The Scientific Advancements Thread

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http://www.nature.com/news/sci-fi-eye-experiments-improve-vision-in-children-and-rabbits-1.19535

'Living Lens' Made From Stem Cells Could Treat Blindness

Scientists have used stem cells to cure blindness in rabbits—which could be incredible news for visually impaired people.

Using human stem cells, researchers from Osaka University and Cardiff University created living tissue that could repair damaged lenses, retinas, and corneas, restoring the power of sight. Their findings were described today in the journal Nature.

Mark Daniell, head of corneal research at Melbourne’s Centre for Eye Research Australia (who wasn’t involved in the project), called the development “mind-boggling,” “science fiction,” and “an eye in a dish.”

Here’s what they did: human stem cells were used to create a disc in a lab that generated several different types of eye cells, including those found in corneas, lenses, and retinas. The team successfully transplanted those corneal cells to rabbits that had wonky, vision-impairing corneas, allowing them to see again.

Nature points out that this development piggybacks off of a separate study, in which Chinese and American scientists treated 12 human toddlers (plus rabbits and macaques) who suffered from cataracts. That paper describes cataract patients, who had their lenses removed in surgery, but used their own stem cells to automatically regenerate new lenses, restoring vision. The team suspected this would happen, since artificial lenses often become cloudy in cataract patients as their new eye cells regenerate over them. This process is less invasive than traditional surgery and artificial lens replacements, because it requires a smaller incision.

The new study out of Osaka and Cardiff that published today has also proven that stem cells can be used to create any type of eye cell, not just lens cells.

This kind of technology won’t be available to adult human patients any time soon, and even then, it’ll be a wallet-crusher, costing tens of thousands of dollars. But these two studies are two more examples of stem cells’ power—power so strong, that it might let the blind see again.

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Could HIV be cured? Chinese fertility doctors experiment making genetically-modified embryos the virus can't infect

Chinese scientists have been editing human embryos in an attempt to make them resistant to HIV infection.

There has only ever been one previously published claim of human embryonic genetic editing.

The study involved the collection of more than 200 embryos whose DNA was altered via the installation of a gene that protects them against HIV infection.

In their study the authors wrote: 'The purpose of this study was to evaluate the technology and establish principles for the introduction of precise genetic modifications in early human embryos.

'We advocate preventing any application of genome editing on the human germline until after a rigorous and thorough evaluation and discussion are undertaken by the global research and ethics communities.'

The publisher of the report Yong Fan, a researcher at Guangzhou Medical University, told MIT Technology Review: 'It is foreseeable that a genetically modified human could be generated'.

He added: 'We believe that is necessary to keep developing and improving the technologies for precise genetic modification in humans [to] provide solutions for genetic diseases'.

The Chinese scientists tried to make human embryos resistant to HIV by editing a gene called CCR5, although were ultimately unsuccessful in doing so.

'It just emphasizes that there are still a lot of technical difficulties to doing precision editing in human embryo cells,' Xiao-Jiang Li, a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, told Nature.

In February the UK's Human Fertility and Embryology Authority gave the green light for genetic embryo testing, becoming the first such body in the western world to do so.

Scientists led by Dr Kathy Niakan, at the Francis Crick Institute in London, were granted a licence to 'cut and paste' the DNA of donated embryos as part of an investigation into miscarriage.

Dr David King, director of the watchdog group Human Genetics Alert, said at the time: 'This research will allow the scientists to refine the techniques for creating GM babies, and many of the Government's scientific advisers have already decided that they are in favour of allowing that.

'This is the first step in a well mapped-out process leading to GM babies, and a future of consumer eugenics.'

A statement from the HFEA said: 'Our Licence Committee has approved an application from Dr Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute to renew her laboratory's research licence to include gene editing of embryos.

'The committee has added a condition to the licence that no research using gene editing may take place until the research has received research ethics approval.

'As with all embryos used in research, it is illegal to transfer them to a woman for treatment.'

In April last year, a Chinese team reported the world's first attempt to use CRISPR/Cas9 to modify the DNA of human embryos.

The 16 researchers from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou wanted to see if it was possible to correct the gene defect behind the blood disorder beta-thalassaemia.
 
Is this the answer to clean drinking water? New filter can rapidly kill bacteria using light from the SUN

An estimated 663 million people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water, yet finding an efficient way to disinfect the vital liquid has proved difficult. However, researchers have designed a new device which could solve this issue, using a resource readily available in most climates. The disinfection device is powered by the sun, and can rapidly kill bacteria to deliver safe drinking water.

The device is made from extremely thin films of molybdenum disulphide – an inorganic compound made up of the elements molybdenum and sulphur. It has a striped surface made up of thin lines of molybdenum disulphide film, which the researchers call 'nanoflakes'. The film is only a few layers thick, which makes the material become a photocatalyst – a substance that speeds up reactions when exposed to light. Additionally, the researchers added a thin layer of copper to the film, which also acts as a catalyst to speed up reactions. This allowed the material to use sunlight to trigger specific reactions that produce 'reactive oxygen species' like hydrogen peroxide, which kill bacteria in the surrounding water.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...y-kill-bacteria-using-light-SUN.html#comments
 
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Some women are genetically programmed to have worse mood swings and cramps during their period, a new study has found.

Scientists have discovered a specific gene complex that is far more dominant in women with pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a severe form of the more common pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS).

The condition leaves sufferers with extreme bloating and depression that can affect work, relationships, and day-to-day routines before starting their menstrual cycle.

Beyond over-the-counter painkillers, there is no real treatment.

But researchers at the National Institutes of Health hope their discovery of a specific gene could pave the way to hormone therapies - and ultimately a cure.

Until now it was thought that the condition was caused by decreasing levels of ovarian steroid hormones in the late phase of the menstrual cycle.

But it was unclear why or how this was worse in certain women.

The new research suggests that it could all boil down to a gene.

If this is the case, it means that hormonal treatment, in the form of estrogen and progesterone, could cure PMDD.

The discovery would provide relief to the two to five percent of women who have to resort to over-the-counter medicines or anti-depressants.

Lead author Dr Peter Schmidt of the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health, Behavioral Endocrinology Branch said: 'Learning more about the role of this gene complex holds hope for improved treatment of such prevalent reproductive endocrine-related mood disorders.'
 
Mister B.;c-9465975 said:
I found this while doing current events with my class this morning:


Holy shit.


Thats amazing, part of me thinks that it will make people lazy and rely on it instead of learning another language though...
 
Neophyte Wolfgang;c-9589777 said:
Black people behind in all these advancements, lack of minority representation

Very true, the representation of Black folks in the science fields is small while there are a bunch of black people in those fields. Those fields are very potent to developing the minds of future generations and got you listening to street nonsense.
 
Http://dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4144190/An-ice-cream-lick-heart-disease.html

Doctors could soon be dishing out unlikely medical advice to patients at risk of deadly heart disease – eat more ice cream.

Scientists have developed a heart-friendly variety that boosts blood flow and reduces harmful stress on cardiac cells.

They predict the treat – packed with health-boosting plant chemicals called polyphenols – could play a key role in warding off heart attacks and strokes.
 
Https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4242636/Radical-treatment-MS-stop-disease-tracks.html

A radical treatment for multiple sclerosis can halt the disease in its tracks, a landmark study has shown.

Doctors used chemotherapy to kill off faulty immune cells - and then replaced their stem cells in a bid to 'reset' the body's defences.

Nearly half of patients who received the treatment saw the disease stop progressing for five years, the Imperial College London researchers found.

And some patients went for as long as ten years with no worsening in their condition.
 
Http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4568384/New-gene-treatment-cure-allergies.html

Severe allergies could be 'turned off' by gene therapy, a new study has suggested.

Researchers say a single treatment giving life-long protection from severe allergies such as asthma could be made possible by immunology research.

A team led by Associate Professor Ray Steptoe, at The University of Queensland in Australia, has been able to 'turn-off' the immune response which causes allergic reaction in animals.

Prof Steptoe said: 'When someone has an allergy or asthma flare-up, the symptoms they experience results from immune cells reacting to protein in the allergen.
 

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