The Time Is Now for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

From artificial intelligence (AI) and data integration to natural language processing and statistics, the Cedars-Sinai Department of Computational Biomedicine is utilizing the latest technological advances to find solutions to some of the most complex healthcare issues.

This Injectable Hydrogel Mitigates Damage to the Right Ventricle of the Heart

An injectable hydrogel can mitigate damage to the right ventricle of the heart with chronic pressure overload, according to a new study published March 6 in Journals of the American College of Cardiology: Basic to Translational Science.  The study, by a research team from the University of California San Diego, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, was conducted in rodents.

Five Cutting-edge Advances in Biomedical Engineering and Their Applications in Medicine

Bridging precision engineering and precision medicine to create personalized physiology avatars. Pursuing on-demand tissue and organ engineering for human health. Revolutionizing neuroscience by using AI to engineer advanced brain interface systems. Engineering the immune system for health and wellness. Designing and engineering genomes for organism repurposing and genomic perturbations.

These Screen-printed, Flexible Sensors Allow Earbuds to Record Brain Activity and Exercise Levels

Earbuds can be turned into a tool to record the electrical activity of the brain and levels of lactate in the body with two flexible sensors screen-printed onto a flexible surface.

Genetically engineered vesicles target cancer cells more effectively

Nanovesicles can be bioengineered to target cancer cells and deliver treatments directly, according to research at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Moffitt Cancer Center Taps W. Gregory Sawyer, Ph.D., as Inaugural Chair of the Department of Bioengineering

Moffitt Cancer Center has launched the Department of Bioengineering. The new academic research department will be housed within the Division of Basic Science and led by W. Gregory Sawyer, Ph.D. Bioengineering integrates the disciplines of engineering and cancer biology.

RNA Institute Researchers Advance DNA Nanostructure Stability

Researchers at the University at Albany’s RNA Institute have demonstrated a new approach to DNA nanostructure assembly that does not require magnesium. The method improves the biostability of the structures, making them more useful and reliable in a range of applications.

‘Tipping The Balance’ Of Immune Cells from Bad to Good Reverses Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms in Mice

According to the federal government’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, nearly 3 million people worldwide — with almost a third in the United States — are living with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disabling neurological disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks nerves feeding information to the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Although rarely fatal, MS can lead to long-term disabilities, and impair movement, muscle control, vision and cognition.

RPI Researchers To Develop New Market for Farm Waste

There are more than 80,000 sheep and lambs living on over 2,000 farms in New York State. Their wool has many uses including clothing, carpets, furniture, bedding, insulators, fertilizers, and more. However, about 10-15% of wool is wasted during the sorting and cleaning processes. Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are aiming to turn that waste into a new profit source for farmers, and produce an eco-conscious, high-performance yarn in the process.

Researchers at Aalto develop a new technology to let immobilized patients control devices with their brain

A new project at Aalto University is developing techniques that will enable immobilized patients to control devices using their brain activity. The project builds on the multi-locus transcranial magnetic stimulation (mTMS) technology developed at Aalto, adapting it into a brain–computer interface (BCI) that can help patients with neurological conditions.

Super-fast insect urination powered by the physics of superpropulsion

Sharpshooter insects excrete by catapulting urine droplets at high accelerations. By using computational fluid dynamics and biophysical experiments, the researchers studied the fluidic, energetic, and biomechanical principles of sharpshooter excretion. Their study reveals how an insect smaller than the tip of a pinky finger performs a feat of physics and bioengineering – superpropulsion.

NIH researchers use 3D bioprinting to create eye tissue

Scientists used patient stem cells and 3D bioprinting to produce eye tissue that will advance understanding of the mechanisms of blinding diseases. The research team from the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, printed a combination of cells that form the outer blood-retina barrier—eye tissue that supports the retina’s light-sensing photoreceptors. The technique provides a theoretically unlimited supply of patient-derived tissue to study degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

CUVET Successfully Developed the First Stem Cell Transplantation Technology to Treat Pet Diabetes

For the first time in Thailand, a research team from Chula’s Faculty of Veterinary Science (CUVET) is the first to have successfully developed a method to culture dog pancreatic cells from stem cells and cell transplantation technology. They aim to test the method in the lab and sick animals suffering from diabetes.

The nano-magnets that will restore damaged nerve cells

When neurons are damaged by degenerative disease or injury, they have little, if any, ability to heal on their own. Restoring neural networks and their normal function is therefore a significant challenge in the field of tissue engineering. Prof. Orit Shefi and doctoral student Reut Plen from the Kofkin Faculty of Engineering at Bar-Ilan University have developed a novel technique to overcome this challenge using nanotechnology and magnetic manipulations, one of the most innovative approaches to creating neural networks.

Mutational signature linking bladder cancer and tobacco smoking found with new AI tool

UC San Diego researchers have for the first time discovered a pattern of DNA mutations that links bladder cancer to tobacco smoking. The work could help researchers identify what environmental factors, such as exposure to tobacco smoke and UV radiation, cause cancer in certain patients. It could also lead to more customized treatments for a patient’s specific cancer.

A new neuromorphic chip for AI on the edge, at a small fraction of the energy and size of today’s compute platforms

An international team of researchers has designed and built a chip that runs computations directly in memory and can run a wide variety of AI applications–all at a fraction of the energy consumed by computing platforms for general-purpose AI computing. The NeuRRAM neuromorphic chip brings AI a step closer to running on a broad range of edge devices, disconnected from the cloud, where they can perform sophisticated cognitive tasks anywhere and anytime without relying on a network connection to a centralized server.

Right off the bats

Among the many devastating impacts of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia is the risk that patients will wander and become lost. Indeed, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, six in 10 people with the disease will wander at least once over the course of their illness — and many do so repeatedly.

Ultrasound remotely triggers immune cells to attack tumors in mice without toxic side effects

A new cancer immunotherapy pairs ultrasound with specially engineered CAR T cells to destroy malignant tumors while sparing normal tissue. The new experimental therapy significantly slowed down the growth of solid cancerous tumors in mice.

What if We Could Give Viruses a One-Two Punch?

Researchers at Stanford and Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry have developed virus-killing molecules called peptoids. The technology could make possible an emerging category of antiviral drugs that could treat everything from herpes and COVID-19 to the common cold.

Bio-inspired hydrogel protects the heart from post-op adhesions

A hydrogel that forms a barrier to keep heart tissue from adhering to surrounding tissue after surgery was developed and successfully tested in rodents by a team of University of California San Diego researchers. The team of engineers, scientists and physicians also conducted a pilot study on porcine hearts, with promising results.

They describe their work in the June 18, 2021 issue of Nature Communications.

Single gene boosts climate resilience, yield and carbon capture in crops

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered a single gene that simultaneously boosts plant growth and tolerance for stresses such as drought and salt, all while tackling the root cause of climate change by enabling plants to pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Brain Disease Research Reveals Differences Between Sexes

In APL Bioengineering, University of Maryland scientists highlight a growing body of research suggesting sex differences play roles in how patients respond to brain diseases, as well as multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, and other brain ailments. They are urging their colleagues to remember those differences when researching treatments and cures.

With gene therapy, scientists develop opioid-free solution for chronic pain

A gene therapy for chronic pain could offer a safer, non-addictive alternative to opioids. Researchers at the University of California San Diego developed the new therapy, which works by temporarily repressing a gene involved in sensing pain. It increased pain tolerance in mice, lowered their sensitivity to pain and provided months of pain relief without causing numbness.

Using Stimuli-Responsive Biomaterials to Understand Heart Development, Disease

The heart cannot regenerate new tissue, because cardiomyocytes, or heart muscle cells, do not divide after birth. However, researchers have now developed a shape memory polymer to grow cardiomyocytes. Raising the material’s temperature turned the polymer’s flat surface into nanowrinkles, which promoted cardiomyocyte alignment. The research is part of the growing field of mechanobiology, which investigates how physical forces between cells and changes in their mechanical properties contribute to development, cell differentiation, physiology, and disease.