December 7, 2023
(Vice News) – Microplastics have recently entered the public consciousness for finding their way into our bodies and to some of the most remote places on Earth. But now, a much smaller, potentially much more nefarious, and less understood threat … Read More
November 30, 2023
(Nature) – Researchers have designed a wearable, ring-like biosensor for monitoring the hormone oestradiol in human sweat. The technology is a fast-acting, non-invasive advance over conventional methods for tracking fertility and women’s health. (Read More)
November 15, 2023
(Tech Xplore) – Using the new technology, researchers at ETH Zurich have succeeded for the first time in printing a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons made of different polymers in one go. The researchers from Switzerland and the … Read More
October 18, 2023
(STAT News) – Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician and philanthropist Priscilla Chan, announced on Wednesday plans to invest $250 million over 10 years to establish a new “biohub” in New York City focused on building a new … Read More
July 13, 2023
(Vice) – Scientists have created a “living digital camera” that captures and stores images in DNA, the genetic code of all living things, reports a new study. The technique offers a novel approach to encoding digital information into biological material, … Read More
April 17, 2023
(Axios) – As alarm over the fentanyl epidemic grows in the U.S., Republicans, including Donald Trump, are proposing military strikes against Mexican cartels, the Biden administration is urging Mexico and China to clamp down, and the leaders of those countries … Read More
March 29, 2023
(Scientific American) – In a paper published today in Nature, researchers report refashioning Photorhabdus’s syringe—called a contractile injection system—so that it can attach to human cells and inject large proteins into them. The work could provide a way to deliver … Read More
August 2, 2022
(Reuters) – South Koreans may soon be able to carry a device inside their own bodies in the form of a bespoke tattoo that automatically alerts them to potential health problems, if a science team’s project bears fruit. Researchers at … Read More
July 26, 2022
(Wired) – Scientists have tried several routes to attack the problem. The narrowest starts with the existing Covid mRNA vaccines and seeks to create updated boosters that target the virus’s most recent variants, an effort that drugmakers Moderna and Pfizer … Read More
May 13, 2022
(Wired) – Picture a spherical particle of silica, which functions as a chassis. Sánchez has shown that you can dot its surface with a mess of special proteins that propel the particle through fluid, like little motors. His lab has … Read More
May 12, 2022
(Science) – As any dietician will tell you, some fats are good—and that is surely true of the little fatty balls found in two of the world’s most widely used COVID-19 vaccines. Known as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), these tiny bubbles … Read More
April 15, 2022
(Undark) – In the mid-1980s, as he was launching his academic career, psychiatrist Thomas Insel decided to research the neural pathways for social attachment. His work ended up documenting the important roles that the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin play in … Read More
February 19, 2021
(Washington Post) Scaling up production of formerly niche substances such as lipid nanoparticles for a global vaccine drive has been among the most complex challenges facing the Biden administration as it aims to ramp up the frustratingly slow provision of … Read More
December 4, 2020
(STAT News) – While the first two Covid-19 vaccines relying on messenger RNA technology speed toward regulatory approval in the U.S., it’s worth remembering the vehicle that gets them where they need to go in the body. Lipid nanoparticles are … Read More
October 24, 2019
(Newsweek) – The results of a clinic trial suggest medical nanotechnology could lead to new effective treatments for celiac disease and a rash of other ailments. The treatment, called CNP-101/TAK-101, was developed at Northwestern University. It utilizes microscopic nanoparticles in … Read More
October 14, 2019
(Psychology Today) – This post is offered as a concise overview of important advances in artificial intelligence that will soon impact the way mental health care is practiced in day to day clinical settings. The result will be more individualized … Read More
September 16, 2019
(Knowable Magazine) – Instead of Doctor Who, this enterprise envisions something more like a real-life version of Fantastic Voyage, the 1966 movie novelized by Isaac Asimov. In that story scientists shrank a submarine (with people inside) to the size of … Read More
September 4, 2019
(The Atlantic) – Lethal, largely autonomous weaponry isn’t entirely new: A handful of such systems have been deployed for decades, though only in limited, defensive roles, such as shooting down missiles hurtling toward ships. But with the development of AI-infused … Read More
June 21, 2019
NanoEthics (vol. 12, no. 3, 2018) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “Giving Voice to Patients: Developing a Discussion Method to Involve Patients in Translational Research” by Marianne Boenink, Lieke van der Scheer, Elisa Garcia, and Simone van … Read More
June 19, 2019
Science and Engineering Ethics (vol. 24, no. 6, 2018) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “The Food Warden: An Exploration of Issues in Distributing Responsibilities for Safe-by-Design Synthetic Biology Applications” by Zoë Robaey, Shannon L. Spruit, and Ibo … Read More
May 22, 2019
(The Conversation) – One nanometre is one billionth of a metre. Chemical and physical interactions at the nanoscale are way smaller than our eyes can see. Medicines, tiny sensors, fast computers and food science are all ways we can put … Read More
May 3, 2019
(Science) – Car crashes, battle wounds, and surgeries can leave people with gaping holes in soft tissue that are often too large for their bodies to repair. Now, researchers have developed a nanofiber-reinforced injectable gel that can rebuild missing muscle … Read More
April 30, 2019
(STAT News) – A new device could offer an effective way of diagnosing myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. People with the disease experience symptoms such as fatigue, sleep abnormalities, and pain, but it’s been notoriously hard to … Read More
February 6, 2019
(UPI) – The most common sexually transmitted disease in the world may have finally met its match, as researchers say they developed a treatment to prevent chlamydia. Researchers report in a study published this week in the journal Scientific Reports … Read More
January 21, 2019
Science and Public Policy (vol. 45, no. 5, 2018) is available online by subscription only. Articles include: “The Role of Emerging Technologies in Inclusive Innovation: The Case of Nanotechnology in South Africa” by Matthew Harsh et al. “A Recent Crisis … Read More
