A Mount Sinai-led research team has demonstrated that autoimmunity, in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, is responsible for the often-debilitating and confounding symptoms of long COVID in a subset of people.

Findings from the study, published in Cell, could lead to important new approaches to treating patients with long COVID, including already-validated therapies for management of autoimmunity as well as new ways of clinically identifying which patients are most likely to benefit from these therapies.

Autoimmunity emerges as key driver
“We’ve known for some time that long COVID involves not just one but a variety of phenotypes, and now we have validated that autoimmunity is a major contributor to the symptom burden,” says David Putrino, Ph.D...

Engineers have invented an ingenious liquid-metal pump that could make future soft robotics and wearable devices much more portable and agile. The innovation, led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal Nature Communications, presents a low-voltage power source with the potential to transform robotic systems for a wide range of applications, from robotic legs to haptic gloves used in medical and industrial settings.

The researchers have demonstrated the varied uses of this innovative technique by creating three prototypes including robotic butterfly wings, a color-changing bracelet, and a haptic fingertip pouch connected to an adjustable wristband which squeezes to simulate natural tactile sensations.w

Current technologies are powered by bulky compressors or ri...

At age 49, Jan Janisch-Hanzlik’s multiple sclerosis was destroying her freedom to live the life she wanted. She gave up her active nursing job for a desk role. Frequent falls made her afraid to carry her grandchildren. She had to move to a bigger house to make room for the wheelchair she feared she might end up needing full-time.

Even the best available medication wasn’t improving Janisch-Hanzlik’s symptoms, and she worried they’d only get worse...