Drug-carrying DNA snippets called aptamers can deliver a one-two punch to leukemia by precisely targeting the elusive cancer stem cells that seed cancer relapses, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report.

The aptamers — short single-strand snippets of DNA that can target molecules like larger antibodies do — not only deliver cancer-fighting drugs, but also are themselves toxic to the cancer stem cells, the researchers said.

Source: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign News.

Brain cancer is the second most common cancer in children after leukemia, and it is also the deadliest, due to the fact that brain tumors are diverse, resistant to treatments and often hard to access surgically. A collaborative team of researchers at several institutions have developed a new way to profile brain cancers in children, paving the way for improved diagnostics and treatments. Source: UTSA Today

Experts see broader applications as evidence suggests AI in interventional radiology can improve patient outcomes. AI is a hot topic in IR, and rightly so. Source: Radiology Today

A study led by bioengineers at the University of California San Diego sheds new light on how a type of heart valve disease, called aortic valve stenosis, progresses differently in males and females. The research reveals that this sex-based difference can be traced to a gene on the Y chromosome.  Source: MedicalXpress.com

For decades, scientists have relied on electrodes and dyes to track the electrical activity of living cells. Now, engineers at the University of California San Diego with NIBIB funding have discovered that quantum materials just a single atom thick can do the job—using only light. Source: UC San Diego Today

In recent years, scientists and engineers have looked to muscles as potential actuators for “biohybrid” robots — machines powered by soft, artificially grown muscle fibers. Now, MIT engineers with NIBIB funding have developed a method to grow artificial muscle tissue that twitches and flexes in multiple coordinated directions. Source: MIT News

A team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University has discovered that bacteria can invade the brain after a medical device is implanted, contributing to inflammation and reducing the device’s long-term effectiveness.

Their groundbreaking research, recently published in Nature Communications, could improve the long-term success of brain implants now that a target has been identified to address. Source: Case Western Reserve University: The Daily.

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering have conducted a research project that's led to new technology that offers rapid, highly sensitive detection of multi-drug-resistant bacteria and other pathogens at low concentrations. Source: EurekAlert!

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected four finalists with innovative, non-invasive technologies that seek to improve diagnosis of endometriosis.