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Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 1497

Dec 17, 2020

What’s Possible When Earth and Space-based Telescopes Work Together?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, space travel

Anyone who has ever worked on a team knows that their strength lies in coordination and a shared vision. However, it is not always easy to provide that coordination and shared vision, and any team that lacks that cohesiveness becomes more of a hindrance than a help.

Science is not immune to the difficulties of running effective teams. There is plenty to be gained from more coordination between differing silos and physical locations. Recently a meeting in Chile prompted a group of scientists to propose a plan to change that. The result is a white paper that points out the potential benefits of coordinating ground, orbital and in situ based observations of objects. But more importantly, it suggests a different path forward where all of the space science community can benefit from the type of coordinated output that can only come from a cohesive team.

The suggested path laid out in the white paper began at the Planets2020 conference in Chile, hosted by the ALMA observatory. The meeting took place back in March, right before the Coronavirus outbreak began to restrict travel. At the conference, there was a significant amount of discussion focused on the capabilities of different Earth and space based observing platforms. The intention was to learn more about missions that coordinated ground and space-based observations, and to flesh out future ideas of how to replicate that coordination with new and existing platforms to make the best of their different capabilities. The lead author of the white paper, Vincent Kofman, a research chemist at Goddard Space Flight Center, took on that the task of coordinating that team and produced a paper that clearly lays out a better way to perform observations.

Dec 17, 2020

Johnson & Johnson expects to release late-stage coronavirus vaccine data in January

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

Johnson & Johnson said Thursday that late-stage clinical trials for its coronavirus vaccine are now fully enrolled, and expects to release initial data on the shot’s effectiveness by the end of January.


The pharmaceutical company’s single-dose vaccine is in Phase 3 clinical trials that are now fully enrolled, and is already being reviewed by Health Canada.

Dec 17, 2020

Mobile Protected Firepower: The U.S. Army’s New Light Tank

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, innovation

In a press release, the U.S. Army announced that initial Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) prototypes arrived at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The preproduction MPF vehicles will be put through their paces by paratroopers from the Army’s 82 Airborne.

“We are incredibly excited to see the MPF platform entering into this phase,” an Army Ground Combat Systems official stated, explaining that the “MPF represents an innovative and aggressive approach to system acquisition. The beginning of our SVA (soldier vehicle assessment) in January illustrates how hard the teams are working to keep the major events of this program on schedule,” despite the ongoing pandemic.

The Army awarded two initial prototyping contracts to both BAE Systems and General Dynamics back in 2018. The contracts, worth $376 million each, covered a total of 504 final production Mobile Protected Firepower vehicles, with initial deliveries scheduled for 2025.

Dec 17, 2020

COVID vaccine made from GMO tobacco? It’s now in human trials

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

“BAT said KBP had cloned a portion of the genetic sequence of coronavirus and developed a potential antigen, which is then inserted into tobacco plants for reproduction.”

😲😲😲


While large pharmaceutical companies are already producing vaccines, [the company British American Tobacco] believes its own can be produced in six weeks, compared with the several months it takes using conventional methods.

Continue reading “COVID vaccine made from GMO tobacco? It’s now in human trials” »

Dec 17, 2020

Tweaking two genes in cotton doubles crop yields—and may do the same in wheat, rice and corn

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, food, genetics

“The research was conducted by overexpressing two different genes, the AVP1 and OsSIZ1.”

😯😯😯


One group of Texas Tech University researchers has found a way to double fiber yield for cotton in semi-arid areas like that of West Texas, where drought, heat and salinity are working against farmers.

Continue reading “Tweaking two genes in cotton doubles crop yields—and may do the same in wheat, rice and corn” »

Dec 17, 2020

IEEE BAU Robotics and Automation Chapter

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, internet, robotics/AI

✨ ′′ Using a high speed 5 G network, a London surgeon has performed remote experimental surgery for a banana based in the U.S. state of California.

This evolution opens up prospects for complicated remote surgeries without going through the trouble of future travel.
#IEEE_BAU_RAS


✨‏باستخدام شبكة 5G فائقة السرعة قام جرّاح في لندن بإجراء عملية جراحية تجريبية عن بُعد لموزة موجودة في ولاية كاليفورنيا الأمريكية.

Continue reading “IEEE BAU Robotics and Automation Chapter” »

Dec 17, 2020

Tracking an FDA advisory panel’s review of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine

Posted by in categories: biological, biotech/medical

An expert panel is meeting Thursday to consider whether the Food and Drug Administration should issue a second emergency use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine, this one made by Moderna. It is almost a foregone conclusion that it will. But the hearing still promises to tell us more about the vaccine and its use. The FDA gave Moderna’s vaccine a favorable review in the leadup to the meeting, all but guaranteeing the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will recommend an EUA be granted. It’s also widely expected the FDA will issue the EUA on Friday.


The authorization will mark the second Covid-19 vaccine cleared by the agency — and amount to one more step toward curbing the pandemic.

Dec 17, 2020

Jawless lamprey takes a bite out of cancer gene evolution

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, evolution, genetics, health

Mice, fruit flies and dogs are common creatures of laboratories across the country, valuable to researchers for their genetic proximity to humans. But what about lampreys?

A new Yale School of Public Health study has enlisted this unlikely and slimy ally in the fight against .

By carefully tracing the evolution of a select number of cancer-causing genes in a variety of species, the researchers evaluated which animals are—and are not—effective in gauging how an analog of those genes in humans can lead to cancer. What they found is surprising: such as lampreys share significant similarities in these certain genes compared to humans, while do not. Their findings, published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution, will help molecular biologists and other scientists as they work to find potential cures to certain cancers, such as lymphoma.

Dec 17, 2020

Scientists pull living microbes, possibly 100 million years old, from beneath the sea

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The dna sequence of these microbes could be used to prolong life almost indefinitely.


Bacteria 75 meters below the sea floor began to divide after a light snack.

Dec 17, 2020

The DNA Regions in Our Brain That Contribute to Make Us Human

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, evolution, neuroscience

Summary: A new method identified a large set of gene regulatory regions in the brain, selected throughout human evolution.

Source: Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.

With only 1% difference, the human and chimpanzee protein-coding genomes are remarkably similar. Understanding the biological features that make us human is part of a fascinating and intensely debated line of research. Researchers at the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the University of Lausanne have developed a new approach to pinpoint, for the first time, adaptive human-specific changes in the way genes are regulated in the brain.