Category Health/Medical

Bioengineered Cornea Restores Sight to the Blind and Visually Impaired

This shows the cornea implant
Cornea implant made of collagen protein from pig’s skin. Credit: Thor Balkhed/Linköping University

Researchers and entrepreneurs have developed an implant made of collagen protein from pig’s skin, which resembles the human cornea. In a pilot study, the implant restored vision to 20 people with diseased corneas, most of whom were blind prior to receiving the implant. The study jointly led by researchers at Linköping University (LiU) and LinkoCare Life Sciences AB has been published in Nature Biotechnology. The promising results bring hope to those suffering from corneal blindness and low vision by providing a bioengineered implant as an alternative to the transplantation of donated human corneas, which are scarce in countries where the need for them is greatest.

“The results show...

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Research Discovery may Help Diagnose and Treat Cancer and Brain Disorders

Cancer diagnosis pathways image

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast discovered how the journey or molecular pathway of an identified protein is both essential for brain development and how an alteration to its pathway could result in the spread of cancer.

The study, published today in Nature Cell Biology, has revealed the molecular mechanisms of a timely and spatially controlled movement of cells that is essential for the migration of newborn neurons during brain development and can also cause the spread of cancer, or cancer metastasis throughout the body.

It is expected this discovery will have a huge impact on the fundamental understanding of cancer metastasis and brain development and could lead to earlier diagnosis and better treatments, the research authors said.

During brain development, neural ...

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Human-Machine Interfaces work Underwater, Generate their Own Power

Human-machine interfaces work underwater, generate their own power
(Left) Photo of the magnetoelastic sensor array, which conforms to human skin and can function even when exposed to liquid. It can interact with a music speaker’s command components: play, pause, next, and previous. (Right two) The self-powered magnetoelastic sensor array is rollable and stretchable. Credit: The Jun Chen Research Group at UCLA: junchenlab.com

Wearable human-machine interface devices, HMIs, can be used to control machines, computers, music players, and other systems. A challenge for conventional HMIs is the presence of sweat on human skin.

In Applied Physics Reviews, scientists at UCLA describe their development of a type of HMI that is stretchable, inexpensive, and waterproof...

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Hyaluranic Acid, a naturally occurring Compound, Awakens Stem Cells to Repair Damaged Muscle

Muscle stem cell on a muscle fiber:
Muscle stem cell on a muscle fiber: When a muscle fiber is damaged, stem cells (in pink) start producing and coating themselves with hyaluronic acid (pale green outline). Once the coating gets thick enough, it causes the muscle stem cells to wake up

A new study published in the journal Science reveals a unique form of cell communication that controls muscle repair. In damaged muscle, stem cells must work together with immune cells to complete the repair process, yet how these cells coordinate to ensure the efficient removal of dead tissue before making new muscle fibers has remained unknown...

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