Grantee News

A newly developed microscope is providing scientists with a greatly enhanced tool to study how neurological disorders such as epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease affect neuron communication. Read more from the Optical Society.

Wireless microcontrollers release precise amounts of antibiotics, painkillers, growth factors or other medications. The bandage, which remains several years from market, could improve treatment of chronic skin wounds related to diabetes. Read more at Nebraska Today.

A research team has now developed a DNA nanotechnology-based method that allows for repeated, non-destructive recording of uniquely barcoded molecular pairings, rendering a detailed view of their components and geometries. In the future, the approach could help researchers understand how changes in molecular complexes control biological processes in living cells. Read more from the Wyss Institute News.

A new approach to evaluating the risk of preterm birth has been proposed by analyzing the properties of cervical mucus. The researchers found that cervical mucus from women who delivered their babies early, before 37 weeks, was very different from that of women who delivered later. Read more at MIT News.

More than one-and-a-half years after implantation, researchers report that human neural stem cells (NSCs) grafted into spinal cord injuries in laboratory rats displayed continued growth and maturity, with functional recovery beginning one year after grafting. Read more at UC San Diego Health Newsroom.

FDA approves first-in-human trial for neural-enabled prosthetic hand system developed at FIU.

U.S. researchers have taken a major step toward the use of frozen or cryopreserved tissues and organs for transplantation, an advance that may one day ease the shortage of available organs, experts said on Tuesday. Read more at Reuters.

Researchers have now found that physical forces exerted between cancer cells and the ECM are enough to drive a shape change necessary for metastasis. Those forces converge on an optimal stiffness that allows cancer cells to spread. Read more from the Wistar Institute.

The cutting-edge biocompatible near-infrared 3-D tracking system used to guide the suturing in the first smart tissue autonomous robot (STAR) surgery has the potential to improve manual and robot-assisted surgery and interventions through unobstructed 3-D visibility and enhanced accuracy, according to a new study. Read more at PR Newswire.

A desktop diagnosis tool has been developed that detects the presence of harmful bacteria in a blood sample in a matter of hours instead of days. The breakthrough was made possible by a combination of proprietary chemistry, innovative electrical engineering and high-end imaging and analysis techniques powered by machine learning. Read more at Phys.org.news