The Days of Miracles and Wonder
Here ' s a good overview by Derek Thompson in The Atlantic ofthe history of mRNA technology. This heretofore obscure field of biomedical research burst into view with the Covid-19 vaccines, but the apparent suddenness of vaccine development was misleading. As I have noted here before, the technology was decades in development. As the technology became more mature, Pfizer partnered with one of the speculative ventures, BionTech, originally to develop flu vaccines, and then of course pivoted to Covid-19. Unlike Moderna, Pfizer actually didn ' t take federal funding for that final stage of development. But for most of the dec...
Source: Stayin' Alive - April 6, 2021 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 633
This week ' s case was generously donated by Dr. Neil Anderson. The following structure was retrieved from the common bile duct during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). The patient is a refugee from Tanzania who presented with intermittent abdominal pain, distended gallbladder and hepatosplenomegaly. This was one of many " worm like " structures noted on ERCP. Unfortunately this object appeared to tear during removal. The portion submitted measures several centimeters in length. No identifying external structures were identified.Dr. Anderson ' s team tried to express eggs from this str...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 6, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 633
Answer toParasite Case of the Week 633:Fasciola hepatica Although the fluke was sadly torn in half during retrieval, it has all of the features that allows us to identify it:As a trematode - it has the flat, leaf-like body shape of a platyhelminth belonging to the Trematoda phylum. On histopathologic examination, trematodes have an outer tegument (with microvillus border, and often with spines), spongy parenchyma with no large cavities, and a digestive tract. Cestodes have a similar appearance, but may have a large cavity (depending on the species and stage), do NOT have a digestive tract or tegumental spin...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 4, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Cool Images: Wondrous Worms
The tiny roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the most common research organisms—creatures scientists use to study life. While C. elegans may seem drastically different from humans, it shares many genes and molecular pathways with us. Viewed with a microscope, the worm can also be surprisingly beautiful. Aside from the stunning imagery, these examples from our Image and Video Gallery show how C. elegans helps scientists advance our understanding of living systems and find new ways to improve our health.
Credit: Keir Balla and Emily Troemel, University of California San Diego.
This C. elegans has b...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - March 30, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Susan Johnson Tags: Cells Cool Creatures Cool Images Research Organisms Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 632
This week ' s case has a fun little twist. The following structures were seen within the mucosa in an intestinal biopsy (hematoxylin and eosin stained) of a patient in sub-Saharan Africa. The largest of these measured>120 micrometers long.Then there was this...Diagnosis? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 29, 2021 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
