Science Snippet: Zooming In on Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles come in many different shapes and configurations. Credit: Adapted from Stevens, et. al., under Creative Commons License 4.0.
Nanoparticles may sound like gadgets from a science fiction movie, but they exist in real life. They’re particles of any material that are less than 100 nanometers (one-billionth of a meter) in all dimensions. Nanoparticles appear in nature, and humans have, mostly unknowingly, used them since ancient times. For example, hair dyeing in ancient Egypt involved lead sulfite nanoparticles, and artisans in the Middle Ages added gold and silver nanoparticles to stained-glass windows. Over...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - December 13, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Tools and Techniques Cool Tools/Techniques Cool Videos Medicines Science Snippet Source Type: blogs
Aged Transplant Organs Cause Harm to Younger Recipients
Old tissues are dysfunctional in ways that young tissues are not. This has always been known in the context of organ transplants, but absent measures of aging and means to treat aging, there was little to be done about it and arguably more pressing logistical issues to focus on. Times change, however. A growing appreciation of the role of senescent cells in degenerative aging, and the ability to clear some fraction of these cells via senolytic therapies such as the dasatinib and quercetin combination, has given the research, medical, and industry communities involved in organ transplant a novel approach to improve the qual...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 12, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Plant-Based Soft Medical Robots
Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed plant-based microrobots that are intended to pave the way for medical robots that can enter the body and perform tasks, such as obtaining a biopsy or performing a surgical procedure. The robots consist of a hydrogel material that is biocompatible and the composite contains cellulose nanoparticles derived from plants. The researchers can tune the orientation of the cellulose nanoparticles such that they respond in predictable ways when exposed to certain chemical cues such as changes in pH. This includes changing the shape of the tiny robots so that they are...
Source: Medgadget - December 11, 2023 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Materials Medicine Surgery UWaterloo WaterlooENG Source Type: blogs
What are nitazenes? Benzimidazole opioids
Benzimidazole opioids, also commonly known as nitazenes, were first synthesised by CIBA Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s as putative alternatives to morphine and heroin for use as strong painkillers. They have never made it into use in clinical medicine because the risk of addiction, respiratory depression, and death in use is too high.
Etonitazene has hundreds of times the potency of morphine
The compounds are classified as opioid New Psychoactive Substances (opioid NPS). Their mode of action is to bind to the brain’s mu-opioid receptors, but their unique structure means that some examples are several hundred times more...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - December 11, 2023 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Chemistry Health and Medicine Pharma Source Type: blogs
Award-Winning Safety Training Videos Showcase Inclusivity in the Lab
Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU’s) Center on Health Disparities and safety and risk management department in Richmond teamed up to develop a series of six lab safety training videos with supplemental funding to their NIGMS-funded Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program. The videos cover topics such as safety culture, biosafety, chemical safety, and emergency response, but what sets them apart is how they showcase diversity and inclusion in the lab.
The first video in the safety training series describes the importance of maintaining positive safety culture, which includes people’s p...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - December 6, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Cool Videos Training Source Type: blogs
Funding Opportunity: Modules for Enhancing Biomedical Research Workforce Training
We’re pleased to announce a new notice of special interest (NOSI) (NOT-GM-24-007): Topics for Training Modules for Enhancing Biomedical Research Workforce Training (R25). The NOSI, associated with the reissue of notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) PAR-24-040, requests applications to develop biomedical research training modules on one of the following topics:
Mental health and well-being: utilizing the U.S. surgeon general’s framework to provide organizational dialogue and changes to improve the mental health and well-being of those being trained to become part of the biomedical research workforce.
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Source: NIGMS Feedback Loop Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - December 4, 2023 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Funding Opportunities Resources Training/Fellowships/Career Development Research Resources Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 4th 2023
This study produced a great deal of data that continues to be mined for insights into human aging and effects of calorie restriction in a long-lived species such as our own, to contrast with the sizable effects on health and longevity in short-lived species such as mice.
In particular, and the topic for today, cellular senescence and its role in degenerative aging has garnered far greater interest in the research community in the years since the CALERIE study took place. Thus in today's open access paper, scientists examine CALERIE study data to find evidence for calorie restriction to reduce the burden of cellular ...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 3, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
IsoDGR as a Form of Molecular Damage Contributing to Degenerative Aging
Proteins can become modified in a wide range of ways via addition or removal of various motifs. This is a necessary part of our biochemistry, but some modifications are harmful rather than useful. The pattern of protein modifications present in cells changes with age, and some pathological modifications begin to appear more often. The underlying reasons for these changes are usually poorly understood, at least once stepping beyond the immediate causal chemical reactions, as cellular biochemistry is very complex. As researchers here demonstrate, given a problematic modified protein that exists outside cells, it is possible ...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 1, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Mild Mitochondrial Inhibition Slows Aging in Nematode Worms
Researchers here demonstrate that means of mildly inhibiting the production of some of the protein machinery used to generate chemical energy store molecules, adenosine triphosphate, in mitochondria can extend life by 50-70% in nematode worms - a species in which much larger life extension is possible, so this might be viewed as a moderate effect size. Many different approaches to adjusting mitochondrial function can slow aging and extend life in short-lived species. In some cases this works by provoking mitochondria into an alternative pathway for ATP generation that produces a little more oxidative stress than usual, tri...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 30, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
What Do We Need To Have AI-Equipped Nanobots In Medicine
Disease, noun [archaic]: A historical term used to describe various physical and mental ailments that affected organisms, primarily humans, in an era before the advent of comprehensive nanomedical and genetic interventions. In the technologically primitive past, diseases were common causes of discomfort, dysfunction, and mortality, often requiring medical treatment and care. Modern advances and nanobots in medicine have rendered this term obsolete, as conditions previously classified as diseases are now either preventable or entirely curable at the molecular level.
Are we on the brink of a brave new world where disease...
Source: The Medical Futurist - November 30, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: TMF Future of Medicine Nanotechnology nanobots nanobots in medicine AI Source Type: blogs
Making Microprotein Discoveries With Alan Saghatelian
Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Alan Saghatelian.
“There aren’t many professions that can provide this much opportunity for learning, especially when it comes to understanding how our bodies work. I really love what I do—I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” says Alan Saghatelian, Ph.D., a professor in the Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. From studying new facts and experimental techniques to adopting new ways of thinking, researchers never stop learning, and Dr. Saghatelian credits his love for learning and exploring as reasons why h...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - November 29, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Profiles Proteins Source Type: blogs
Applying Proteomics to the Development of Senolytic Therapies
We describe the technological advancements that have enabled researchers to address challenges inherent to the proteomic analysis of blood, such as the wide dynamic range of protein concentrations, and discuss multiple workflows that can be leveraged for the discovery of senescence biomarkers, senolytic targets, and cell-surface proteins. We also highlight how modern mass spectrometry-based technologies will open the door for future clinical applications, develop translationally relevant approaches to quantify aging and cellular senescence, and develop therapeutics for enhancing human healthspan. (Source: Fight Aging!)
Source: Fight Aging! - November 27, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Bioprinting Skin with Hair Follicles
In that part of the tissue engineering community concerned with trying to reproduce natural skin structure, as best as possible with present technology, bioprinting is currently largely used for research and development rather than directly in clinical application as a regenerative therapy. For example, skin models are used in the screening and testing of topical therapies, and greater fidelity with natural skin gives more relevant information. Skin is a complex structure, in which cells associated with sweat glands and hair follicles appear to be important in coordinating growth and healing. The work noted here is an exam...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 24, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
What Is Antibiotic Resistance?
Antibiotic resistance is a risk for patients undergoing joint replacement surgery, for example, when the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus group together (blue) and attach to the surface of the implant (green). Credit: Tripti Thapa Gupta, Khushi Patel, and Paul Stoodley, The Ohio State University; Alex Horswill, University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Bacteria can cause many common illnesses, including strep throat and ear infections. If you’ve ever gone to the doctor for one of these infections, they likely prescribed an antibiotic—a medicine designed to fight bacteria. Because bacteria can also cause life-threateni...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - November 22, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Injury and Illness Bacteria Common questions Drug Resistance Infectious Diseases Medicines Source Type: blogs
Curiosity-Driven Science: Q & A With Saad Bhamla
What do worm blobs and insect pee have to do with human health? We talked to Saad Bhamla, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, to find out.
Q: What did your path to becoming a scientist look like?
Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech.
A: I grew up in Dubai and did my undergraduate work in India, which is where I was first introduced to science. The science faculty members seemed to be having so much fun and would say things like “for the love of science,” but I couldn’t figure out what joy they were getting until I got a ta...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - November 15, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Tools and Techniques Cool Tools/Techniques Profiles Research Organisms Source Type: blogs
