Skeletal muscle cells isolated using the ERBB3 and NGFR surface markers (right) restore human dystrophin (green) after transplantation significantly greater than previous methods (left). Credit: UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center/Nature Cell Bio

Discovery is major step towards a stem cell replacement therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. UCLA scientists have developed a new strategy to efficiently isolate, mature and transplant skeletal muscle cells created from human pluripotent stem cells, which can produce all cell types of the body. The findings are a major step towards developing a stem cell replacement therapy for muscle diseases including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which affects approximately 1 in 5,000 boys in the U.S. and is the most common fatal childhood genetic disease.

Snapshot of gravitational waves propagating from binary black holes merging inside of a star. Credit: Kyoto University, Joseph M. Fedrow

Far from earth, two black holes orbit around each other propagating waves that bend time and space. Gravitational waves was first predicted by Albert Einstein over a century ago on the basis of his theory of general relativity. And as always: Einstein was right. But it took until 2015 for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory to detect gravitational waves for the first time: findings which earned the LIGO team the Nobel Prize in physics two years later. In addition to the shockwave this discovery sent across the scientific community, it also gave researchers the new field of gravitational wave astronomy...

A molecular dynamics model showing a nanoparticle binding to the outer envelope of the human papillomavirus. Credit: Petr Kral

Now, an international group of researchers including UIC professor of chemistry Petr Kral, have designed new anti-viral nanoparticles that bind to a range of viruses, including herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus, respiratory syncytial virus and Dengue and Lentiviruses. Unlike other broad-spectrum antivirals, which simply prevent viruses from infecting cells, the new nanoparticles destroy viruses.

The new nanoparticles mimic a cell surface protein called heparin sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG). A significant portion of viruses, including HIV, enter and infect healthy cells by first binding to HSPGs on the cell surface...

RoboBees manufactured by the Harvard Microrobotics Lab have a 3 centimeter wingspan and weigh only 80 milligrams. Cornell engineers are developing new programming that will make them more autonomous and adaptable to complex environments. Credit: Harvard Microrobotics Lab

While engineers have had success building tiny, insect-like robots, programming them to behave autonomously like real insects continues to present technical challenges. A group of Cornell engineers has been experimenting with a new type of programming that mimics the way an insect’s brain works, which could soon have people wondering if that fly on the wall is actually a fly.

The amount of computer processing power needed for a robot to sense a gust of wind, using tiny hair-like metal probes imbedded on its wings, adjust i...