Category Health/Medical

NPGL apparently aims to maintain body mass at a constant, come feast or famine.

Study explains why food looks even better when dieting. Up until now, scientists knew that leptin – a hormone released by fatty tissue, reduces appetite, while ghrelin – a hormone released by stomach tissue makes us want to eat more. These hormones, in turn, activate a host of neurons in the brain’s hypothalamus – the body’s energy control center. The discovery of NPGL by Professor Kazuyoshi Ukena of Hiroshima University shows that hunger and energy consumption mechanisms are even more complex than we realized – and that NPGL plays a central role in what were thought to be well-understood processes.

Professor Ukena first discovered NPGL in chickens after noticing that growing birds grew larger irrespective of d...

Cartilage Tissue Engineering by the 3D Bioprinting of iPS Cells in a Nanocellulose/Alginate Bioink. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-00690-y

A team of researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy has managed to generate cartilage tissue by printing stem cells using a 3D-bioprinter. The fact that the stem cells survived being printed in this manner is a success in itself. In addition, the research team was able to influence the cells to multiply and differentiate to form chondrocytes (cartilage cells) in the printed structure. The project is being conducted in collaboration with a team of researchers at the Chalmers University of Technology who are experts in the 3D printing of biological materials...

Image shows bone progenitor cells labeled by red glow inside a cleared femur. Credit: A. Greenbaum et al., Science Translational Medicine (2017)

Cells engineered to produce insulin under the command of a smartphone helped keep blood sugar levels within normal limits in diabetic mice. More than 415 million people worldwide are living with diabetes, and frequently need to inject themselves with insulin to manage their blood sugars. Human cells can be genetically engineered into living factories that efficiently manufacture and deliver hormones and signaling molecules, but most synthetic biological circuits don’t offer the same degree of sensitivity and precision as digital sensors.

Combining living tissues and technology, Jiawei Shao et al...

This is an artistic interpretation of how an electronic device in the stomach could be powered wirelessly. Credit: Ella Maru Studio / Giovanni Traverso / Abubakar Abid

Using mid-field wireless powering, investigators can transfer power from outside the body to electronics in the gastrointestinal tract. Imagers, gastric pacemakers and other diagnostic and therapeutic tools could someday transform the way diseases of the gastrointestinal tract are measured and treated. But in order for these electronic devices to work, they need a power source. Traditional power sources, eg. batteries, can be incompatible with the mucosal lining and have a limited lifespan within the body. A more promising possibility is to power electronic devices from outside the body...