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    Category Biology/Biotechnology

    Gut-on-Chip Good Predictor of Drug Side-Effects

    August 22, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Overview of modeling intestinal tubules in the OrganoPlate platform with 40 microfluidic channel networks and 384-well plate format device; Bottom right: 3D artist impression of the center of a chip comprising a tubule, an extra cellular matrix gel and a perfusion lane; two phaseguides (white bars) are present that define the three distinct lanes in the central channel. The tubule has a lumen at its apical side that is perfused.

    Overview of modeling intestinal tubules in the OrganoPlate platform with 40 microfluidic channel networks and 384-well plate format device.
    Bottom right: 3D artist impression of the center of a chip comprising a tubule, an extra cellular matrix gel and a perfusion lane; two phaseguides (white bars) are present that define the three distinct lanes in the central channel. The tubule has a lumen at its apical side that is perfused.

    Research conducted at Leiden has established that guts-on-chips respond in the same way to aspirin as real human organs do. This is a sign that these model organs are good predictors of the effect of medical drugs on the human body...

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    Stretchable Biofuel Cells extract energy from Sweat to power Wearable Devices

    August 22, 2017, Categories  Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Biology/Biotechnology, Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Soft, stretchable, high power density electronic skin-based biofuel cells for scavenging energy from human sweat

    Soft, stretchable, high power density electronic skin-based biofuel cells for scavenging energy from human sweat that can power BLE radio, LEDs etc

    A team of engineers has developed stretchable fuel cells that extract energy from sweat and are capable of powering electronics, such as LEDs and Bluetooth radios. The biofuel cells generate 10X more power per surface area than any existing wearable biofuel cells. The epidermal biofuel cells are a major breakthrough in the field, which has been struggling with making the devices that are stretchable enough and powerful enough. UCSD engineers used a combination of clever chemistry, advanced materials and electronic interfaces...

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    Turning Human Waste into Plastic, Nutrients could aid Long-distance Space Travel

    August 22, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Astronauts could someday benefit from recycling human waste on long space trips (photo illustration). Credit: American Chemical Society

    Astronauts could someday benefit from recycling human waste on long space trips using a yeast and  a carbon fixing cyanobacteria or algae
    Credit: American Chemical Society

    Imagine you’re on your way to Mars, and you lose a crucial tool during a spacewalk. Not to worry, you’ll simply re-enter your spacecraft and use some microorganisms to convert your urine and exhaled CO2 into chemicals to make a new one. That’s one of the ultimate goals of scientists who are developing ways to make long space trips feasible. Astronauts can’t take a lot of spare parts into space because every extra ounce adds to the cost of fuel needed to escape Earth’s gravity...

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    Gut Microbes may talk to the Brain through Cortisol

    August 21, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Serum cortisol fully mediates the relationship between fecal Ruminococcus and MRS-derived brain N-acetylaspartate. First, fecal Ruminococcus negatively predicted MRS-derived brain NAA concentrations (path A). Second, fecal Ruminococcus negatively predicted serum cortisol concentrations (path B). Third, mediation effects were assessed for serum cortisol concentrations. The indirect effect (i.e., the effect of fecal Ruminococcus through serum cortisol on MRS-derived brain NAA; path B × C) was significant, and the direct effect (path A’) was not significant. Thus, serum cortisol fully mediates the relationship between fecal Ruminococcus and MRS-derived brain NAA. Abbreviation: N-acetylaspartate (NAA).

    Serum cortisol fully mediates the relationship between fecal Ruminococcus and MRS-derived brain N-acetylaspartate. First, fecal Ruminococcus negatively predicted MRS-derived brain NAA concentrations (path A). Second, fecal Ruminococcus negatively predicted serum cortisol concentrations (path B). Third, mediation effects were assessed for serum cortisol concentrations. The indirect effect (i.e., the effect of fecal Ruminococcus through serum cortisol on MRS-derived brain NAA; path B × C) was significant, and the direct effect (path A’) was not significant. Thus, serum cortisol fully mediates the relationship between fecal Ruminococcus and MRS-derived brain NAA. Abbreviation: N-acetylaspartate (NAA).

    Recent studies show microbes can influence human health, behavior, and certain neurologic...

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