Category Biology/Biotechnology

Oxygen Restriction helps Fast-Aging Lab Mice Live Longer

lab mouse
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

For the first time, researchers have shown that reduced oxygen intake, or “oxygen restriction,” is associated with longer lifespan in lab mice, highlighting its anti-aging potential. Robert Rogers of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, and colleagues present these findings in a study published May 23rd in the open access journal PLOS Biology.

Research efforts to extend healthy lifespan have identified a number of chemical compounds and other interventions that show promising effects in mammalian lab animals— for instance, the drug metformin or dietary restriction. Oxygen restriction has also been linked to longer lifespan in yeast, nematodes, and fruit flies. However, its effects in mammals have been unknown.

To explore the anti-aging...

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Titanium Dioxide: E171 first enters the Blood via the Mouth

Titanium dioxide: E171 first enters the blood via the mouth
Correlative secondary electron (SE) imaging, scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM) and secondary ion mass spectrometric (SIMS) elemental mapping of ultrathin sections of buccal TR146 cells exposed to food-grade TiO2 (E171) particles for 24 hours. In contrast to the TEM images presented in figure 2, SE imaging obtained with a helium ion microscope (here, npSCOPE) reveals predominantly topographical information. The thin sections therefore show only limited contrast of the cell structures and the nanoparticles are easily recognized. For TEM-like imaging, the STIM detector attached to the npSCOPE prototype device allows investigation of the transmitted beam information and highlights the NP in relation to the cellular ultrastructure...
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A Giant Leap Forward in Wireless Ultrasound Monitoring for Subjects in Motion

A wearable ultrasonic-system-on-patch mounted on the chest for measuring cardiac activity.
A wearable ultrasonic-system-on-patch mounted on the chest for measuring cardiac activity. Photo by Muyang Lin for the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego

A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed the first fully integrated wearable ultrasound system for deep-tissue monitoring, including for subjects on the go. It facilitates potentially life-saving cardiovascular monitoring and marks a major breakthrough for one of the world’s leading wearable ultrasound labs. The paper, “A fully integrated wearable ultrasound system to monitor deep tissues in moving subjects,” is published in the May 22, 2023 issue of Nature Biotechnology.

“This project gives a complete solution to wearable ultrasound technology — not only the wearable sensor, but also th...

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Breaking through Bacterial Barriers in Chronic Treatment-Resistant Wounds

The cover art illustrates ultrasound-mediated drug delivery into a biofilm-infected wound. Illustration by Ella Marushchenko.

Using a new strategy, researchers were able to reduce the challenging MRSA infection in the wounds of diabetic mice by 94%. They were able to completely sterilize the wounds in several of the mice, and the rest had significantly reduced bacterial burden.

Chronic wounds are open sores or injured tissue that fail to heal properly. These types of wounds are notoriously challenging to treat because of bacterial infections like Staphylococcus aureus, or S. aureus. Additionally, bacterial infections that are highly resistant to antibiotics, such as methicillin-resistant S...

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