Researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) have developed a new system at laboratory scale that allows the rapid, cheap and effective detection of COVID-19. The system consists of a biosensor based on DVD technologies that detects specific antibodies (G, M and A) and SARS-CoV-2 antigens in saliva or blood serum in less than […]
A multi-channel recording device developed at TU Graz for pathological lung sounds and associated automatic lung sound analysis could support existing screening methods for early detection of, for example, COVID-19 infections. This now requires clinical data and interdisciplinary collaboration. They whistle, hiss and crackle. Our bodies constantly make sounds that (fortunately) are not always audible […]
An artificial intelligence company that gained fame for designing computer systems that could beat humans at games has now made a huge advancement in biological science. The company, DeepMind, which is owned by the same parent company as Google, has created an AI system that can rapidly and accurately predict how proteins fold to get […]
When Yekaterina Kobzeva, a nurse at a preschool in Russia’s Ural Mountains, began having trouble breathing, she called an ambulance. It was four days before she managed to find a free hospital bed. The ambulance first took her to get a scan—which showed damage from pneumonia to 50% of her lungs, an indication she had […]
Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have studied the role of the immune response in the development of glaucoma in mice. They showed that inflammatory processes are associated with the pathogenesis of the disease and that the extracellular matrix molecule tenascin-C plays a key role as a modulator of the immune response. Glaucoma is a common […]
For many people who are struggling to conceive, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) can offer a life-changing solution. But the average success rate for IVF is only about 30 percent. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital are developing an artificial intelligence system with the goal of improving IVF success by helping embryologists objectively […]
The 2020s are seeing a silver surge as populations around the world continue to age. While Japan has the highest percentage of senior citizens in the world, other countries in Europe and North America are quickly catching up. However, an ageing society could mean new potential for health and the economy, according panelist at the ‘Silver Health […]
One of the immune system’s oldest branches, called complement, may be influencing the severity of COVID-19 disease, according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Among other findings linking complement to COVID, the researchers found that people with age-related macular degeneration—a disorder caused by overactive complement—are at greater risk of […]
The multicellular, 3-D structure of human pancreatic islets—the areas of the pancreas containing hormone-producing or endocrine cells—has presented challenges to researchers as they study and manipulate these cells’ function, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have now developed a pseudoislet system that allows for much easier study of islet function. A pancreatic islet is composed […]
A study has revealed that tumors can evade the immune system by telling immune cells to produce immunosuppressive steroids. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, and MRC Cancer Unit, discovered that immune T cells from mouse skin and breast tumors secrete steroids, and that preventing this steroid production reduced […]
