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Spine stemcells regeneration Stem cell treatments for spinal cord injury.

Cancer cells release a significantly more concentrated level of acid than previously known, forming an “acid wall” that could deter immune cells from attacking tumors, UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists show in a new study.

Paralysed patients can regain movement and a sense of feeling after being injected with stem cells grown from their own fat, scientists have found.

The research into new experimental therapy has shown that patients who had suffered devastating injuries after car accidents and falls showed a number of improvements.

The treatment involves taking fat from the abdomen or thigh and removing the mesenchymal stem cells – a special type of stem cell that can hone in on injuries, and encourage repair and regeneration.

Cell therapy company LyGenesis today revealed that the first patient has received treatment in the Phase 2a clinical trial of its regenerative cell therapy targeting end-stage liver disease (ESLD). The therapy, known as LYG-LIV-001, treats ESLD via an allogeneic regenerative cell therapy transplanted into patients’ lymph nodes.

ESLD affects nearly 2% of the US population, with more than 50,000 Americans succumbing to chronic liver disease annually. Often stemming from cirrhosis, ESLD poses significant health risks, and many patients are ineligible for traditional liver transplants.

The Phase 2a clinical trial, an open-label, dose-escalation study, is currently recruiting 12 patients diagnosed with ESLD. Each participant will undergo close monitoring for one year to assess the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the transplanted hepatocytes in addressing the symptoms of ESLD.

Scientists have developed an ingestible capsule dotted with sensors that can detect pressure in a patient’s guts and detect points of failure.

The ingestible system will give colorectal medical teams an unprecedented understanding of the movement of a patient’s digestive tract, or lack thereof. Instead of simply taking images of inside the guts, the system will sense whether it’s contracting, how much pressure is exerted and exactly where it might be inactive.

The system has been tested in a synthetic gut and animals. A patent for the technology is pending.

A lot of people quickly learned about RNA when an RNA virus started the COVID-19 global pandemic. In humans, there are many forms of RNA, many of which are absolutely essential to life. Messenger RNA (mRNA) is generated from active genes, and used in cells to create proteins, control the expression of other genes, among an array of other functions. The various types of cells and tissues in the body are created and maintained through the expression of different genes, so the RNA that is present in a cell can tell us a lot about it.

Much of the genome is transcribed into RNA, even though not even two percent of the human genome encodes for proteins. There are small and long non-coding RNAs, which carry out regulatory or maintenance functions in the cell. Now that the human genome has been totally sequenced, researchers are turning their attention to the vast array of RNA molecules that are present in cells: the RNome, as well as their modifications. So far, 170 different types of RNA modifications have been identified, said Peter Dedon, MD, PhD, a Professor at MIT. RNA molecules can also interact with each other, DNA, or proteins.

TOKYO — In 2018, Chinese researcher He Jiankui announced the birth of the world’s first genome-edited babies, and was subsequently imprisoned in China. In his first solo interview with Japanese media, he revealed to the Mainichi Shimbun that he has resumed research on human embryo genome editing for the treatment of genetic diseases while adhering to international rules, and claimed “society will eventually accept it.”

Mental health chatbots can help treat symptoms of depression, according to findings from an NTU research team. These apps can interact with people to show empathy and encouragement, to improve moods. CNA spoke to Dr Laura Martinengo, Research Fellow at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at NTU.

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University of Wyoming researchers have gained further insight into how tardigrades survive extreme conditions and shown that proteins from the microscopic creatures expressed in human cells can slow down molecular processes.

This makes the tardigrade proteins potential candidates in technologies centered on slowing the aging process and in long-term storage of human cells.

The new study, published in the journal Protein Science, examines the mechanisms used by tardigrades to enter and exit from suspended animation when faced by environmental stress. Led by Senior Research Scientist Silvia Sanchez-Martinez in the lab of UW Department of Molecular Biology Assistant Professor Thomas Boothby, the research provides additional evidence that tardigrade proteins eventually could be used to make life-saving treatments available to people where refrigeration is not possible — and enhance storage of cell-based therapies, such as stem cells.