All posts tagged: Tissue

Microgripper developed for precise assembly of fragile cell spheroids for tissue engineering

Microgripper developed for precise assembly of fragile cell spheroids for tissue engineering

Published by skeptic

A team at Purdue University have designed a mobile microgripper (MMG) that can handle fragile cell spheroids with controlled force and high spatial precision. Spheroids have become integral to tissue engineering, as they can replicate biological interactions between cells and the surrounding matrix- but they are exceedingly fragile, meaning handling can be problematic. “Other techniques for cell spheroid bioassembly can affect the tissue construct and/or apply limited manipulation forces,” said Dr David Cappelleri, professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering at Purdue. “The force-sensing MMG … addresses these current issues by allowing the safe bioassembly of different spheroids into a single construct,” he said. But in a new study, a team at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, have created a tiny robotic gripper, that can manipulate spheroids without causing tissue damage. The robot uses a magnetic microscopic claw mechanism The wireless mobile microrobot gripper consists of two articulated arms connected by a hinge, allowing controlled closure to grasp the spheroid cells with minimal force, operating under magnetic actuation. External magnetic fields enabled both movement of …

Even light drinking combined with aging is linked to reduced brain blood flow and thinner tissue

Even light drinking combined with aging is linked to reduced brain blood flow and thinner tissue

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in the journal Alcohol provides evidence that even low-level drinking may have negative consequences for brain health over a person’s lifespan. The findings suggest that the total amount of alcohol consumed over a lifetime, especially as a person ages, tends to be linked to reduced blood flow and thinner tissue in certain areas of the brain. These structural and functional brain differences indicate that the concept of low-risk drinking guidelines might need to be reevaluated. For many years, public health guidelines suggested that consuming small amounts of alcohol carried minimal health risks. Today, more recent large-scale research provides evidence that the risks for various diseases begin to rise with any level of alcohol intake. “There is increasing evidence that any alcohol consumption, even for what is currently considered ‘light drinking’ elevates risk for at least six different types of cancer, according to the World Health Organization,” said study author Timothy C. Durazzo, a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and a clinical neuropsychologist at the VA Palo Alto Health …

The Moon Astronauts Brought Along USB Stick-Sized Living Samples of Their Own Tissue

The Moon Astronauts Brought Along USB Stick-Sized Living Samples of Their Own Tissue

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Beyond their snazzy flight suits and mango peach smoothies, the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission is packing something unusual: living mini-organs grown from their own bones. That bizarre cargo is traveling alongside astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, whose 10-day journey will take them around the back side of the Moon and then home again, in the process traveling farther from the Earth than any previous humans. According to space publication Supercluster, the astronauts are carrying “completely functional” organ chips: organelles composed of bone marrow made from each astronauts’ cells. In a highly complicated space mission, the justification for taking these organ chips is actually pretty straightforward. In leaving the protection of the Earth’s atmosphere, the four travelers expose themselves to heaps of solar and cosmic radiation. That radiation environment will present a unique window into the kind of dangers future astronauts will face in the dark reaches of space, so researchers are …

NIH Bans Funding of Fetal Tissue Research

NIH Bans Funding of Fetal Tissue Research

Published by Jenni Sidey

This article, NIH Bans Funding of Fetal Tissue Research | National Review is republished from National Review with the permission of the author. After restricting funding for primate research for ethical reasons, the National Institutes of Health has followed up by banning funding of fetal tissue research. From the NIH press release: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced a new policy ending the use of human fetal tissue in NIH-supported research, marking a significant milestone in the Trump Administration’s efforts to modernize biomedical science and accelerate innovation. Effective immediately, NIH funds will no longer be used to support research involving human fetal tissue from elective abortions. The policy applies across the NIH Intramural Research Program and all NIH-supported extramural research, including grants, cooperative agreements, other transaction awards, and research and development contracts. We have to remember the gruesomeness of some of this research: For example, the experiments in which the scalps of 20-week aborted fetuses were grafted onto rodents. Some might ask what the difference is between using cadaver tissue and aborted fetal tissue? If that argument referred to the bodies …