BiotechNews1

‘Bricks’ of DNA, some of which have chemical tags, could one day be an alternative to storing information electronically. Originally published By Heidi Ledford at Nature, on 23 October 2024 Chemical markers attached to pre-fabricated units of DNA can easily encode data. Credit: Nobeastsofierce/SPL DNA has been humanity’s go-to data repository for millennia . Tough and compact, it is so information-dense that just one gram of it can hold enough data for 10 million hours of high-definition video . But there is always room for improvement . An innovative method now allows DNA to store information as a binary code — the same strings of 0s and 1s used by standard computers . That c ould one day be cheaper and faster than encoding information in the sequence of the building blocks that make up DNA , which is the method used by cells and by most efforts to harness DNA for storing artificially generated data . The method is so straightforward that 60 volunteers from a variety

A device that delivers a small electrical current to the brain has beneficial effects in cases of depression that doesn't respond to drugs or therapy. Originally published by Miryam Naddaf on 21 October 2024 A healthy brain (fMRI image). Researchers are investigating the effects of stimulating regions of the brain linked to depression. Credit: Mark & Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute/Science Photo Library A remote clinical trial involving more than 150 people has shown that an experimental treatment for depression — which uses a swimming-cap-like device to gently stimulate the brain — can be effective when carried out at home . The non-invasive therapy , known as t ranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) , is designed to stimulate areas of the brain linked to mood regulation , and delivers a painless, weak electrical current through electrodes placed on the scalp . It could be a game-changer for the more than one-third of people with depressi

In animals, the molecule automatically reduced blood-sugar levels without causing them to dip too much. Originally published By Diana Kwon , Nature , on 16 October 2024 Crystals of insulin. A new kind of insulin can modify its activity in response to glucose levels in the blood.Credit: Antonio Romero/Science Photo Library Scientists have designed a new form of insulin that can automatically switch itself on and off depending on glucose levels in the blood. In animals , this ‘smart’ insulin 1 reduced high blood-sugar concentrations effectively while p reventing levels from dropping too low . For people with diabetes , controlling blood-sugar levels is a crucial — but demanding — task. Insulin keeps blood glucose in check, helping to prevent the many long-term complications associated with high blood sugar, such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, stroke and blindness . A large proportion of the estimated 422 million people with diabetes worldwide require insuli

OHSU study uses imaging in neurosurgery patients to show how brain’s glymphatic system clears waste; lifestyle measures can keep system sharp Originally published by Erik Robinson on October 07, 2024 Portland, Oregon Erin Yamamoto, M.D., and Juan Piantino, M.D., are among the co-authors of a new study from Oregon Health & Science University that used imaging of neurosurgery patients to definitively reveal the existence of waste-clearance pathways in the human brain known as the glymphatic system . (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks). Scientists have long theorized about a network of pathways in the brain that are believed to clear metabolic proteins that would otherwise build up and potentially lead to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia . But they had never definitively revealed this network in people — until now. A new study involving five patients undergoing brain surgery at Oregon Health & Science University provides imaging of this network of perivascular spac

Originally published by University of Maryland , on October 4, 2024   A tokay gecko. Credit: Duncan Leitch University of Maryland biologists have identified a hidden sensory talent in geckos that's shaking up what we thought we knew about animal hearing . In a study published in Current Biology on October 4, 2024, the researchers revealed that geckos use the saccule —a part of their inner ear traditionally associated with maintaining balance and body positioning—t o detect low-frequency vibrations . The paper is titled " Auditory pathway for detection of vibration in the tokay gecko ." According to the researchers, this special "sixth sense" also plays a complementary role to the geckos' normal hearing and the way they sense the world around them . The team believes that this previously unrecognized hearing mechanism may be present in other reptilian species as well , challenging existing ideas about how animal sensory systems evolved and

Originally published by UK Research and Innovation on October 2, 2024   3D rendering of all ~140k neurons in the fruit fly brain. Credit: Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB). The first wiring diagram of every neuron in an adult brain and the 50 million connections between them has been produced for a fruit fly . This landmark achievement has been conducted by a large international collaboration of scientists , called the FlyWire Consortium , including researchers from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology ( in Cambridge, UK ), Princeton University, the University of Vermont and the University of Cambridge . It is published in a pair of papers in Nature . The diagram of all 139,255 neurons in the adult fly brain is the first of an entire brain for an animal that can walk and see . Previous efforts have completed the whole brain diagrams for much smaller brains , for example, for that of a fruit fly larva, which h