Category Biology/Biotechnology

ESRP2 downregulation supports hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration.

In Greek mythology, Zeus punishes the trickster Prometheus by chaining him to a rock and sending an eagle to eat a portion of his liver every day, in perpetuity. It was the right organ to target – the liver has the ability to regenerate itself, though not overnight nor for eternity. New research conducted by biochemists at the University of Illinois has determined how damaged liver cells repair and restore themselves through a signal to return to an early stage of postnatal organ development. The findings are reported in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

“The liver is a resilient organ,” said U. of I. biochemistry professor Auinash Kalsotra, who led the new research...

The researchers built a self-contained smartphone microscope that can operate in both fluorescence and dark-field imaging modes and paired it with an inexpensive Lumina 640 smartphone with an 8-megapixel camera.

Unlike most commercially available tests, it can detect levels below EPA standards. The discovery of lead in Flint, Michigan’s drinking water drew renewed attention to the health risks posed by the metal. Now researchers at the University of Houston have created an inexpensive system using a smartphone and a lens made with an inkjet printer that can detect lead in tap water at levels commonly accepted as dangerous.

The system builds upon earlier work by Wei-Chuan Shih, associate professor of electrical & computer engineering, and members of his lab, including the discovery of an in...

A novel tiny, soft robot with soft caterpillar-like legs which is adaptable to adverse environment and can carry heavy load was developed. Credit: City University of Hong Kong

A novel tiny, soft robot with caterpillar-like legs capable of carrying heavy loads and adaptable to adverse environment was developed from a research led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU). This mini delivery-robot could pave way for medical technology advancement such as drugs delivery in human body.

Around the world, there has been research about developing soft milli-robots. But the CityU’s new design with multi-legs helps reduce friction significantly, so that the robot can move efficiently inside surfaces within the body lined with, or entirely immersed in, body fluids such as blood or mucus.

What makes th...

Casp1 KO restores cognitive function in J20 mice.

New research conducted at the Lady Davis Institute (LDI) at the Jewish General Hospital reveals that a novel drug reverses memory deficits and stops Alzheimer disease pathology (AD) in an animal model. Importantly, this drug has already proven to be non-toxic for humans in a clinical setting and could, therefore, be brought quickly to trials in humans against AD. These findings are published today in Nature Communications.

For years, Dr. LeBlanc, Senior Investigator at the LDI and Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University, has strived to identify early neurodegenerative events responsible for age-related memory loss...