The Scientific Advancements Thread
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Thread title needs a change, people are gonna sleep on this.
Great thread.
Man is ? . -
@Sion compadre can you sticky and change the title to The Science Advancements Thread
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It's really happening.
If you want to lose weight, a new diet or gym membership sounds a whole lot better than consuming someone else's ? in pill form, but that's exactly the method researchers are about to investigate in a clinical trial that's been approved for later this year.
It's not the most pleasant treatment you can imagine, but there's strong evidence that faeces is good for the microbiome environment inside our guts.
Reports have shown that in some situations, ? pills are actually more effective than antibiotics, and now there's some strong demand for healthy body waste if you're interested in parting with some for a bit of cash.
The controlled, randomised trial starting this year will be run by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Based on research that suggests bacteria from donor excrement can fight infections that have become rooted in the digestive system of the recipient, they'll be testing if ? pills could be a viable treatment option for weight-loss in the future.
"Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) transfers intestinal bacteria by a 'stool transplant' from a healthy, lean person to a person with obesity," the researchers explain.
? samples from lean and healthy donors will be freeze-dried and then given to 21 obese patients during the course of the trial.
There's a growing belief that this kind of treatment could help with weight-loss and various other metabolic disorders, but so far we only have a few animal studies and some anecdotal evidence in humans to go off.
This new study should give us much more information about the potential of the humble ? pill.
Lead researcher for the trial, Elaine Yu, told Beth Mole at Ars Technica that the clinical trial team has "no idea what the result will be" at this stage, but the researchers should be able to learn much more about the microbes in our bodies and how they affect us along the way.
The donors are going to be carefully screened to make sure they - and their poo samples - are as healthy as possible.
The treatment will last for at least three months, and possibly continuing for a year or beyond.
It's still early days for the field of microbiome analysis, but there have been some interesting studies carried out in the past.
A 2013 study found that gut bacteria transplanted from human twins into mice had a direct effect on the animals' weight - those given bacteria from the overweight twin also gained weight, while the other group maintained a healthy size. -
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All you need to replicate your brain is a piece of your skin
http://www.sciencedump.com/content/all-you-need-replicate-your-brain-piece-your-skin -
All you need to replicate your brain is a piece of your skin
http://www.sciencedump.com/content/all-you-need-replicate-your-brain-piece-your-skin
I can be like Cell! -
http://www.nature.com/news/sci-fi-eye-experiments-improve-vision-in-children-and-rabbits-1.19535
'Living Lens' Made From Stem Cells Could Treat Blindness
Scientists have used stem cells to cure blindness in rabbits—which could be incredible news for visually impaired people.
Using human stem cells, researchers from Osaka University and Cardiff University created living tissue that could repair damaged lenses, retinas, and corneas, restoring the power of sight. Their findings were described today in the journal Nature.
Mark Daniell, head of corneal research at Melbourne’s Centre for Eye Research Australia (who wasn’t involved in the project), called the development “mind-boggling,” “science fiction,” and “an eye in a dish.”
Here’s what they did: human stem cells were used to create a disc in a lab that generated several different types of eye cells, including those found in corneas, lenses, and retinas. The team successfully transplanted those corneal cells to rabbits that had wonky, vision-impairing corneas, allowing them to see again.
Nature points out that this development piggybacks off of a separate study, in which Chinese and American scientists treated 12 human toddlers (plus rabbits and macaques) who suffered from cataracts. That paper describes cataract patients, who had their lenses removed in surgery, but used their own stem cells to automatically regenerate new lenses, restoring vision. The team suspected this would happen, since artificial lenses often become cloudy in cataract patients as their new eye cells regenerate over them. This process is less invasive than traditional surgery and artificial lens replacements, because it requires a smaller incision.
The new study out of Osaka and Cardiff that published today has also proven that stem cells can be used to create any type of eye cell, not just lens cells.
This kind of technology won’t be available to adult human patients any time soon, and even then, it’ll be a wallet-crusher, costing tens of thousands of dollars. But these two studies are two more examples of stem cells’ power—power so strong, that it might let the blind see again.
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Could ? be cured? Chinese fertility doctors experiment making genetically-modified embryos the virus can't infect
Chinese scientists have been editing human embryos in an attempt to make them resistant to ? infection.
There has only ever been one previously published claim of human embryonic genetic editing.
The study involved the collection of more than 200 embryos whose DNA was altered via the installation of a gene that protects them against ? infection.
In their study the authors wrote: 'The purpose of this study was to evaluate the technology and establish principles for the introduction of precise genetic modifications in early human embryos.
'We advocate preventing any application of genome editing on the human germline until after a rigorous and thorough evaluation and discussion are undertaken by the global research and ethics communities.'
The publisher of the report Yong Fan, a researcher at Guangzhou Medical University, told MIT Technology Review: 'It is foreseeable that a genetically modified human could be generated'.
He added: 'We believe that is necessary to keep developing and improving the technologies for precise genetic modification in humans [to] provide solutions for genetic diseases'.
The Chinese scientists tried to make human embryos resistant to ? by editing a gene called CCR5, although were ultimately unsuccessful in doing so.
'It just emphasizes that there are still a lot of technical difficulties to doing precision editing in human embryo cells,' Xiao-Jiang Li, a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, told Nature.
In February the UK's Human Fertility and Embryology Authority gave the green light for genetic embryo testing, becoming the first such body in the western world to do so.
Scientists led by Dr Kathy Niakan, at the Francis Crick Institute in London, were granted a licence to 'cut and paste' the DNA of donated embryos as part of an investigation into miscarriage.
Dr David King, director of the watchdog group Human Genetics Alert, said at the time: 'This research will allow the scientists to refine the techniques for creating GM babies, and many of the Government's scientific advisers have already decided that they are in favour of allowing that.
'This is the first step in a well mapped-out process leading to GM babies, and a future of consumer eugenics.'
A statement from the HFEA said: 'Our Licence Committee has approved an application from Dr Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute to renew her laboratory's research licence to include gene editing of embryos.
'The committee has added a condition to the licence that no research using gene editing may take place until the research has received research ethics approval.
'As with all embryos used in research, it is illegal to transfer them to a woman for treatment.'
In April last year, a Chinese team reported the world's first attempt to use CRISPR/Cas9 to modify the DNA of human embryos.
The 16 researchers from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou wanted to see if it was possible to correct the gene defect behind the blood disorder beta-thalassaemia. -
Is this the answer to clean drinking water? New filter can rapidly ? bacteria using light from the SUN
An estimated 663 million people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water, yet finding an efficient way to disinfect the vital liquid has proved difficult. However, researchers have designed a new device which could solve this issue, using a resource readily available in most climates. The disinfection device is powered by the sun, and can rapidly ? bacteria to deliver safe drinking water.
The device is made from extremely thin films of molybdenum disulphide – an inorganic compound made up of the elements molybdenum and sulphur. It has a striped surface made up of thin lines of molybdenum disulphide film, which the researchers call 'nanoflakes'. The film is only a few layers thick, which makes the material become a photocatalyst – a substance that speeds up reactions when exposed to light. Additionally, the researchers added a thin layer of copper to the film, which also acts as a catalyst to speed up reactions. This allowed the material to use sunlight to trigger specific reactions that produce 'reactive oxygen species' like hydrogen peroxide, which ? bacteria in the surrounding water.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3741337/Is-answer-clean-drinking-water-New-filter-rapidly-? -bacteria-using-light-SUN.html#comments -
Scientists are on the brink of restoring sight to the blind by sending moving images directly to the brain.
In a world-first, surgeons have implanted a visual stimulator chip in the brain of a 30-year-old woman.
The patient, who has been totally blind for seven years, saw coloured flashes, lines and spots when signals were sent to her brain from a computer.
Http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3888074/World-s-bionic-eye-millions-chance-seeing-Chip-bypasses-eyes-sends-wireless-signals-directly-brain.html -
I found this while doing current events with my class this morning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjjQ5cH_YzI
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I believe in money, power, respect, and the internet which is 666 in the making.
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Some women are genetically programmed to have worse mood swings and cramps during their period, a new study has found.
Scientists have discovered a specific gene complex that is far more dominant in women with pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a severe form of the more common pre-menstrual syndrome (? ).
The condition leaves sufferers with extreme bloating and depression that can affect work, relationships, and day-to-day routines before starting their menstrual cycle.
Beyond over-the-counter painkillers, there is no real treatment.
But researchers at the National Institutes of Health hope their discovery of a specific gene could pave the way to hormone therapies - and ultimately a cure.
Until now it was thought that the condition was caused by decreasing levels of ovarian steroid hormones in the late phase of the menstrual cycle.
But it was unclear why or how this was worse in certain women.
The new research suggests that it could all boil down to a gene.
If this is the case, it means that hormonal treatment, in the form of estrogen and progesterone, could cure PMDD.
The discovery would provide relief to the two to five percent of women who have to resort to over-the-counter medicines or anti-depressants.
Lead author Dr Peter Schmidt of the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health, Behavioral Endocrinology Branch said: 'Learning more about the role of this gene complex holds hope for improved treatment of such prevalent reproductive endocrine-related mood disorders.' -
Black people behind in all these advancements, lack of minority representation
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I found this while doing current events with my class this morning:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjjQ5cH_YzI
? .
Thats amazing, part of me thinks that it will make people lazy and rely on it instead of learning another language though... -
Neophyte Wolfgang wrote: »Black people behind in all these advancements, lack of minority representation
Very true, the representation of Black folks in the science fields is small while there are a bunch of black people in those fields. Those fields are very potent to developing the minds of future generations and got you listening to street nonsense. -
Http://dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4144190/An-ice-cream-lick-heart-disease.html
Doctors could soon be dishing out unlikely medical advice to patients at risk of deadly heart disease – eat more ice cream.
Scientists have developed a heart-friendly variety that boosts blood flow and reduces harmful stress on cardiac cells.
They predict the treat – packed with health-boosting plant chemicals called polyphenols – could play a key role in warding off heart attacks and strokes. -
Https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4242636/Radical-treatment-MS-stop-disease-tracks.html
A radical treatment for multiple sclerosis can halt the disease in its tracks, a landmark study has shown.
Doctors used chemotherapy to ? off faulty immune cells - and then replaced their stem cells in a bid to 'reset' the body's defences.
Nearly half of patients who received the treatment saw the disease stop progressing for five years, the Imperial College London researchers found.
And some patients went for as long as ten years with no worsening in their condition. -
ASU researcher helps develop $1 paper test for Zika virus, other life-threatening diseases
Http://www.azcentral.com/story/sponsor-story/arizona-state-university/2017/03/09/asu-researcher-helps-develop-test-for-life-threatening-diseases/98984150 -
Artificial blood grown in the lab could one day be available on tap thanks to a new scientific breakthrough.
Researchers used early-stage stem cells, known as immortal cells, to grow billions of red blood cells in the lab.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en-US&ie=UTF-8&client=ms-android-att-aio-us&source=android-browser&q=artificial+blood+breakthrough+dail+mail&gws_rd=ssl -
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Http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4568384/New-gene-treatment-cure-allergies.html
Severe allergies could be 'turned off' by gene therapy, a new study has suggested.
Researchers say a single treatment giving life-long protection from severe allergies such as asthma could be made possible by immunology research.
A team led by Associate Professor Ray Steptoe, at The University of Queensland in Australia, has been able to 'turn-off' the immune response which causes allergic reaction in animals.
Prof Steptoe said: 'When someone has an allergy or asthma flare-up, the symptoms they experience results from immune cells reacting to protein in the allergen.
https://youtu.be/8FdFhgEVp5w