RenoVous

  I've been following Winnie Harlow (Chantelle Brown-Young) since I first saw her on America's Next Top Model in 2014. She's had one of the more successful careers after the show. More importantly, she became a spokesperson and a positive figure for those with vitiligo. Vitiligo is a condition in which the immune system targets melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin, the pigment that contributes to skin, hair, and eye color. This is of course most noticeable on darker skin tones, but around 3 million people in the US are affected.

  Boston University is a major hub for this rapidly growing field in biomedical engineering. Faculty there build molecular and photonic tools to study the brain; investigate the quantitative neurophysiology underlying brain and nervous system function; develop computational models that guide our understanding of brain function; work to understand and treat neurological disorders; and advance methods by which we can help repair the brain and restore neurological function. The Neurophotonics Center is driven by advances in optical methods, allowing for visualization of intracellular organelles and protein assemblies as well as noninvasive macroscopic investigation of cortical activity. Director David Boas, PhD, runs the Bio Optical and Acoustic Spectroscopy Lab. "Our technologies are used for measuring brain function and physiology on microscopic to macroscopic length scales and are applied in species ranging from mice to humans." The most prominent new technology is wearable f...

  Nobel Prize in Physics John Clarke, Michael D. Devoret, John M. Martinis  "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantisation in an electrical circuit." Their experiments on a chip revealed quantum physics in action . Nobel Prize in Chemistry Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, Omar M. Yaghi "for the development of metal-organic frameworks." Their molecular architecture contains rooms for chemistry . Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, Shimon Sakaguchi "for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance." They understood how the immune system is kept in check . Nobel Prize in Economics Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt "for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress." They show how new technology can drive sustained growth .

We started talking about snakes yesterday so this felt right. This seemingly friendly face belongs to one of the most venomous snakes in the world - the black mamba. A team has produced a single antivenom that provided mice with full protection against 13 species, and partial protection against six other species. They are confident they are within reach of an antivenom that covers all snakes that use neurotoxic venom, which includes cobras, taipans, black mambas, and some sea snakes. This is partly in thanks to Tim Friede, a snake handler and collector.  He started with injections of venom, small dilutions, before taking it straight from the snake's mouth.  He developed hyperimmunity and had more specific antibodies directed towards snake venom than most/any human. Centivax reached out to him so that they could study these antibodies.  They identified certain common features from the different snake toxins and antibodies, such as LNX-D09 which blocks the activity of many ...

That itty bitty bit there by the pencil tip is the world's smallest pacemaker. It has yet to be tested on humans, but it would be implanted with a syringe and controlled by light before dissolving when no longer needed. It would be particularly well-suited for newborns with congenital heart defects. The pacemaker is paired with a wearable device on the patient's chest.  When an irregular heartbeat is detected, the device shines a light pulse to activate the unit.  It is powered by a galvanic cell, which uses the body's fluids to convert chemical energy into electrical pulses that stimulate the heart. It would be meant for short-term use though, to help adults restore a normal heartbeat following cardiac surgery.  "It's a paradigm shift in temporary pacing and bioelectronic medicine, opening up possibilities far beyond cardiology - including nerve regeneration, wound healing, and integrated smart implants," says researcher Bozhi Tian.

 Chronic pain conditions occur more often in US adults than other prevalent conditions like diabetes and depression.  About 1 in 5 adults live with chronic pain. Scientists have recently developed a synthetic cannabinoid that keeps the pain-relieving properties of cannabis without being psychoactive - or addictive, like pharmaceutical opioids. The team designed a molecule that is positively charged, which prevents it from being able to cross the blood-brain barrier.  This means it cannot bind to its target cannabinoid receptor (CB1) in the brain, but can act on cells in the rest of the body. Studies on the compound, known as VIP36, shows the effect persists without showing signs of tolerance. This is the kind of important research NIH grants help support. Helping to End Addiction Long-Term Initiative

There's a party this weekend!   You see, Bredo Morstoel has been on ice since 1989.  He spent a while in a Tuff shed in Nederland, Colorado, but he was recently moved to the Stanley Hotel's old ice house in Estes Park. When he died, he was shipped to the Trans Time Cryonics facility in Oakland, CA where he was kept in liquid nitrogen for four years.  In 1993, he was moved to Colorado where his daughter lived, wanting to start a facility of her own. In 1996, as she was about to be evicted, she was concerned her father would thaw.  She spoke to a local reporter who spoke to city council, and a municipal code was passed allowing the "keeping of bodies."  Bredo was grandfathered in and became a media sensation. His home is now the world's only museum dedicated to the science of cryonics. The science originated in 1962 with Robert Ettinger's The Prospect of Immortality.   He discussed the implications of freezing and resuscitation, whereas for Alcor, a cryo...

  Today's Google Doodle celebrates the 140th birthday of Casimir Funk, a biochemist who was among the first to introduce the concept of vitamins. He began work in organic chemistry at various research institutions across Europe.  He became more and more interested in the effects of food ingredients on certain illnesses such as scurvy, pellagra, and rickets.  He read that people who ate brown rice were less vulnerable to a condition called beri-beri. In 1911, he began experimenting and was able to isolate the substance responsible.  He formed small, ingestible crystals that he called vitamines - vita (life) amine (chemical compound containing an amino group).  At the time, he thought he was working with thiamine (B1) but it was later known to be niacin (B3). He continued his work discovering different vitamins and determining which foods they could be found in.  He published his findings, Die Vitamine, in 1914. He worked as a consultant for the US Vitamin Co...

  A young undergrad at UNR has been selected to receive a fellowship through NIH called the MARC - Maximizing Access to Research Careers.  This provides partial or full tuition, a $15K stipend per year, and complete coverage of travel and research expenses.  In exchange, students commit to earning a biomedical degree. Riley Gillis will be obtaining an MD-PhD, and at 19 he's already been published.  Shortly after graduating high school last year, his paper studying trends of obesity comorbidities was included in the Nevada State Undergraduate Research Journal. His second manuscript provides recommendations for prevention of Ebola in sub-Saharan Africa and will be released later this month through Columbia University. A pretty big deal when you consider most scientists aren't able to publish as a first author until at least their final year of graduate school. Gillis is currently a researcher at the Center for Molecular Medicine, working to develop and purify monoclona...

  Science is also serious. You may have heard that a case review is ongoing regarding the safety and science of an abortion pill, called mifepristone, that has been on the market since 2000. It's another attack from antiabortionists who want to restrict others from care and choice for themselves. Of course, the FDA already vetted the drug and numerous studies show the pill is safe and effective. "If courts can go against a whole tremendous amount of scientific evidence, that just doesn't seem right." More Info: Science News News and Politics

  Conceptual image of a neuron affected by multiple sclerosis (Stocktrek) It has long been suspected, but difficult to prove, that the Epstein-Barr virus is connected to multiple sclerosis.  We know that it is the primary cause of mononucleosis and that 95% of adults carry it. But MS is relatively rare. In the disease, inflammation damages the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells, ultimately disrupting signals to and from the brain and causing a variety of symptoms, including numbness and pain to paralysis. Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School ran an "experiment of nature."  Using two decades of blood samples from more than 10 million young adults on active duty in the military, they found about 5% were negative for Epstein-Barr, while 955 eventually developed MS. They determined that the risk of MS increased 32-fold after infection with Epstein-Barr but not after infection with other viruses. Immunologists William Ro...

  This is Mia, a bearded vulture who was found without a foot. They're the largest flying bird, and as scavengers, landing is an important process which needs two good feet to maneuver successfully. So the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery MedUni in Vienna, Austria worked to create a prosthetic using osseointegration. Called a "Plug and Play" limb, the prosthesis is connected directly to the bone, and has been used to replace a human hand as well. "Osseoperception provides direct intuitive feedback, thereby allowing natural use of the extremity for walking and feeding," says Dr. Oskar Aszmann of MedUni.  The surgery was a success.  Mia attempted to walk after just three weeks, with full weight bearing at six weeks. "Today the bearded vulture can once again land and walk using both feet, making it the first 'bionic bird.'"  For bidirectional communication, a titanium plate is implanted in the bones and the nerves are w...

  Today's Google Doodle marks the 142nd birthday of Dr. Wu Lien-teh, a Chinese-Malaysian epidemiologist who invented the surgical face mask.   He was appointed to investigate the Manchurian Plague of 1910, and when he found that it was spread through respiratory transmission, he developed the protection we are still using today. In asking people to wear this new mask and restrict their travel, the disease was under control within four months. And here we are, entering the second year of Coronavirus... Wu was the first student of Chinese descent to graduate from Cambridge University. In 1935, he became the first Malaysian, and first person of Chinese descent, to be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. "A devoted advocate and practitioner of medical advancement, Wu's efforts not only changed public health in China but that of the entire world." USA Today

We're dropping the "Fun" this week since we're going to look at the very serious situation of the Coronavirus. Locations with confirmed cases. At this time in the United States, there have been 1,629 reported cases and 41 deaths. Washington alone has 457 cases, the highest in the country. There's a lot of information flying around the internet so I'm only sourcing from the CDC and WHO. Coronavirus itself is not new, but we are currently experiencing a new strain which has been named SARS-CoV-2.  COVID-19 is an abbreviation for Coronavirus 2019.  This, and other so called "betacoronaviruses" originate in bats and it is believed that this new emergence came from an animal reservoir in the Wuhan region of China.  This is the first pandemic of a coronavirus, so there was little research on hand - previous pandemics have been novel influenza viruses. From the National Institute of Health COVID-19 is a respiratory disease, and symp...

Today we'll be looking at the endocannabinoid system, and specifically, Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency. The endocannabinoid system is made up of: -enzymes which create and destroy cannabinoids -receptor sites on cells to receive cannabinoids (CB1 and CB2) -the endocannabinoids themselves, compounds produced by our bodies Together these mechanisms regulate body processes and functions, with the goal of achieving and maintaining homeostasis. Researchers believe that many ailments related to the immune system and inflammation could be due to endocannabinoid deficiency.   Dr. Ethan Russo: "Migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and related conditions display common clinical, biochemical, and pathophysiological patterns that suggest an underlying clinical cannabinoid deficiency that may be suitably treated with cannabinoid medicines." CED may also play a role in diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. CB1 rece...