Bio and Medicine

A joint research team has developed a modular protein adapter technology that enables the stable attachment of various substances to the surface of extracellular vesicles (exosomes). It was designed to enable functional molecules to bind efficiently, even in the complex environments of cell membranes. The research demonstrated the potential for the development of tailored therapeutics.

Glioblastoma multiforme is an aggressive brain tumor that mainly affects adults. Approximately 30,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with GBM every year and patients have a 5-year survival rate of 7%. Current treatments include surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy with temozolomide. Unfortunately, none of these methods can cure GBM.

If you haven’t heard of a tardigrade before, prepare to be wowed. These clumsy, eight-legged creatures, nicknamed water bears, are about half a millimeter long and can survive practically anything: freezing temperatures, near starvation, high pressure, radiation exposure, outer space and more. Researchers reporting in the journal Nano Letters took advantage of the tardigrade’s nearly indestructible nature and gave the critters tiny “tattoos” to test a microfabrication technique to build microscopic, biocompatible devices.

Over the past decades, electronics engineers developed increasingly small, flexible and sophisticated sensors that can pick up a wide range of signals, ranging from human motions to heartrate and other biological signals. These sensors have in turn enabled the development of new electronics, including smartwatches, biomedical devices that can help monitor the health of users over time and other wearable or implantable systems.

A research team has developed an innovative biomimetic dual-mode magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) nanoprobe for detecting early-stage liver fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).