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Archive for the ‘health’ category: Page 9

Jul 3, 2024

Tiny Crop-Health Sensors could help Cut the Cost of Groceries

Posted by in categories: drones, food, health

A compact, lightweight sensor system with infrared imaging capabilities developed by an international team of engineers could be easily fitted to a drone for remote crop monitoring.

This flat-optics technology has the potential to replace traditional optical lens applications for environmental sensing in a range of industries.

This innovation could result in cheaper groceries as farmers would be able to pinpoint which crops require irrigation, fertilization and pest control, instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, thereby potentially boosting their harvests.

Jul 2, 2024

Volunteer Crew to Exit NASA’s Simulated Mars Habitat After 378 Days

Posted by in categories: habitats, health, space travel

The four volunteers who have been living and working inside NASA’s first simulated yearlong Mars habitat mission are set to exit their ground-based home on Saturday, July 6. NASA will provide live coverage of the crew’s exit from the habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston at 5 p.m. EDT.

NASA will stream the activity, which will include a short welcome ceremony, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, the agency’s website, and NASA Johnson’s X and Facebook accounts. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission began in the 3D printed habitat on June 25, 2023, with crew members Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell, and Nathan Jones. For more than a year, the crew simulated Mars mission operations, including “Marswalks,” grew and harvested several vegetables to supplement their shelf-stable food, maintained their equipment and habitat, and operated under additional stressors a Mars crew will experience, including communication delays with Earth, resource limitations, and isolation.

Jul 1, 2024

The Enzyme Leading the Charge Against Tumor metastasis

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics, health

This study uncoversthe pivotal role of the enzyme METTL4 in promoting tumor metastasis through the mediation of nuclear N6-methyldeoxyadenosine (6mA) in mammalian cells. By utilizing cellular models, the study demonstrates how hypoxia induces METTL4 to mediate 6mA modifications. This process, in turn, activates genes essential for tumor metastasis, including the involvement of specific long noncoding RNA and a novel HIF-1α co-activator, ZMIZ1. These findings not only shed light on the epigenetic mechanisms driving tumor progression but also establish METTL4 as a prognostic marker for cancer and a potential target for therapeutic intervention. The promise of this discovery lies in its potential to inspire new strategies for combating hypoxia-induced tumor progression, opening avenues for further research and development in cancer treatment.

DNA N6-methyldeoxyadenosine (6mA) has been recognized in various organisms for its role in gene regulation. However, its function in mammalian cells, particularly in the context of cancer, has remained elusive. Previous studies have shown that 6mA modifications can influence gene expression and are present in several species, indicating a potential regulatory role in tumorigenesis. This research addresses a critical gap in understanding the nuclear role of 6mA and its enzymatic mediator METTL4, in mammalian tumor cells, particularly under hypoxia (a common condition in tumor microenvironments that promotes metastasis). The study posits that METTL4-mediated 6mA deposition is a key epigenetic modification that activates metastasis-inducing genes. This finding offers a new perspective on the mechanisms of tumor progression and identifying novel targets for therapeutic intervention.

Continue reading “The Enzyme Leading the Charge Against Tumor metastasis” »

Jun 30, 2024

First Step in Allergic Reactions, Paving the way for New Preventative Strategies

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, food, health

Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School have identified how the first domino falls after a person encounters an allergen, such as peanuts, shellfish, pollen or dustmites. Their discovery, published in the April issue of Nature Immunology, could herald the development of drugs to prevent these severe reactions.

It is well established that when mast cells, a type of immune cell, mistake a harmless substance, such as peanuts or dust mites, as a threat, they release an immediate first wave of bioactive chemicals against the perceived threat. When mast cells, which reside under the skin, around blood vessels and in the linings of the airways and the gastrointestinal tract, simultaneously release their pre-stored load of bioactive chemicals into the blood, instant and systemic shock can result, which can be lethal without quick intervention.

More than 10 per cent of the global population suffers from food allergies, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). As allergy rates continue to climb, so does the incidence of food-triggered anaphylaxis and asthma worldwide. In Singapore, asthma affects one in five children while food allergies are already the leading cause of anaphylactic shock.

Jun 29, 2024

The Secret to Resiliency: It’s in Your Gut and Brain

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience

A UCLA Health study explored the traits of resilient individuals, discovering significant neural activities in the brain regions for cognition and emotional regulation, and healthy gut microbiome activities.

The research highlighted differences in microbiome metabolites and gene activity, indicating lower inflammation and better gut health in resilient people compared to less resilient individuals. This comprehensive approach may lead to interventions that enhance resilience to stress, possibly preventing various health issues.

Resilience and Health.

Jun 27, 2024

Fighting Rectal Cancer with AI: Researchers Secure $2.78M Grant

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health, robotics/AI

What You Should Know:

– A glimmer of hope emerged today for rectal cancer patients as a collaborative effort between Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals (UH) received a $2.78 million grant over five years from the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute. This grant will fuel research leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize treatment for rectal cancer patients.

– The new research effort signifies a significant step forward in the fight against rectal cancer. By harnessing the power of AI, researchers are on the path to developing more precise treatment strategies, ultimately improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

Jun 26, 2024

New technique gives robotic faces living human skin

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, health, robotics/AI

Robots with human skin.


In a breakthrough that isn’t at all creepy, scientists have devised a method of anchoring living human skin to robots’ faces. The technology could actually have some valuable applications, beyond making Westworld-like scenarios a reality.

Two years ago, Prof. Shoji Takeuchi and colleagues at the University of Tokyo successfully covered a motorized robotic finger with a bioengineered skin made from live human cells.

Continue reading “New technique gives robotic faces living human skin” »

Jun 26, 2024

Should social media come with a health warning?

Posted by in category: health

Yes, use of these platforms can sometimes harm. But it’s not all bad.

Jun 26, 2024

Biodegradable Oxide Neuromorphic Transistors for Neuromorphic Computing and Anxiety Disorder Emulation

Posted by in categories: health, robotics/AI, sustainability

Brain-inspired neuromorphic computing and portable intelligent electronic products have received increasing attention. In the present work, nanocellulose-gated indium tin oxide neuromorphic transistors are fabricated. The device exhibits good electrical performance. Short-term synaptic plasticities were mimicked, including excitatory postsynaptic current, paired-pulse facilitation, and dynamic high-pass synaptic filtering. Interestingly, an effective linear synaptic weight updating strategy was adopted, resulting in an excellent recognition accuracy of ∼92.93% for the Modified National Institute of Standard and Technology database adopting a two-layer multilayer perceptron neural network. Moreover, with unique interfacial protonic coupling, anxiety disorder behavior was conceptually emulated, exhibiting “neurosensitization”, “primary and secondary fear”, and “fear-adrenaline secretion-exacerbated fear”. Finally, the neuromorphic transistors could be dissolved in water, demonstrating potential in “green” electronics. These findings indicate that the proposed oxide neuromorphic transistors would have potential as implantable chips for nerve health diagnosis, neural prostheses, and brain-machine interfaces.

Keywords: anxiety disorders; neuromorphic computing; oxide neuromorphic transistors; proton coupling; synaptic plasticity.

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Jun 25, 2024

ESM3: Simulating 500 million years of evolution with a language model

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, chemistry, computing, health

More than 3.5 billion years ago, life on Earth emerged from chemical reactions. Nature invented RNA, proteins, and DNA, the core molecules of life, and created the ribosome, a molecular factory that builds proteins from instructions in the genome.

Proteins are wondrous dynamic molecules with incredible functions—from molecular engines that power motion, to photosynthetic machines that capture light and convert it to energy, scaffolding that builds the internal skeletons of cells, complex sensors that interact with the environment, and information processing systems that run the programs and operating system of life. Proteins underlie disease and health, and many life-saving medicines are proteins.

Biology is the most advanced technology that has ever been created, far beyond anything that people have engineered. The ribosome is programmable—it takes the codes of proteins in the form of RNA and builds them up from scratch—fabrication at the atomic scale. Every cell in every organism on earth has thousands to millions of these molecular factories. But even the most sophisticated computational tools created to date barely scratch the surface: biology is written in a language we don’t yet understand.

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