wafers — an important step toward making future computer chips that will allow integrated circuits to continue shrinking in size and cost,… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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A critical step to ultra-high-speed all-optical data transmission

June 10, 2015

crystal junctions written inside glass-ft

Researchers from Lehigh University, Japan, and Canada have advanced a step closer to the dream of all-optical data transmission by building and demonstrating what they call the “world’s first fully functioning single-crystal waveguide in glass.”

In an open-access article published in Scientific Reports, a Nature publication, the group said it had employed ultrafast femtosecond lasers to produce a three-dimensional single crystal capable of guiding light waves through… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Internet/Cloud/Telecom

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Implantable brain electronics is here

Invented by Harvard and Chinese scientists, the new method could treat neurodegenerative disorders and paralysis
June 10, 2015

Bright-field image showing the mesh electronics being injected through sub-100 micrometer inner diameter glass needle into aqueous solution. (credit: Lieber Research Group, Harvard University)

In a world first,  U.S. and Chinese scientists have developed a method to inject microelectronic devices such as wires and transistors directly into the brain (or other body parts) to measure or stimulate neural activity. The new method could lead to sophisticated new ways to treat conditions ranging from neurodegenerative disorders to paralysis.

Developed by researchers in Charles Lieber’s lab at Harvard University and the National Center for… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Electronics

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Real Jurassic World not far from reality?

June 9, 2015

Jurassic_World_poster-ft

Jurassic World, the fourth installment in the successful film series, in theaters June 12, will take viewers back to a world in which dinosaurs have been revived.

It’s not just be a movie, says Andrew Torrance, professor at the University of Kansas School of Law. We are close to “de-extinction” — reviving extinct creatures, he suggests.

While dinosaur fossils are too old and… read more

Topics: Biotech | Social/Ethical/Legal

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Virtual-reality display allows stroke patients to spontaneously recover use of paralyzed arm

June 9, 2015

stroke recovery

In a clinical study, Spanish researchers have used a Microsoft Kinect to help stroke patients increase their ability to use a paralyzed arm.

Stroke patients with “hemiparesis” —- reduced muscle strength on one side of the body — often under-use their affected limbs even though they still have some motor function. A long period of non-use of the affected “paretic” limb can lead to further loss of… read more

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

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Your entire viral infection history from a single drop of blood

June 8, 2015

VirScan-ft

New technology called called VirScan developed by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers makes it possible to test for current and past infections with any known human virus by analyzing a single drop of a person’s blood.

With VirScan, scientists can run a single test to determine which viruses have infected an individual, rather than limiting their analysis to particular viruses. That unbiased approach could uncover unexpected… read more

Topics: Biotech

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Creating DNA-based nanostructures without water

Could lead to complex nanoelectronic chips
June 8, 2015

Georgia Tech postdoctoral researcher Isaac Gállego shows the viscosity of a new solvent used for assembling DNA nanostructures (credit: Rob Felt)

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered an new process for assembling DNA nanostructures in a water-free solvent, which may allow for fabricating more complex nanoscale structures — especially, nanoelectronic chips based on DNA.

Scientists have been using DNA to construct sophisticated new structures from nanoparticles (such as a recent development at Brookhaven National Labs reported by KurzweilAI May 26), but the use… read more

Topics: Biotech | Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

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South Korean Team Kaist wins DARPA Robotics Challenge

Top three teams awarded total of $3.5 million in prizes
June 8, 2015

Team KAIST's DRC-Hubo robot turns valve 360 degrees in DARPA Robotics Challenge Final (credit: DARPA)

First place in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals this past weekend in Pomona, California went to Team Kaist of South Korea for its DRC-Hubo robot, winning $2 million in prize money.

Team IHMC Robotics of Pensacola, Fla., with its Running Man (Atlas) robot came in at second place ($1 million prize), followed by Tartan Rescue of Pittsburgh with its CHIMP robot ($500,000 prize).… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Survival/Defense

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Super-resolution electron microscopy of soft materials like biomaterials

Breakthrough technique allows for noninvasive nanoscale imaging with electron beams, bypassing optical microscopy limitations
June 5, 2015

CLAIRE image-ft

Soft matter encompasses a broad swath of materials, including liquids, polymers, gels, foam and — most importantly — biomolecules. At the heart of soft materials, governing their overall properties and capabilities, are the interactions of nano-sized components.

Observing the dynamics behind these interactions is critical to understanding key biological processes, such as protein crystallization and metabolism, and could help accelerate the development of important new technologies, such as artificial… read more

Topics: Biotech | Physics/Cosmology

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3-D printing tough biogel structures for tissue engineering or soft robots

New stretchable, biocompatible materials with complex patterning could be used for creating a human nose or ear
June 5, 2015

3-D printing tough, biocompatible PEG–alginate–nanoclay hydrogels into ear and nose shapes (credit: Sungmin Hong et al./ Advanced Materials)

Researchers at three universities have developed a new way of making tough — but soft and wet — biocompatible hydrogel materials into complex and intricately patterned shapes. The process might lead to scaffolds for repair or replacement of load-bearing tissues, such as cartilage. It could also allow for tough but flexible actuators for future robots, the researchers say.

The new process is described in a paper in the… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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Building and transplanting a bioengineered forelimb

Experimental technique used to create whole organs appears feasible for creation of complex tissues
June 5, 2015

A suspension of muscle progenitor cells is injected into the cell-free matrix of a decellularized rat limb, which provides shape and structure onto which regenerated tissue can grow. (credit: Bernhard Jank, MD, Ott Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine)

A team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has made the first steps towards developing bioartificial replacement limbs suitable for transplantation.

In a Biomaterials journal report, the researchers describe using an experimental approach previously used to build bioartificial organs to engineer rat forelimbs with functioning vascular and muscle tissue. They also provided evidence that the same approach could be applied to the limbs of primates.

“The… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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First multi-organ transplant that includes skull and scalp

June 5, 2015

James Boyson (credit: KPRC TV)

James Boysen, a 55-year-old software developer from Austin, Texas has become the first patient to receive a scalp and skull transplant while receiving kidney and pancreas transplants.

More than 50 health care professionals from Houston Methodist Hospital and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center assisted with or supported the double surgery over a period of more than 24 hours.

“This was a… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity

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Planarian regeneration model discovered by AI algorithm

Could help improve bioengineered regeneration of complex organs
June 4, 2015

Head-trunk-tail planarian regeneration results from experiments (credit: Daniel Lobo and Michael Levin/PLOS Computational Biology)

An artificial intelligence system has for the first time reverse-engineered the regeneration mechanism of planaria — the small worms whose extraordinary power to regrow body parts has made them a research model in human regenerative medicine.

The discovery by Tufts University biologists presents the first model of regeneration discovered by a non-human intelligence and the first comprehensive model of planarian regeneration, which had eluded human scientists for more than… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Biotech

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Next-generation energy-efficient light-based computers

New algorithm automates design of optical interconnect devices
June 4, 2015

Infrared light enters this silicon structure from the left. The cut-out patterns, determined by an algorithm, route two different frequencies of this light into the pathways on the right. This is a greatly magnified image of a working device that is about the size of a speck of dust. (credit: Alexander Piggott)

Stanford University engineers have developed a new design algorithm that can automate the process of designing optical interconnects, which could lead to faster, more energy-efficient computers that use light rather than electricity for internal data transport.

Light can transmit more data while consuming far less power than electricity. According to a study by David Miller, the MIT W.M. Keck Foundation Professor of Electrical Engineering, up to 80… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics

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