Longevity science

From cancer treatments to new devices to gene therapy, a look at six medical innovations that are poised to transform the way we fight disease.

European researchers have developed the first sensitive artificial finger.

The NanoBioTact and NanoBioTouch projects seek to radically improve understanding of the human mechano-transduction system and tissue engineered nanobiosensors

Researchers have discovered a new antiobiotic-free method of killing bacteria including MRSA ... and it’s based on semiconductor technology.

Chemists at IBM Research in Almaden, California had previously been looking for a way of performing microscopic etching on silicon wafers at a far smaller scale than was currently possible. In the course of their research, they identified materials that would produce an electrostatic charge when chained together to form a polymer.

While this polymer worked for its intended purpose, the chemists were curious as to whether it could have other applications. This resulted in the creation of what they've dubbed “ninja polymers.”

Doctors in Sweden have replaced a vital blocked blood vessel in a 10-year-old girl using the first vein grown in a lab from a patient's own stem cells.

The successful transplant operation, reported online in The Lancet medical journal on Thursday, marks a further advance in the search for ways to make new body parts.

It could open the door to stem cell-based grafts for heart bypass and dialysis patients who lack suitable blood vessels for replacement surgery, and the Swedish team said it is now working with an undisclosed company to commercialize the process.

Alzheimer's may strike 100 million people by 2050. Gregory Petsko, Chair of the Department of Biochemistry at Brandeis University, asks: We know our populati...

"No one is better at predicting the future" than Ray Kurzweil.

~Bill Gates

Humans are continually changing their own world and positions. We transcend limitations far more successfully than any other species. As we push developing technologies further, we are approaching a time when the difference between human and machine is no longer a meaningful distinction. This time has been dubbed 'the Singularity' by Ray Kurzweil, one of society's most credible and well-known futurists.

In this interview, Ray talks about how the technology he has predicted will change the face of life and death. Though the report focuses closely on his desire to create an avatar of his dead father, keep in mind that is just one aspect of the ideas.

This drug detects and quantifies a particular biological marker for Alzheimer’s. There is still no cure, and the drug is radioactive...

The traditional collar used for neck injuries may actually lift and separate vertebrae, thereby worsening the injury.

But students have created a new type of collar that better immobilizes, which it is actually more comfortable for the patient.

Thanks to advances in stem cell therapy, it is now possible to use engineered white blood cells to fight diseases such as HIV within the human body. When such treatments are being developed, however, it can be difficult to track where the introduced cells travel within a patient’s system, and how many of them make it to their target.

Researchers have found a way to magnetically label these cells for tracking purposes.

One of the more promising developments in the field of medical technology involves the use of microspheres for targeted drug delivery. In a nutshell, this encompasses creating tiny hollow balls that are filled with a specific drug, which travel directly to a specific organ or area of diseased tissue. Once there, the spheres release their medication, keeping it concentrated where it’s needed while sparing other tissue from any harmful side effects.

Recently, a team of scientists from Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces devised a new method of manufacturing such microspheres, which is said to offer several advantages over existing techniques.

Note that this is not fully successful yet, but an interesting prototype:

What if treating skin cancer was just a matter of wearing a patch for a few hours? At this year’s Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Annual Meeting one group of researchers presented such a patch.

The patch is infused with phosphorus-32, a radioactive isotope used to treat some types of cancer. In a study of 10 patients with basal cell carcinoma located on their faces, the patch was applied for three hours, then for another three hours four and seven days later. When biopsies were taken three months after treatment all ten patients, ranging from 32 to 74 years old, showed no traces of their tumors.

**When biopsies were performed again at six months, however, the basal cell carcinomas had returned in two of the patients.

A quadriplegic man has regained partial control of his hands after doctors rewired the nerves in his arm.

The 71-year-old patient suffered a spinal cord injury after a car accident four years ago that left him partially paralyzed. Although he was still able to move his arms to a degree, the accident left him unable to pinch or grip with either hand, due to the specific location of his injury.

Surgeons...

A pioneering study to gauge the toxicity of quantum dots in primates has found the tiny luminescent crystals are safe over a one-year period, a hopeful outcome for doctors and scientists seeking new ways to battle diseases like cancer through nanomedicine.

In the study, scientists found that four rhesus monkeys injected with cadmium-selenide quantum dots remained in normal health over 90 days. Blood and biochemical markers stayed in typical ranges, and major organs developed no abnormalities. The animals didn’t lose weight. Two monkeys observed for an additional year also showed no signs of illness.

"Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have developed a new category of non-toxic, protein-based green nanoparticles that can non-invasively cross the blood brain barrier and transport various types of drugs."

The particles "crossed and/or bypassed the blood-brain barrier without enhancers or modifications, unlike other nanoparticles. These findings open the door to exploring..."