Topics: Biology, Cancer, Chemotherapy, Robotics Chemotherapy disrupts cancer cells’ ability to reproduce by frustrating cell division and damaging the cells’ DNA. In response to the pharmaceutical onslaught, cancer cells acquire mutations that reduce the therapy’s effectiveness. Compounding the challenge of fighting cancer: Under chemical and other stresses, mutation rates increase. A team led by PrincetonContinue reading “Microbots and Chemo…”
Category Archives: Biology
Breadbaskets and War…
Topics: Biology, Civics, Civil Rights, Climate Change, Democracy, Existentialism, Politics The cornucopia’s history lies in Greek mythology. There are a lot of different stories it might have originated from, but the most common one tells the story of the lightning god, Zeus. As an infant, Zeus was in great danger from his father, Cronus. ZeusContinue reading “Breadbaskets and War…”
Fantastic Plastic…
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Computer Science, Materials Science Researchers in the US have developed a perovskite-based device that could be used to create a high-plasticity architecture for artificial intelligence. The team, led by Shriram Ramanathan at Purdue University, has shown that the material’s electronic properties can be easily reconfigured, allowing the devices to function like artificial neuronsContinue reading “Fantastic Plastic…”
RNA and Covid-19…
Topics: Biology, Biotechnology, COVID-19, Diversity in Science, NIST, Research, Women in Science Scientists track and monitor the circulation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using methods based on a laboratory technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Also used as the “gold standard” test to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals, PCR amplifies pieces of DNA byContinue reading “RNA and Covid-19…”
ACE2 Gum and Covid…
Topics: Biology, Biotechnology, COVID-19, Research To advance a novel concept of debulking virus in the oral cavity, the primary site of viral replication, virus-trapping proteins CTB-ACE2 were expressed in chloroplasts and clinical-grade plant material was developed to meet FDA requirements. Chewing gum (2 g) containing plant cells expressed CTB-ACE2 up to 17.2 mg ACE2/g dry weightContinue reading “ACE2 Gum and Covid…”
Your Brain on Covid…
Topics: Biology, COVID-19, DNA, Research Note: I have friends who thankfully survived infection now affected by this phenomenon. The article thus grabbed my attention. SARS-CoV-2 appears to travel widely across the cerebral cortex “Brain fog” is not a formal medical descriptor. But it aptly describes an inability to think clearly that can turn up inContinue reading “Your Brain on Covid…”
Foxes, Minks, Racoon Dogs…
Topics: Biology, COVID-19, Education, Research During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the “lab leak” theory gained little traction. Sure, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested SARS-CoV-2 originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China—and called it “the China virus”—but he never presented evidence, and few in the scientific community took him seriously. In fact, early in theContinue reading “Foxes, Minks, Racoon Dogs…”
Interstellar Cellular Membranes…
Topics: Astrobiology, Biology, Chemistry, Cosmology The origin of life is one of the great unanswered questions in science. One piece of this puzzle is that life started on Earth 4.5 billion years ago, just a few hundred million years after the formation of the Solar System, and involved numerous critical molecular components. How did allContinue reading “Interstellar Cellular Membranes…”
The Anatomy of Delta…
Topics: Biology, Biotechnology, COVID-19, DNA, Existentialism, Research The coronavirus sports a luxurious sugar coat. “It’s striking,” thought Rommie Amaro, staring at her computer simulation of one of the trademark spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2, which stick out from the virus’s surface. It was swathed in sugar molecules, known as glycans. “When you see it with allContinue reading “The Anatomy of Delta…”
Smart Foam…
Topics: Biology, Biotechnology, Materials Science, Polymer Science, Robotics SINGAPORE, July 6 (Reuters) – Singapore researchers have developed a smart foam material that allows robots to sense nearby objects, and repairs itself when damaged, just like human skin. Artificially innervated foam, or AiFoam, is a highly elastic polymer created by mixing fluoropolymer with a compound thatContinue reading “Smart Foam…”
Physics and Nano 