Category Biology/Biotechnology

Gold nanorods within the blood vessels of a mouse ear appear green. The lower right shows vessels within a tumor that lies under the skin. Credit: de la Zerda lab

The technique, called MOZART (for MOlecular imaging and characteriZation of tissue noninvasively At cellular ResoluTion), could one day allow scientists to detect tumors in the skin, colon or esophagus, or even to see the abnormal blood vessels that appear in the earliest stages of macular degeneration – a leading cause of blindness. The technique could allow doctors to monitor how an otherwise invisible tumor under the skin is responding to treatment, or to understand how individual cells break free from a tumor and travel to distant sites.

A technique exists for peeking into a live tissue several millimeters under the skin, rev...

Ultrasensitive Antibody Detection by Agglutination-PCR (ADAP)

A new technique is thousands of times more sensitive than current techniques in lab experiments, and it is now being put to test in real-world clinical trials. Tagging antibodies or related biomarkers involves designing a molecule that the biomarker will bind to, and which is adorned with an identifying “flag.” Through immunoassays, researchers can isolate that flag, and the biomarker bound to it, to provide a proxy measurement of the disease.

The new technique, developed in the lab of Prof. Carolyn Bertozzi, augments this standard procedure with powerful DNA screening technology...

Research discoveries by Bali Pulendran (seated) and colleagues point to possible new treatment strategies for inflammatory bowel diseases and autoimmune diseases in humans. Credit: Image courtesy of Emory Health Sciences

Intestinal inflammation in mice can be dampened by subjecting them briefly to a diet restricted in amino acids. The findings, made by Bali Pulendran and colleagues at Emory University, highlight an ancient connection between cellular mechanisms to sense nutrient availability and control of inflammation. They also suggest that a low protein diet – or drugs that mimic its effects on immune cells – could be tools for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

This protective effect was shown to be mediated by molecule GCN2, wh...

This is an infographic of how the implanted capsule releases antibodies to the brain. Credit: Patrick Aebischer (EPFL)

The lab of Patrick Aebischer at EPFL has developed a bioactive capsule containing cells that have been genetically engineered to produce antibodies against amyloid-β. The capsule is implanted in the tissue under the skin, and over time the cells produce and release a steady flow of antibodies into the bloodstream, from where they cross over into the brain to target the amyloid-β plaques.

To be most effective, this treatment has to be given as early as possible, before the first signs of cognitive decline. But this requires repeated vaccine injections, which can cause side effects...