Latest advances in medical research thread

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Study pinpoints genetic cause of increased leukemia risk
Study pinpoints genetic cause of increased leukemia risk

A Wright's stained bone marrow aspirate smear from a patient with precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Credit: VashiDonsk/Wikipedia

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published today in the journal Nature Genetics describes a newly-discovered, heritable genetic cause of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), namely mutation of the gene ETV6. Much like mutation of the gene BRCA marks people at risk to develop breast and ovarian cancers, identification of mutations in the gene ETV6 may allow doctors to predict the development of ALL, allowing increased monitoring and in the future, perhaps strategies to prevent the disease. There are just over 30,000 cases of ALL diagnosed in the United States each year, with the majority of those cases being in children ages 2-5.

 

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Scientists create functioning "mini-lungs" to study cystic fibrosis
By Lakshmi Sandhana
March 25, 2015
2 Pictures

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have grown functional "mini-lungs" using stems cells derived from the skin cells of patients with a debilitating lung disease. Not only can the development help them in coming up with effective treatments for specific lung diseases like cystic fibrosis, but the process has the potential to be scaled up to screen thousands of new compounds to identify potential new drugs

 

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Magnetic nanoparticles open blood-brain barrier for delivery of therapeutic molecules
By Darren Quick
March 26, 2015

The blood-brain barrier is a highly selective semipermeable barrier running inside almost all vessels in the brain that lets through water, some gases and a few other select molecules, while preventing potentially toxic elements in the blood from entering the brain. Researchers from the University of Montreal, Polytechnique Montréal, and CHU Sainte-Justine say that currently 98 percent of therapeutic molecules are also blocked by the barrier, but they have developed a technique using magnetic nanoparticles that opens the door for such molecules, thereby also opening the door to new treatments for brain diseases.

 

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MRI based on a sugar molecule can tell cancerous from noncancerous cells
MRI based on a sugar molecule can tell cancerous from noncancerous cells

Normal cells (left) have far more sugar attached to mucin proteins than do cancerous cells (right). Mucin-attached sugar generates a high MRI signal, shown in red. Credit: Xiaolei Song/Johns Hopkins Medicine

Imaging tests like mammograms or CT scans can detect tumors, but figuring out whether a growth is or isn't cancer usually requires a biopsy to study cells directly. Now results of a Johns Hopkins study suggest that MRI could one day make biopsies more effective or even replace them altogether by noninvasively detecting telltale sugar molecules shed by the outer membranes of cancerous cells.

 

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The switch that might tame the most aggressive of breast cancers
The switch that might tame the most aggressive of breast cancers

Id4+ stem cells are in red, luminal cells in green, and all cells are marked with blue nuclear dye. Credit: Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Australian researchers have found that so-called 'triple-negative breast cancers' are two distinct diseases that likely originate from different cell types. This helps explain why survival prospects for women with the diagnosis tend to be either very good or very bad.

The Sydney-based research team has found a gene that drives the aggressive disease, and hopes to find a way to 'switch it off'.

The aggressive form of triple-negative breast cancer appears to arise from stem cells, while the more benign form appears to arise from specialised cells.

Stem cells have many of the same features as cancers. They are plastic and flexible, and have the ability to proliferate and spread into other tissues - deadly traits in cancers.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Revolutionary Fetal Pacemaker Ready to Treat Complete Heart Block
by Editors on Mar 27, 2015

When a fetus has a complete heart block, pacemakers can be implanted after birth, but this sometimes can be too late and typically involves further waiting for the child to reach a safe weight for the procedure. Attempts to implant pacemakers before delivery have required the generator unit to remain outside the child’s body, creating its own problems due to the freely running leads that can be easily dislodged or infected.

Now researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and University of Southern California have reported on a tiny new pacemaker that can be implanted in utero into a fetus, reducing the side effects that are common to externally placed devices. The researchers have conducted pre-clinical testing of the device and believe it is ready for use in human trials. The pacemaker received a Humanitarian Use Device designation from the FDA and initial implantations are expected in the near future.

 

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Nanoparticles Deliver siRNA to Wound Sites to Speed Up Healing (VIDEO)
by Editors on Mar 26, 2015

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a part of Yeshiva University, are using novel nanoparticles to significantly speed up the healing of wounds. They discovered that the naturally produced fidgetin-like 2 (FL2) enzyme slows down the migration of cells as they travel toward a wound site. To counteract this process, the investigators developed a silencing RNA (siRNA) drug that inhibits the gene responsible for the production of FL2.

In order to actually deliver the siRNA into the interior of cells before degrading, the researchers encapsulated it in specially designed nanoparticles that keep their cargo fresh and intact before reaching the cell and letting it flow out.

 

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Google teams with Johnson & Johnson to improve robot surgeon vision
Google teams with Johnson Johnson to improve robot surgeon vision

Google wants in on the operating room, at least so it can help robot surgeons to a better job.

The search giant and inveterate experimenter has partnered with Ethicon, one of the U.S.’s biggest operating room tools and equipment suppliers, to develop new vision systems that could improve results when using robotic surgery tools.

A division of Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon "makes a host of surgical products and is in the overwhelming majority of hospitals around the country," said Johnson & Johnson VP of Media Relations Ernie Knewitz.

 

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Genetics breakthrough is a game changer for type 1 diabetes research
The genes that increase the risk of Type 1 diabetes have lost their hiding place.

A research group that includes a University of Florida genetics expert has located and narrowed down the number of genes that play a role in the disease, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Genetics. Knowing the identities and location of causative genes is a crucial development: Other researchers can use this information to better predict who might develop Type 1 diabetes and how to prevent it.

“It’s a game-changer for Type 1 diabetes,” said Patrick Concannon, director of the University of Florida Genetics Institute.

 

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Nanoparticles help wounds to heal 50 percent faster
By Richard Moss
March 30, 2015
1 Comment
2 Pictures

An experimental nanoparticle therapy cuts in half the time wounds take to heal compared to natural healing. The therapy has already been tested successfully in mice and will soon be tried on pigs, whose skin is similar to that of humans. If it reaches clinical use in humans, this sort of nanoparticle therapy could be used to speed healing of surgical incisions, chronic skin ulcers, and everyday cuts and burns and other wounds.

 

[longknife]

Battlefield lessons transform US emergency care

Although it's been decades since I left my assignment to the Army's Medical Research and Development Command, this great article confirms what was known back then. Using super glue to close wounds – that came from military medics. Dental implants also came from military research. So, why shouldn't all the great stuff listed in this article not be true – and maybe someday vital to YOUR well being.


Read more @ Battlefield lessons transform US emergency care Fox News

 

[ScienceRocks]

World's First Human Nanobot Medical Procedure

A human patient with late stage leukemia will be given DNA nanobot treatment. Without the DNA nanobot treatment the patient would be expected to die in the summer of 2015. Based upon animal trials they expect to remove the cancer within one month.

In a brief talk, Bachelet said DNA nanobots will soon be tried in a critically ill leukemia patient. The patient, who has been given roughly six months to live, will receive an injection of DNA nanobots designed to interact with and destroy leukemia cells—while causing virtually zero collateral damage in healthy tissue.

According to Bachelet, his team have successfully tested their method in cell cultures and animals and written two papers on the subject, one in Science and one in Nature.

Contemporary cancer therapies involving invasive surgery and blasts of drugs can be as painful and damaging to the body as the disease itself. If Bachelet's approach proves successful in humans, and is backed by more research in the coming years, the team’s work could signal a transformational moment in cancer treatment.

If this treatment works this will be a medical breakthrough and can be used for many other diseases by delivering drugs more effectively without causing side effects.

 

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http://www.scienceda...50330112256.htm

Scientists have developed tiny 'nanoneedles' that have successfully prompted parts of the body to generate new blood vessels, in a trial in mice.

The researchers, from Imperial College London and Houston Methodist Research Institute in the USA, hope their nanoneedle technique could ultimately help damaged organs and nerves to repair themselves and help transplanted organs to thrive.

The nanoneedles work by delivering nucleic acids to a specific area. Nucleic acids are the building blocks of all living organisms and they encode, transmit and express genetic information. Scientists are currently investigating ways of using nucleic acids to re-program cells to carry out different functions.

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Welch Allyn Unveils Connex Spot Monitor for Quick Patient Vitals Measurement
by Editors on Mar 30, 2015

Welch Allyn is releasing a new clinical patient monitor designed for automatic collection of vital signs and sharing of that data with the hospital’s EMR. The Connex Spot Monitor can be used with nearly all patients, from neonates to adults, to record the pulse rate, blood pressure, blood oxygenation, as well as body temperature.

The blood pressure component utilizes Welch Allyn’s 15-second SureBP protocol that comes up with an accurate BP estimate while the cuff is inflating. This allows the meter to refrain from inflating the cuff to excessive suprasystolic pressures in many patients, leading to a more comfortable experience and fast measurement times.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Novel nanoparticle therapy promotes wound healing
Date:
March 26, 2015
Source:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Summary:

An experimental therapy successfully tested in mice cut in half the time it takes to heal wounds compared to no treatment at all. "We envision that our nanoparticle therapy could be used to speed the healing of all sorts of wounds, including everyday cuts and burns, surgical incisions, and chronic skin ulcers, which are a particular problem in the elderly and people with diabetes," said a study co-leader.

Novel nanoparticle therapy promotes wound healing -- ScienceDaily

 

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1,000-year-old onion and garlic eye remedy kills MRSA

30 March 2015

A 1,000-year-old treatment for eye infections could hold the key to killing antibiotic-resistant superbugs, experts have said.

Scientists recreated a 9th Century Anglo-Saxon remedy using onion, garlic and part of a cow's stomach.

They were "astonished" to find it almost completely wiped out methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, otherwise known as MRSA.

Their findings will be presented at a national microbiology conference.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...mshire-32117815

 

[ScienceRocks]

Biohackers develop night vision eye drops to see in the dark
By David Nield
March 30, 2015
1 Comment
2 Pictures

It sounds like something from a science-fiction movie, but a biohacking group in California has managed to develop eye drops that temporarily give a human being excellent night vision. The chemicals used are still very much at the experimental stage – this isn't something you'd want to try at home just yet – but the first trial has been a successful one.

 

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Non-invasive brain-machine interface gets a grip on bionic hand control
By Darren Quick
March 31, 2015

A team of researchers from the University of Houston (UH) has developed an algorithm that enabled a man whose right hand had been amputated to grasp objects using a bionic hand controlled by his thoughts. While we've seen similar accomplishments in recent years, the new technique is non-invasive, capturing brain activity via a scalp EEG.

 

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Nanoparticles release drugs to reduce tooth decay
2 hours ago

Farnesol is released from the nanoparticle carriers into the cavity-causing dental plaque. Credit: Michael Osadciw/University of Rochester

Therapeutic agents intended to reduce dental plaque and prevent tooth decay are often removed by saliva and the act of swallowing before they can take effect. But a team of researchers has developed a way to keep the drugs from being washed away.

Read more at: Nanoparticles release drugs to reduce tooth decay

 

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Unpowered Ankle Exoskeleton Takes the Load Off a Long Hike

Evolution has had four million years to tinker with the locomotion experiment called walking on two feet. With that much time for natural selection to keep what works and chuck what doesn’t, there wouldn’t seem to be much room for improvement.

But what about those tired feet you get after standing on them all day? Or the dull ache that starts creeping up your legs after walking for a few hours? It turns out that even evolutionary fine-tuning leaves room for improvement, and a number of public and private sector engineers have been working on exoskeletons to improve bipedal efficiency.

Researchers have now built an ankle exoskeleton that requires no external chemical or electrical power and decreases the energy a person uses for walking by more than 7 percent, about the equivalent of taking off a 10-pound backpack. The team, from Carnegie Mellon, North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, say this walking efficiency improvement is on par with units that run on powered motors. It could also be a simple and cheap way to help people whose work keeps them on their feet all day. Learn more and see images below.

 

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High-resolution biosensor can report conditions from deep in the body
Going where no light has gone before

A new microscopic shape-shifting probe capable of sensitive, high-resolution remote biological sensing has been developed by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

http://www.kurzweila...eep-in-the-body