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Soon, ‘robobees’ that mimic bees’ behaviour

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 13 (ANI): A Northeastern University neurobiologist is collaborating with Harvard University researchers to develop micro flying robots that will emulate the bees’ brain, body and collective behaviour.

Biology professor Joseph Ayers would create robots, called the robobees, which would mimic the communal feeding behaviour of bee colonies.

The project will draw on the knowledge of computer scientists, engineers, and biologists to construct an electronic nervous system, a supervisory architecture and a high-energy source to power the innovative robots.

“This project will integrate the efforts and expertise of a diverse team of investigators to create a system that far transcends the sum of its parts. We expect substantial advances in basic science at the intersection of these seemingly disparate disciplines to result from this effort,” said Ayers.

Inspired by the biology of the bee and the insect’s colonial behaviour, the project aims to advance miniature robotics and the design of compact high-energy power sources.

The project would also spur innovations in ultra-low-power computing and electronic “smart” sensors that mediate biomimetic control.

In addition, it would refine coordination algorithms to manage multiple, independent machines.

Ayers is widely known for his work in biomimetics- the science of adapting the control systems found in nature to inform design of engineered systems to solve real-world problems-including the development of RoboLobster and RoboLamprey.

The autonomous, biomimetic underwater robotic models emulate the operations of the animals’ nervous systems using an electronic controller based on nonlinear, moving models of neurons and synapses.

“Animals have evolved to occupy every environmental niche where we would hope to operate robots, save outer space. They provide proven solutions to problems that confound even the most sophisticated robots, and our challenge is to capture these performance advantages in engineered devices,” said Ayers. (ANI)

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Immature egg cells grown to maturity in lab

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 14 (ANI): For the first time, scientists have used a new technique to grow immature human egg cells into nearly mature egg in laboratory-an accomplishment that could prove beneficial to cancer patients who have lost their ability to reproduce.

The researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine are the first to grow a woman’s immature egg cells, contained in a tiny sac called a follicle, into a healthy and nearly mature egg in the laboratory.

This is the first step towards the development of a new technique, which, if successful in the next steps, may eventually provide a new fertility option for women whose cancer treatments destroy their ability to reproduce.he nearly mature follicles grown for 30 days in the lab had been plucked from ovarian tissue of cancer patients, before they began chemotherapy and radiation treatments that would destroy their fertility.

“By being able to take an immature ovarian follicle and grow it to produce a good quality egg, we’re closer to that holy grail, which is to get an egg directly from ovarian tissue that can be fertilized for a cancer patient,” said Teresa Woodruff, chief of fertility preservation at the Feinberg School.

She added: “This represents the basic science breakthrough necessary to better accomplish our goals of fertility preservation in cancer patients in the future.

In the next step, the researchers will try to induce the egg’s final division, called meiosis, so it sheds half of its DNA in order to be fertilized.

The ultimate goal is to freeze the immature follicles, and then thaw and mature them in a culture to the point where they are ready to be fertilized.

“This is a very significant achievement because the early stage of the human ovarian follicle is really hard to grow in vitro. They’re very fragile and delicate,” said Min Xu, a co-author of the study.

As the immature egg grew inside the follicle, it produced hormones just as it would inside a woman’s body.

However, if follicles could be removed from the tissue and grown in the laboratory successfully, then a new fertility preservation technique might become available for women who could not safely have an ovarian transplant.

The new advance was achieved by suspending the human ovarian follicle in two different kinds of three-dimensional gels.

Woodruff said that the discovery would enable researchers to understand how nurse cells (granulosa cells), the cells that support and surround the maturing egg, communicate with the egg.

And the information will help scientists understand how eggs grow and develop properly.

The study has been published in the journal Human Reproduction. (ANI)

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Herbal therapeutic Zyflamend shows promise in treatment of men at prostate cancer risk

May 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 23 (ANI): A novel herb-based therapeutic called Zyflamend has been found to be linked with minimal toxicity and no serious adverse events in men at high-risk for developing prostate cancer in its phase I clinical trial.

The trial was led by researcher from the Center for Holistic Urology at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

Writing in the Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology, the researchers revealed that 23 men aged 40-75 years, who were diagnosed with an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, were admitted into this prospective clinical trial to determine the safety and tolerability of Zyflamend when administered orally for 18-months, either alone or along with various dietary supplements.

“Since we know that men with HGPIN have an increased risk for developing prostate cancer, new strategies formulated to decrease cancer risk, prevent or delay surgery, and improve quality of life, will be greatly beneficial for these men,” said senior author of the study Dr. Aaron E. Katz, an associate professor of Urology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The researchers say that basic science studies have suggested that Zyflamend may have an anti-inflammatory mechanism of action, and the agent has been found to be effective in decreasing the proliferation of prostate cancer in cell culture.

“Our results confirm that Zyflamend, in a dose of three times daily for up to 18-months, was well tolerated,” said Dr. Jillian L. Capodice, director of the Acupuncture Research and Integrative Clinical Service of the Department of Urology’s Center for Holistic Urology, at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. (ANI)

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Scientists create ‘switch’ that turns stem cells into muscle

March 31, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, March 31 (ANI): American scientists have created a “switch” that allows mutations or light signals to be turned on in muscle stem cells to monitor muscle regeneration in a living mammal.

The research team, including 2007 Nobel Prize winner Mario R. Capecchi, say that their breakthrough may lead to a genetic switch, or drugs, that allows people to grow new muscle cells to replace those that are damaged, worn out, or non-functional.

The researchers also say that their work provides a new tool for studying muscle cancers, which are very difficult to treat.

“We hope that the genetically-engineered mouse models we developed will help scientists and clinicians better understand how to make muscle stem cells regenerate muscle tissue,” said Dr. Charles Keller, assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center and a senior researcher involved in the work.

“For our own work on childhood muscle cancers, we also hope to understand how tumours start and progress, and to develop therapies that are less toxic than chemotherapy,” he added.

The researchers have revealed that they made this advance by breeding mice with a specific gene called “Cre”, which, when activated, can trigger mutations in muscle stem cells.

They point out that this Cre trigger is restricted to muscle stem cells and requires a special drug for it to be activated.

During the study, the researchers used fluorescent techniques that allowed them to visualize stem cells and their derivatives, in order to pinpoint exactly where muscle tissue was being made.

The team say that, in one part of the study, they were also able to activate tumour-causing mutations in muscle stem cells, providing valuable insights into the origins of muscle tumours, which have been previously elusive.

A report on the groundbreaking work has been published online in The FASEB Journal.

“This is basic science at its best. This study in mice has not only shown us how stem cells turn into muscle in the living body, but brought us closer to the day when we can use stem cells to repair wounded flesh or a maimed physique,” said Dr. Gerald Weissmann, Editor-in-Chief of the journal. (ANI)

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Canada’s first TB vaccine set to go under clinical trial

March 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 20 (ANI): For the first time, researchers at McMaster University have fully designed, manufactured and tested Canada’s first tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, which is all set to go under clinical trial.

Zhou Xing, a professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, led development of the vaccine, currently called AdAg85A vaccine, for the landmark trial.

“The exciting thing for McMaster is that this is translational research that has gone from the basic science where the vector has been designed here at McMaster, then manufactured here, with all the pre-clinical studies done at McMaster,” said Dr. Fiona Smaill, a professor of medicine and chair of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.

While the vaccine was manufactured in the Robert E. Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Health on campus, most of the pre-clinical testing of the vaccine was undertaken at McMaster.

The phase 1 clinical trial will begin to recruit 48 healthy volunteers between 18 and 55 years of age in mid-April.

For more than 12-18 months, the researchers will evaluate the safety of the new vaccine and assess blood samples from vaccinated healthy human volunteers to determine whether the vaccine is generating a desired immune response.

A team of infectious disease physicians, vaccine manufacturing specialists, and immunologists at McMaster will conduct the trial.

The announcement of the new TB vaccine trial coincides with World TB Day on Tuesday, March 24, when health authorities and researchers around the world will be raising awareness about the need for new TB vaccines.

The researchers developed the new TB vaccine using a genetically modified adenovirus – a virus responsible for the common cold.

After removing a small portion of the gene, they inserted part of the TB gene responsible for immunity.

“It is natural ways of making the body use its own immune machinery,” said Smaill.

“Based on all pre-clinical studies carried out on animals, including mice, guinea pigs (who are very prone to TB) and cattle, this vaccine appears to be a very promising candidate vaccine,” said Xing.

Smaill said that the vaccine, manufactured to clinical grade standards at McMaster, has passed all the testing required for its use in humans. (ANI)

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How we respond to stress at cellular level in the brain

March 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, March 3 (ANI): Conducting experiments on mice, scientists in Canada have identified a novel mechanism whereby the brain responds to stress.

University of Calgary scientist Dr. Jaideep Bains, along with is researcher colleagues at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, have found that neurons in the hypothalamus-the brain’s command centre for stress responses-interpret “off” chemical signals as “on” chemical signals when stress is perceived.

“It’s as if the brakes in your car are now acting to speed up the vehicle, rather than slow it down,” Nature magazine quoted Bains as saying.

The researchers point out that neurons generally receive different chemical signals that tell them to either switch on or switch off.

The off signal, also known as brake, only works if the levels of chloride ion in the cells are maintained at a low level, something that is accomplished by a protein called KCC2.

Bains says that his team have found that stress turns down the activity of KCC2, and thereby removes that ability of the brake, a chemical known as GABA, to work properly.

According to him, a loss of the brain’s ability to slow down may explain some of the harmful, emotional consequences of stress.

While the findings provide a new mechanistic explanation of how the brain interprets stress signals, the researchers say “there is still much work needed in the basic science of this phenomenon before there are any new advances in the medical treatment of stress.”

“This opens entirely new and quite unexpected avenues for controlling stress responses” says Dr. Yves De Koninck, president-elect of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience and professor of Psychiatry at Laval University.

Jane Stewart, PhD, a behavioural neuroscientist from Concordia University, said: “I was fascinated when I learned of this work. It has not been clear till now how the neuroendocrine stress response was activated by external stressors.

Bains’ work shows a complex, yet elegant solution, involving a switch from inhibition to excitation. These findings may lead to a better understanding of the changes in sensitivity to stress that result from chronic exposure.”

The study has been reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience. (ANI)

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