Category Health/Medical

Object manipulations performed by the biohybrid robots. Credit: Shoji Takeuchi, Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo

Researchers have developed a novel method of growing whole muscles from hydrogel sheets impregnated with myoblasts. They then incorporated these muscles as antagonistic pairs into a biohybrid robot, which successfully performed manipulations of objects. This approach overcame earlier limitations of a short functional life of the muscles and their ability to exert only a weak force, paving the way for more advanced biohybrid robots.

The new field of biohybrid robotics involves the use of living tissue within robots, rather than just metal and plastic...

Dr. Steve Swioklo and Professor Che Connon with a dyed cornea. Credit: Newcastle University, UK

The first human corneas have been 3D printed by scientists at Newcastle University, UK. It means the technique could be used in the future to ensure an unlimited supply of corneas. As the outermost layer of the human eye, the cornea has an important role in focusing vision. Yet there is a significant shortage of corneas available to transplant, with 10 million people worldwide requiring surgery to prevent corneal blindness as a result of diseases such as trachoma, an infectious eye disorder.

In addition, almost 5 million people suffer total blindness due to corneal scarring caused by burns, lacerations, abrasion or disease...

The UTSW research team that reported on autophagy in Nature includes, from left: (front) Drs. Ming Chang Hu, Beth Levine, and Orson Moe, and (back) Salwa Sebti and Álvaro Fernández. Credit: Image courtesy of UT Southwestern Medical Center

Building on two decades of research, investigators at UT Southwestern have determined that “cellular housekeeping” can extend the lifespan and healthspan of mammals. A study jointly led by Drs. Salwa Sebti and Álvaro Fernández, postdoctoral researchers in the Center for Autophagy Research, found that mice with persistently increased levels of autophagy – the process a cell uses to dispose of unwanted or toxic substances that can harm cellular health – live longer and are healthier...

Photo shows Hawra Karim (left) and Seema Tiwari-Woodruff. Credit: I. Pittalwala / UC Riverside

Study shows that ‘good inflammation’ promotes axon myelination. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, now report that indazole chloride, a synthetic compound that acts on one form of the body’s estrogen receptors previously shown to reduce multiple sclerosis symptoms in mouse models, is able to do both: remyelinate (add new myelin to) damaged axons and alter the immune system.

“While additional translational studies are required, indazole chloride and similar drugs may represent a promising new avenue of treating the underlying loss of myelin in multiple sclerosis,” said Seema Tiwari-Woodruff, an associate professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine, who led the m...