Many thousands of viruses are known to cause illness in people and animals, and making a diagnosis can be an exhaustive exercise,
at times requiring a battery of different tests. That because current tests aren sensitive enough to detect low levels of viral bugs
or are limited to detecting only those viruses suspected of being responsible for a patient illness. ith this test,
the Ruth L. Siteman Professor of Pediatrics. t casts a broad net and can efficiently detect viruses that are present at very low levels.
We think the test will be especially useful in situations where a diagnosis remains elusive after standard testing or in situations in
which the cause of a disease outbreak is unknown. Results published online in September in the journal Genome Research demonstrate that in patient samples the new test called Virocap can detect viruses not found by standard testing based on genome sequencing.
Marburg and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), as well as more routine viruses, including rotavirus and norovirus, both of which cause severe gastrointestinal infections.
Developed in collaboration with the university Mcdonnell Genome Institute, the test sequences and detects viruses in patient samples
The researchers evaluated the new test in two sets of biological samples for example, from blood, stool and nasal secretions from patients at St louis Children Hospital.
influenza B, a cause of seasonal flu; parechovirus, a mild gastrointestinal and respiratory virus; herpes virus 1, responsible for cold sores in the mouth;
which causes chickenpox. In a second group of children with unexplained fevers, standard testing had detected 11 viruses in the eight children evaluated.
But the new test found another seven, including a respiratory virus called human adenovirus B type 3a,
but can cause severe infections in some patients. In all the number of viruses detected in the two patient groups jumped to 32 from 21,
an instructor of pediatrics. light genetic variations among viruses often can be distinguished by currently available tests
while standard testing identified a virus as influenza A, which causes seasonal flu, the new test indicated that the virus was a particularly harsh subtype called H3n2.
so that it could be used to detect pathogens other than viruses, including bacteria, fungi and other microbes,
as well as genes that would indicate the pathogen is resistant to treatment with antibiotics or other drugs, said co-author Kristine Wylie, Phd, assistant professor of pediatrics.
In the meantime, the technology can be used by scientists to study viruses in a research setting. Kristine Wylie investigates the viruses that set up residence in and on the human body, collectively known as the virome.
#Ground-breaking computer program diagnoses cancer in two days In the vast majority of cancer cases, the doctor can quickly identify the source of the disease, for example cancer of the liver, lungs, etc.
However, in about one in 20 cases, the doctor can confirm that the patient has cancerut cannot find the source.
and attempts to locate the origin of the cancer before starting any treatment. Now, researchers at DTU Systems Biology have combined genetics with computer science
and created a new diagnostic technology based on advanced self learning computer algorithms whichn the basis of a biopsy from a metastasisan with 85 per cent certainty identify the source of the disease
Each year, about 35,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in Denmark, and many of them face the prospect of a long wait until the cancer has been diagnosed and its source located.
However, even after very extensive tests, there will still be 2-3 per cent of patients where it has not been possible to find the origin of the cancer.
In such cases, the patient will be treated with a cocktail of chemotherapy instead of a more appropriately targeted treatment,
are based on analyses of DNA mutations in cancer tissue samples from patients with metastasized cancer,
i e. cancer which has spread. The pattern of mutations is analysed in a computer program which has been trained to find possible primary tumour localizations.
whether an individual cancer patient will benefit from a specific type of medicine. This is a very effective method
and it is becoming increasingly common to conduct such sequencing for cancer patients. Associate professor Aron Eklund from DTU Systems Biology explains:
e are pleased very that we can now use the same sequencing data together with our new algorithms to provide a much faster diagnosis for cancer cases that are difficult to diagnose,
and to provide a useful diagnosis in cases which are currently impossible to diagnose. At the moment, it takes researchers two days to obtain a biopsy result,
but we expect this time to be reduced as it becomes possible to do the sequencing increasingly faster.
And it will be straightforward to integrate the method with the methods already being used by doctors.
and thus also as an effective and easy way of monitoring people who are at risk of developing cancer.
#Scientists test new gene therapy for vision loss from a mitochondrial disease NIH-funded study shows success in targeting MITOCHONDRIAL DNA in mice Researchers funded by the National institutes of health have developed a novel mouse model for the vision disorder
Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), and found that they can use gene therapy to improve visual function in the mice.
LHON is one of many diseases tied to gene mutations that damage the tiny energy factories that power our cells,
and in efforts toward an effective therapy. But the implications are even broader because the approaches that the investigators used could aid therapy development for a vast array of other mitochondrial diseases,
said Maryann Redford, D d. S m. P. H.,a program director in Collaborative Clinical Research at NIH National Eye Institute,
as well as a host of other diseases. But the unique nature of mtdna has presented challenges for developing
and testing potential therapies for such diseases. Until now here was no efficient way to get DNA into mitochondria,
said John Guy, M d.,professor of ophthalmology and director of the ocular gene therapy laboratory at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of medicine.
#Medical device Breakthrough: UV LIGHT enabled catheter fixes holes in the heart without invasive surgery Researchers from Boston Children Hospital, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard university,
Harvard John A. Paulson School of engineering and Applied sciences (SEAS) and the Karp Lab at Brigham and Women Hospital have designed jointly a specialized catheter for fixing holes in the heart using a biodegradable adhesive and patch.
As the team reports in Science Translational Medicine, the catheter has been used successfully in animal studies to facilitate hole closure without the need for open heart surgery.
Pedro delnido, MD Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children and contributing author on the study, says the device represents a radical change in the way these kinds of cardiac defects are repaired. n addition to avoiding open heart surgery,
this method avoids suturing into the heart tissue, because wee just gluing something to it. atheterizations are preferable to open heart surgery
because they don require stopping the heart, putting the patient on bypass, and cutting into the heart.
the unique adhesive patch was published in Science Translational Medicine. This represented a large step forward in the quest to reduce complications associated with heart defect repair.
While medical devices that remain in the body may be jostled out of place or fail to cover the hole as the body grows,
however, the Boston Children/Wyss/SEAS/Brigham and Women research team sought a way to deliver the patch without open heart surgery.
As the glue cures, pressure from the positioning balloons on either side of the patch help secure it in place.
when it is needed no longer. his really is a completely new platform for closing wounds or holes anywhere in the body,
Jeff Karp, Ph d.,a bioengineer at Brigham and Women Hospital and a cofounder of Gecko Biomedical, developed the glue product in his lab at Brigham and Women Hospital.
Gecko Biomedical will be testing the glue product in humans later this year. ur collaboration across hospitals
thanks to findings published today by Professor Gilbert Bernier of the University of Montreal and its affiliated Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.
The transplanted photoreceptors migrated naturally within the retina of their host. one transplant represents a therapeutic solution for retinal pathologies caused by the degeneration of photoreceptor cells,
offering hope that treatments may be developed for currently non-curable degenerative diseases, like Stargardt disease and ARMD. esearchers have been trying to achieve this kind of trial for years,
he said. hanks to our simple and effective approach, any laboratory in the world will now be able to create masses of photoreceptors.
ARMD is in fact the greatest cause of blindness amongst people over the age of 50
But in order to undertake a complete therapy, we need neuronal tissue that links all RPE cells to the cones.
In 2001, he launched his laboratory at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and immediately isolated the molecule.
Beyond the clinical applications, Professor Bernier findings could enable the modelling of human retinal degenerative diseases through the use of induced pluripotent stem cells,
offering the possibility of directly testing potential avenues for therapy on the patient own tissues e
lack of link to autism New research finds no evidence that thimerosal-containing vaccines cause negative behaviors or result in neuropathology in infant primates,
In the study, infant rhesus macaques received several pediatric vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative,
Other animals received just the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, which does not contain thimerosal,
or an expanded vaccine schedule similar to that recommended for U s. infants today. Control animals received a saline injection.
Regardless of vaccination status all animals developed normal social behaviors; the administration of vaccines to rhesus macaques did not result in neuropathological abnormalities or aberrant behaviors such as those often observed in autism.
Cellular analysis of the cerebellum, amygdala and hippocampus three brain regions known to be altered in autism was vaccinated similar in
and unvaccinated animals. his comprehensive study included many physiological measures and behavioral measures. Fundamentally the vaccines had no ill effects,
said Gene Sackett, UW professor emeritus of psychology and director of the lab work at the Washington National Primate Research center. o the extent that macaques mirror human physiology,
I think this bears out what most people have known: These vaccines are safe. n
#New technology enables people to take own blood samples at home A world-first prototype for taking accurate blood samples at home has been developed by a Tasmanian-led research partnership.
The hemapen is a prototype blood collection and storage device which enables users to take blood samples at home in a safe and portable application.
and placement of blood samples usually undertaken by health professionals. The hemapen was developed by ASTECH; the $5. 2 million Australian Research Council Training Centre for Portable Analytical Separation Technologies based at the University of Tasmania,
and in partnership with Trajan Scientific and Medical and the Federal government. ASTECH Training Centre Researcher Professor Michael Breadmore said the design
people who regularly require blood tests have to access the services of health professionals, Professor Breadmore said. his is often time-consuming and costly for both the individual and health care systems.
The device is designed by ASTECH Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Florian Lapierre who has undertaken industry placement at Trajan where he researched
#New Test Predicts Teensfuture Risk of Heart disease Risk for cardiovascular disease, currently running rampant in the United states,
thanks to a new diagnostic test developed by a University of Virginia Children Hospital pediatrician and his collaborators.
The test accounts for many risk factors for the deadly disease and has the potential to be adapted by physicians nationwide to assess teenagersfuture risk
Approximately 610,000 people die from heart disease every year in the United states oughly one of every four deaths
according to the Centers for Disease Control. Cardiovascular disease has predominantly modifiable risk factors, meaning that the disease is entirely preventable.
These risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, unhealthy diets and smoking.
The only risk factor unable to be changed is genetic predisposition. A team led by Dr. Mark Deboer of the U. Va. Department of Pediatrics
and Matthew Gurka of West virginia University School of Public health developed the new diagnostic test. The test relies on an evaluation of metabolic syndrome,
a conglomeration of conditions including increased blood pressure, high levels of blood sugar, excessive body fat around the abdomen and waist,
and abnormal cholesterol levels that together increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. It takes into account variables specific both to race
and gender. he way that we normally diagnose metabolic syndrome appears to have some racial discrepancies,
where African-american individuals are diagnosed not with metabolic syndrome at a very high rate and yet they are at very high risk for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease,
so Dr. Gurka and I formulated a metabolic syndrome severity score that is specific to sex and ethnicity,
Deboer said. In creating the test, Deboer and Gurka examined metabolic severity scores from children in the 1970s that assessed body mass index, systolic blood pressure, fasting triglycerides, HDL cholesterol (the so-called oodcholesterol) and fasting glucose.
The children were followed up as recently as 2014, at an average age of 49.6 years. he current study was targeted at using that metabolic syndrome severity score on data from individuals who were children in the 0s to see
if it correlated with their risk on developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes later in life,
and we found that there was a high correlation between the metabolic severity score for those children and for their later development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes,
Deboer explained. The test is innovative in that it is able to assess changes in metabolic syndrome severity in a person over time
and creates a specific number predicting risk. Previous diagnostic tests have been merely positive or negative, stating that a person either has
or does not have metabolic syndrome, but the new test is able to create a scale,
delineating the precise degree to which a youth is at risk. e are hopeful that this score can be used to assess the baseline risk for adolescents regarding metabolic syndrome
and their risk for future disease and use it as a motivator for individuals to try to change their risk
so that they may have a healthier diet, engage in more physical activity or get medication to reduce their metabolic syndrome severity and their future risk for disease,
Deboer said. The research has been described in articles in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the journal Diabetologia.
The research team included U. Va. Deboer, West virginia Gurka and Jessica Woo and John A. Morrison, both of Cincinnati Children Hospital.
There is also a website available for calculating a child metabolic syndrome severity score using clinical measures e
#New microscopy technology augments surgeon view for greater accuracy Researchers at the University of Arizona (UA) have developed a prototype of a new microscope technology that could help surgeons work with a greater degree
of accuracy. The new technology, call augmented microscopy, overlays images depicting diagnostic information such as blood flow and cancerous tissue over real images of blood vessels and other tissues
and Surgery was published today in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.
Surgical microscopes are specialized highly stereomicroscopes installed on articulated mounts and provide a long working distance and functional enhancements,
and are used widely in certain delicate operations, notably neurosurgery. Within the last decade, surgical microscopes have been combined with near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging, in
which contrast agents are injected into tissue and their fluorescence detected in NIR scans. The scans may reveal patterns of blood flow,
For example, some microscopes used in complex vascular surgeries switch between two different views: the fully optical bright-field (real) view and the computer-processed projection of NIR fluorescence.
and on its own lacks the spatial cues that would help the surgeon identify anatomical points of reference.
So the surgeon must visualize how the fluorescence in the NIR image lines up with the respective anatomical structures shown in the bright-field view.
Real-time overlay of bright-field and near-infrared fluorescence imagesdescribes their prototype of an augmented stereomicroscope that presents a simultaneous view of real objects in the surgical field and computer-processed images
By displaying information through the surgical scope itself, the surgeon then sees the information with his or her own eyes.
Pogue said he sees the work being important in advancing the translation of research into clinical practice. here are very few papers on this idea of augmenting the surgical field of view that the surgeon sees,
yet this is a high-interest topic, he said. his article presents a very practical idea and innovative implementation
It also retains the imaging environment familiar to surgeons, including key features of surgical microscopes such as real-time magnification and focus adjustments, camera mounting,
and multiuser access. One possible application for this augmented microscope is laser surgery. In the past, surgeons could not see the laser beam through the standard stereomicroscope, nor anatomical details in the NIR images.
The researchers also suggest that this technology will be useful in the surgical treatment of brain tumors.
Surgeons aggressively removing a tumor run the risk of damaging normal brain tissue and impairing the patient brain functions;
on the other hand, incomplete removal of a tumor results in immediate relapse in 90%of patients. Being able to simultaneously see the surgical field
and the contrast agent identifying cancerous tissue within the augmented microscope may allow surgeons to remove these challenging tumors more accurately
#Medical diagnosis: Will brain palpation soon be possible? If there is one technique used by the physician to explore the human body during every medical examination
in order to make a diagnosis or prescribe further tests, it is palpation. By its nature, however, the brain cannot be palpated without using a highly invasive procedure (craniotomy,
or opening the skull), which is limited to rare cases. By drawing on seismology, Inserm researchers led by Stéfan Catheline (Inserm Unit 1032,
Ultimately, it could be used in the early diagnosis of brain tumours or Alzheimer disease. This work is published in PNAS.
Many diseases involve structural changes in tissues which are reflected in a change in their mechanical properties, such as elasticity.
something that greatly complicates the work of neurosurgeons. On the other hand, the brain is the seat of natural vibrations created by the blood pulsating in the arteries and the circulating cerebrospinal fluid.
says Stéfan Catheline, Inserm Research director and main author of this work. lzheimer disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and hydrocephalus involve changes in the stiffness of the brain tissues.
This new technique allows their detection, and could be used to avoid brain biopsies. This method for palpating the brain could have other areas of application,
such as for analysing the development of neurodegenerative processes, the impact of a lesion from a trauma or tumour, response to treatment, etc e
#Discovery about new battery overturns decades of false assumptions New findings at Oregon State university have overturned a scientific dogma that stood for decades,
Aiming for the clinic The development of LRA is the product of a collaboration led by Tripathi and Dr. Rami Kantor, associate professor of medicine in the Warren Alpert Medical school.
Kantor, who is also an HIV specialist at The Miriam Hospital and co-senior author of the paper, works in developing nations such as Kenya and India, monitoring HIV resistance.
assistant professor of medicine and a co-author on the paper. he next steps are to continue the development of LRA
Wyss Institute at Harvard Universitythe 62 edits were executed by the team to inactivate native retroviruses found in the pig genome that have inhibited so far pig organs from being suitable for transplant in human patients.
however, the door is now open on the possibility that humans could one day receive lifesaving organ transplants from pigs.
which is the transplant of an organ from one species to another, is nothing new.
and worldwideould be alleviated through the availability of suitable animal organs for transplant. Pigs in particular have been especially promising candidates due to their similar size and physiology to humans.
But the transplant of whole, functional organs composed of living cells and tissue has presented a unique set of challenges for scientists.
but can cause disease in other species. he presence of this type of virus found in pigsnown as porcine endogenous retroviruses,
surpassing a significant obstacle on the path to bringing xenotransplantation to the clinic. With more than 120,000 patients currently in the United states awaiting transplants and fewer than 30
000 transplants on average occurring annually, xenotransplantation could give patients and clinicians an alternative in the future. ig kidneys can already function experimentally for months in baboons,
but concern about the potential risks of PERVS has posed a problem for the field of xenotransplantation for many years,
said David H. Sachs, director of the TBRC Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Paul S. Russell Professor of Surgery Emeritus at HMS and professor of surgical sciences at Columbia
they would eliminate an important potential safety concern facing this field. ang says the team hopes eventually they can completely eliminate the risk that PERVS could cause disease in clinical xenotransplantation by using modified pig cells to clone a line of pigs that would have their PERV genes inactivated.
Now University of Pennsylvania researchers have shown at the molecular level how experiencing stress changes a male mouse sperm in such a way that it affects his offspring response to stress.
professor of neuroscience in Penn School of veterinary medicine and Perelman School of medicine, provides important clues for understanding how a father life experiences may affect his children brain development and mental health through a purely biological and not behavioral means. t remarkable to
me that seemingly mild stress to a male mouse would trigger this massive change in microrna response
had offspring with a dampened response to stress. When they compared sperm from the stressed fathers to their unstressed counterparts,
They also included control groups in which zygotes received either a sham injection or an injection of a single mir.
the researchers examined their response to stress, just as they had done in their 2013 study. he results mapped right onto
When subjected to a mild stress, in this case, being restrained briefly, the offspring that arose from the zygotes that received the multi-mir injections had lower cortisone levels compared to offspring in the control groups.
The mice in the multi-mir injection group also had significant changes in the expression of hundreds of genes in the paraventricular nucleus,
a brain region involved in directing stress regulation, suggesting widespread changes in early neurodevelopment. Finally the researchers aimed to determine how the mirs were carrying out this effect after fertilization.
Because mirs are known to target and degrade mrna, the team looked at the stored maternal mrna,
and performed control injections, but this time they incubated the zygotes for eight hours and then amplified the RNA in each single cell to look for gene expression levels.
the multi-mir injection appeared to be attacking the maternal mrna, resulting in a reduction in those mrna levels compared to control injections.
Specifically affected were involved genes in chromatin remodeling. Bale suspects that when a male experiences stress it may trigger the release of mirs contained in exosomes from the epithelial cells that line the epididymis,
the storage and maturation site for sperm between the testes and the vas deferens. These mirs may be incorporated into the maturing sperm and influence development at fertilization.
such as providing stressed males with enrichment or a reward, might prevent them from passing on an abnormal stress response to the next generation.
the result is a potentially fatal arrhythmia. Now, a team of researchers from Oxford and Stony Brook universities has found a way to precisely control these waves using light.
hen there is scar tissue in the heart or fibrosis, this can cause part of the wave to slow down.
This ideal therapy has remained in the realm of science fiction until now. The team stresses that there are significant hurdles before this could offer new treatments a key issue is being able to alter the heart to be light-sensitised
as gene therapy moves into the clinic and with miniaturization of optical devices, use of this all-optical technology may become possible.
and reducing disease. DNA NANOSTRUCTURES: Conducting nanoscale biomolecular research could lead to low-cost DNA sequencing technologies,
and help explain the molecular causes of disease. Alternative energy Solutions/New Materials Research: Finding new and more efficient solutions to energy harvesting, nanoporous membranes for water desalinization, solar thermal fuels and more.
has direct implications for our climate and public health. Seismic Research/Disaster Prevention: Keys to hazard management for major earthquakes, hurricanes,
and help us better understand the functions and interactions of genes, the origin and spread of diseases, the co-evolution of hosts and parasites and migration of human populations.
especially mutations, has become critically important for the detection of diseases and design of therapies to treat them.
But finding a specific biomarker in a massive amount of genetic code is hard. Zhang and his team at Rice Bioscience Research Collaborative have become specialists in finding such needles in haystacks.
In one of many successful tests, the lab designed molecules to detect mutation sequences in historic biopsy samples preserved in wax from cancer patients.
One of the researchersgoals is to design noninvasive cancer diagnostics that detect DNA biomarkers in blood samples for early screening and early recurrence detection.
and apply it to cancer detection a
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