Tag Archives: engineering

Lab-grown, virus-free stem cells repair retinal tissue in mice

In a report published Jan. 20 in the journal Circulation, stem cell biologist Elias Zambidis, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues describe laboratory experiments with these non-viral, human retinal iPSCs, created using the virus-free method Zambidis first reported in 2011. "We began with stem cells taken from cord-blood, which have fewer acquired mutations and little, if any, epigenetic memory, which cells accumulate as time goes on," says Zambidis, associate professor of oncology and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering and the Kimmel Cancer Center. The scientists converted these cells to a status last experienced when they were part of six-day-old embryos. …

Novel non-invasive therapy prevents breast cancer formation in mice

The therapy emerged from a sophisticated effort to reverse-engineer gene networks to identify genes that drive cancer. The same strategy could lead to many new therapies that disable cancer-causing genes no current drugs can stop, and it also can be used to find therapies for other diseases…

First cancer operation room with navigator is created

The system, presented at Gregorio Marañón Hospital, permits real-time interaction with the body of the patient (with its different tissues and cancer) as well as the radiotherapy applicator used to radiate the area affected by the tumor. This innovation will be used in the surgery of cancers treated with intraoperative radiotherapy in the hope of achieving greater precision in the radiation of potentially cancerous tissues after the removal of the tumor. The installation of this new equipment has entailed a complete remodeling of the operating room. …

Ultrasound microscopy: Aid for surgeons to make the invisible, visible

Ultrasonic microscopes have a wide range of applications including determining the presence of otherwise invisible defects in components used in the automobile, aeronautical, and construction industries. Professor Naohiro Hozumi of Toyohashi Tech’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering is developing the technology to monitor living tissue and cell specimens for medical purposes. …

Researchers test cutting-edge treatment for stubborn skin tumors

Paco is a horse, half Thoroughbred/half Percheron, and at the point of his shoulder — withers — he stands 5 feet 7 inches in human terms. Every two weeks this elegant, easygoing equine and his human pal Ferd Powell come to the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech to be treated for sarcoids…