Category Health/Medical

AI could Predict Breast Cancer risk via ‘Zombie cells’

breast cancer
Three-dimensional culture of human breast cancer cells, with DNA stained blue and a protein in the cell surface membrane stained green. Credit: NCI Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health

Women worldwide could see better treatment with new AI technology, which enables better detection of damaged cells and more precisely predicts the risk of getting breast cancer, shows new research from the University of Copenhagen.

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. In 2022, the disease caused 670,000 deaths worldwide. Now, a new study from the University of Copenhagen shows that AI can help women with improved treatment by scanning for irregular-looking cells to give better risk assessment.

The study, published in The Lancet Dig...

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Spinning Artificial Spider Silk into Next-Generation Medical Materials

A microscope image of several small, pyramid shaped needles with thin strands being pulled from them.
Scientists are creating artificial spider silk by drawing strands from an array of tiny hollow needles, as shown here, similar to how arachnids do it.
Adapted from ACS Nano 2024, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c08557

It’s almost time to dust off the Halloween decorations and adorn the house with all manner of spooky things, including the classic polyester spider webs. Scientists reporting in ACS Nano have made their own version of fake spider silk, but this one consists of proteins and heals wounds instead of haunting hallways. The artificial silk is strong enough to be woven into bandages that helped treat hoint injuries and skin lesions in mice.

Spider silk is one of the strongest materials on Earth, technically stronger than steel for a material of its size.

However, it’s tough to obtai...

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Compact ‘Gene Scissors’ enable Effective Genome Editing, may offer Future Treatment of High Cholesterol Gene Defect

Compact
In Gerold Schank’s lab, researchers from the University of Zurich have used protein engineering and an AI model to make the protein TnpB much more effective for genome editing. Credit: Christian Reichenbach

CRISPR-Cas is used broadly in research and medicine to edit, insert, delete or regulate genes in organisms. TnpB is an ancestor of this well-known “gene scissors” but is much smaller and thus easier to transport into cells.

Using protein engineering and AI algorithms, University of Zurich researchers have now enhanced TnpB capabilities to make DNA editing more efficient and versatile, paving the way for treating a genetic defect for high cholesterol in the future. The work has been published in Nature Methods.

CRISPR-Cas systems, which consist of protein and RNA components, we...

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Fever Drives Enhanced Activity, Mitochondrial Damage in Immune Cells

(Adobe Stock/Diana Duren)

Fever temperatures rev up immune cell metabolism, proliferation and activity, but they also — in a particular subset of T cells — cause mitochondrial stress, DNA damage and cell death, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have discovered.

The findings, published Sept. 20 in the journal Science Immunology, offer a mechanistic understanding for how cells respond to heat and could explain how chronic inflammation contributes to the development of cancer.

The impact of fever temperatures on cells is a relatively understudied area, said Jeff Rathmell, PhD, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Immunobiology and corresponding author of the new study...

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