Gene Therapy Research offers hope for people with Chronic Kidney Disease

Gene therapy research offers hope for people with chronic kidney disease
A mechanistic model of AAV9 and AAV-KP1-mediated renal transduction. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54475-9

Researchers are making strides in improving gene therapies for genetic diseases, particularly chronic kidney disease, using adeno-associated virus, or AAV, vectors. While AAV-based treatments have shown promise, delivering these therapies effectively to the kidneys has remained a challenge—until now.

There are many different types of AAV capsids—the protein shells of virus particles—that have been used to deliver genes to cells, each with unique effects...

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Triple-Layer Battery Resistant to Fire and Explosion Created

A research team from DGIST’s (President Kunwoo Lee) Division of Energy & Environmental Technology, led by Principal Researcher Kim Jae-hyun, has developed a lithium metal battery using a “triple-layer solid polymer electrolyte” that offers greatly enhanced fire safety and an extended lifespan. This research holds promise for diverse applications, including in electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage systems.

Conventional solid polymer electrolyte batteries perform poorly due to structural limitations which hinder an optimal electrode contact.

This could not eliminate the issue of “dendrites” either, where lithium grows in tree-like structures during repeated charging and discharging cycles.

Dendrites are a critical issue, as an irregular lithium growth can disrupt bat...

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Scientists Pin down the Origins of a Fast Radio Burst

A neutron star emitting a radio beam
Caption:An artist’s illustration of a neutron star emitting a radio beam from within its magnetic environment. As the radio waves travel through dense plasma within the galaxy, they split into multiple paths, causing the observed signal to flicker in brightness.
Credits:Credit: Daniel Liévano, edited by MIT News

Fast radio bursts are brief and brilliant explosions of radio waves emitted by extremely compact objects such as neutron stars and possibly black holes. These fleeting fireworks last for just a thousandth of a second and can carry an enormous amount of energy—enough to briefly outshine entire galaxies.

Since the first fast radio burst (FRB) was discovered in 2007, astronomers have detected thousands of FRBs, whose locations range from within our own galaxy to as far as 8 b...

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First Self-charging Supercapacitors developed: Storage Device capable of Storing Solar Energy efficiently

Graphical abstract. Schematic diagram and atomic structure of Ni2(CO3)(OH)2 unary compound and Ni2–xMx (CO3)(OH)2 binary compound. Credit: Energy (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.133593

A joint research effort has developed a high-performance self-charging energy storage device capable of efficiently storing solar energy. The research team has dramatically improved the performance of existing supercapacitor devices by utilizing transition metal-based electrode materials and proposed a new energy storage technology that combines supercapacitors with solar cells.

The paper is published in the journal Energy.

The research team designed the electrodes using a nickel-based carbonate and hydroxide composite material and maximized the conductivity and stability of the electrodes by ...

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