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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 30, 2020 at 6:43am

New 'epigenetic' clock provides insight into how the human brain ages

While our circadian body clock dictates our preferred rhythm of sleep or wakefulness, a relatively new concept—the epigenetic clock—could inform us about how swiftly we age, and how prone we are to diseases of old age.

People age at different rates, with some individuals developing both characteristics and diseases related to aging earlier in life than others. Understanding more about this so-called 'biological age' could help us learn more about how we can prevent diseases associated with age, such as dementia. Epigenetic markers control the extent to which genes are switched on and off across the different cell-types and tissues that make up a human body. Unlike our genetic code, these epigenetic marks change over time, and these changes can be used to accurately predict biological age from a DNA sample. Now, scientists at the University of Exeter have developed a new epigenetic clock specifically for the human brain. As a result of using human brain tissue samples, the new clock is far more accurate than previous versions, that were based on blood samples or other tissues. The researchers hope that their new clock, published in Brain and funded by Alzheimer's Society, will provide insight into how accelerated aging in the brain might be associated with brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

Recalibrating the epigenetic clock: implications for assessing biological age in the human cortex, Brain (2020). academic.oup.com/brain/article … 0.1093/brain/awaa334

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-epigenetic-clock-insight-hum...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 30, 2020 at 6:32am

Directly observing intracellular nanoparticle formation with nano-computed tomography

It is currently challenging to directly observe the formation of intracellular nanostructures in the lab. In a new report, a research team in chemistry, life sciences, medical engineering and science and technology, used a rationally designed small molecule abbreviated NBC-Iod-CBT (short for 4-nitrobenzyl carbamate–Cys(SEt)-Asp-Asp-Phe(iodine)–2-cyano-benzothiazole) and directly observed intracellular nanoparticle formation with nanocomputed tomography (nano-CT).

During the experiments, the glutathione (GSH) reduction and nitroreductase (NTR) cleavage mechanisms caused NBC-Iod-CBT molecules to undergo a click condensation reaction and self-assemble nanoparticles (NPs) as Iod-CBT-NPs. When the team conducted nano-CT imaging of NBC-Iod-CBT treated, nitroreductase-expressing HeLa cells in the lab, they showed the existence of self-assembled Iod-CBT-NPs in their cytoplasm. The new strategy is now published on Science Advances and will assist life scientists and bioengineers to understand the formation mechanisms of intracellular nanostructures.

Miaomiao Zhang et al. Directly observing intracellular nanoparticle formation with nanocomputed tomography, Science Advances (2020). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba3190

Hak Soo Choi et al. Design considerations for tumour-targeted nanoparticles, Nature Nanotechnology (2009). DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2009.314

Xiaohu Gao et al. In vivo cancer targeting and imaging with semiconductor quantum dots, Nature Biotechnology (2004). DOI: 10.1038/nbt994

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-intracellular-nanoparticle-formation-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2020 at 10:19am

Would Your Dog Eat You if You Died? Get the Facts.

You might not look at your beloved Bella or Buddy the same way after reading this.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/06/pets-dogs-cats-eat-...

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Hundreds of tiny arachnids are likely on your face right now

We aren’t sure what microscopic face mites do, but they know where to find them: in the pores and hair follicles of most adult humans’ faces.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2020/05/face-mites-the-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2020 at 9:42am

Cancer cells mediate immune suppression in the brain

Cancer cells mediate immune suppression in the brain
Scientists have long thought that the brain protects itself from an aggressive immune response to keep down inflammation. However, that evolutionary control may work against it when a cancer cell attempts to spread to the brain, researchers have discovered.

In newly published research in the journal Cell, researchers showed that one type of cell important for immunity, called a myeloid cell, can suppress the immune response which has the effect of allowing breast cancer cells to metastasize to the brain to form secondary tumour cells there.

https://news.nd.edu/news/cancer-cells-mediate-immune-suppression-in...

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Better “artificial bone” coating to make implants safer and more effective

Superior coating performance achieved compared to existing clinical products, allowing better artificial bone synthesis and coating on the surface of metal and polymer materials.

Seung‐Hoon Um, et al. Robust Hydroxyapatite Coating by Laser‐Induced Hydrothermal Synthesis, Advanced Functional Materials (2020). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202005233

https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/better-artificial-bone-coating-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2020 at 9:36am

SOFIA Discovers Water on a Sunlit Surface of the Moon

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2020 at 9:14am

Immuneering: Silencing gene expression to cure complex diseases

Immuneering is applying bioinformatics to forge a new approach to drug discovery, develop transformative medicines and help others make the most of their data.

Rather than focusing on the DNA and proteins involved in a disease, Immuneering focuses on disease-associated gene signaling and expression data. Researchers are trying to cancel out those signals like a pair of headphones blocks out unwanted background noise.
The approach is guided by Immuneering’s decade-plus of experience helping large pharmaceutical companies understand the biological mechanisms behind some of their most successful medicines.

Researchers started noticing some common patterns in terms of how these very successful drugs were working, and eventually they realized they could use these insights to create a platform that would let them identify new medicine. The idea is to not just make existing medicines work better but also to create entirely new medicines that work better than anything that has come before.

In keeping with that idea, Immuneering is currently developing a bold pipeline of drugs aimed at some of the most deadly forms of cancer, in addition to other complex diseases that have proven difficult to treat, like Alzheimer’s. For instance some leading drug candidates target a protein signaling pathway associated with many human cancers. trials will begin in an year in this direction.

It’s the first of what Immuneering hopes will be a number of clinical trials enabled “disease-canceling technology,” which analyzes the gene expression data of diseases and uses computational models to identify small-molecule compounds likely to bind to disease pathways and silence them.
Immuneering uncovered some of the mechanisms behind an early cancer immunotherapy. In another, the workings of Teva Pharmaceuticals’ drug for multiple sclerosis were studied.

Today the drug pipelines focuses around oncology, immune-oncology, and neuroscience. Its disease-canceling technology allows Immuneering to launch new drug programs about twice as fast and with about half the capital as other drug development programs.

As long as scientists have a good gene-expression signature from human patient data for a particular disease, they will find targets and biological insights that let them go after them in new ways. It’s a systematic, quantitative, efficient way to get those biological insights compared to a more traditional process, which involves a lot of trial and error. Therefore , the success rates can be very effective.

https://news.mit.edu/2020/immuneering-gene-expression-1026

https://researchnews.cc/news/3273/Silencing-gene-expression-to-cure...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2020 at 8:27am

Scientists who talk up their own expertise risk undermining their influence, one of the world's best known science communicators says.

Scientists who talk up their own expertise risk undermining their influence, while they must also “speak persistently” to politicians “based on the science” rather than altering their message in pursuit of impact, according to  Anthony Fauci.

The purpose of your communication is not to impress people about how smart you are. The purpose is to get them to understand what the heck you’re talking about. Scientists sharing podiums with politicians “should never be afraid to tell somebody something that they may not like to hear”, added Dr Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland. “One of the traps that some scientists get into is that they like the idea of having impact…and sometimes they might hesitate to say something that is not popular to the politician.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/anthony-fauci-scientists-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2020 at 8:21am

Electronic skin patches could restore lost sensation and detect disease

Researchers across Europe are making rapid progress towards developing elastic membrane patches that mimic the human  either in looks, functionality, or both.

Electronic skin (e-skin) is categorised as an 'electronic wearable' – that is, a smart device worn on, or near, the surface of the skin to extract and analyse information relating to the wearer. A better-known electronic wearable is an activity tracker, which typically senses movement or vibrations to give feedback on a user's performance. More advanced wearables collect data on a person's heart rate and blood pressure.

 E-skins developers' aim is to produce stretchy, robust, flexible membranes that incorporate advanced sensors and have the ability to self-heal. The potential implications for medicine and robotics are immense.

Already in circulation are skin-like membranes that adhere to the surface of the body and detect pressure, strain, slip, force and temperature. Others are being created to recognise biochemical changes that signal disease. A number of projects are working on skins that will envelop robots or human prosthetics, giving these machines and instruments the ability to manipulate objects and perceive their environments with a high degree of tactile sensitivity. And the dream, of course, is to develop an e-skin that can connect with the central nervous system of the wearer (someone who is paralysed, for instance), thereby restoring sensation that has been lost through disease or trauma.

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/875586

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-10-electronic-skin-patches-lost-se...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2020 at 8:11am

Apple developing search engine to compete with Google: report

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-10-apple-google.html?utm_source=nw...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on October 29, 2020 at 8:07am

Solved: the mystery of how dark matter in galaxies is distributed

The gravitational force in the Universe under which it has evolved from a state almost uniform at the Big Bang until now, when matter is concentrated in galaxies, stars and planets, is provided by what is termed 'dark matter." But in spite of the essential role that this extra material plays, we know almost nothing about its nature, behavior and composition, which is one of the basic problems of modern physics. In a recent article scientists have shown that the dark matter in galaxies follows a 'maximum entropy' distribution, which sheds light on its nature.

To say that the distribution of dark matter is organized according to maximum entropy (which is equivalent to 'maximum disorder' or 'thermodynamic equilibrium') means that it is found in its most probable state. To reach this 'maximum disorder' the dark matter must have had to collide within itself, just as gas molecules do, so as to reach equilibrium in which its density, pressure, and temperature are related. However, we do not know how the dark matter has reached this type of equilibrium.

Unlike the molecules in the air, for example, because gravitational action is weak, dark matter particles ought hardly to collide with one another, so that the mechanism by which they reach equilibrium is a mystery. However if they did collide with one another this would give them a very special nature, which would partly solve the mystery of their origin.

The maximum entropy of dark matter has been detected in dwarf galaxies, which have a higher ratio of dark matter to total matter than have more massive galaxies, so it is easier to see the effect in them. However, the researchers expect that it is general behavior in all types of galaxies.

The study implies that the distribution of matter in thermodynamic equilibrium has a much lower central density that astronomers have assumed for many practical applications, such as in the correct interpretation of gravitational lenses, or when designing experiments to detect dark matter by its self-annihilation.

The central density also is very important for the experiments which try to detect dark matter using its self-annihilation. Two dark matter particles could interact and disappear in a process which is highly improbable, but which would be characteristic of their nature. For two particles to interact they must collide. The probability of this collision depends on the density of the dark matter; the higher the concentration of dark matter, the higher is the probability that the particles will collide.

"For that reason, if the density changes so will the expected rate of production of the self-annihilations, and given that the experiments are designed on the prediction of a given rate, if this rate were very low the experiment is unlikely to yield a positive result," says Sánchez Almeida.

Finally, thermodynamic equilibrium for dark matter could also explain the brightness profile of the galaxies. This brightness falls with distance from the center of a galaxy in a specific way, whose physical origin is unknown, but for which the researchers are working to show that it is the result of an equilibrium with maximum entropy.

Jorge Sánchez Almeida et al, The principle of maximum entropy explains the cores observed in the mass distribution of dwarf galaxies, Astronomy & Astrophysics (2020). DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202039190

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-mystery-dark-galaxies.html?utm_source...

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