News by Subject Technology & Engineering

Glowing pee may replace the biopsy needle: In detecting organ transplant rejection, a new nanoparticle has proven much faster and more thorough in the lab than a biopsy. When T cells mount their first attack on the organ's cells the nanoparticle sends an alarm signal into the urine that makes it fluoresce.

Researchers from Texas A&M University, led by Dr. Akhilesh K. Gaharwar, have developed a new way to deliver treatment for cartilage regeneration.

Commercial approaches to ultrasensitive protein detection are starting to become available, but they are based on expensive optics and fluid handlers, which make them relatively bulky and expensive. Knowing that having this sort of diagnostic system available as a point-of-care device would be critical for many conditions, especially traumatic brain injury, Penn engineers have developed a test that uses off-the-shelf components and can detect single proteins with results in a matter of minutes.

Scientists from the National University of Science and Technology MISIS developed a unique hybrid bone implant, the core of which is made of porous ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, and the shell is made of polyetheretherketone. Thanks to the combination of the unique properties of the two polymers, it was possible to create an implant that imitates the bone structure and is additionally reinforced to increase strength and elasticity.

The creation of membranes is of enormous importance in biology, but also in many chemical applications developed by humans. These membranes are shaped spontaneously when soap-like molecules in water join together. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology now have a clear picture of the entire process. The results are published in Nature Chemistry.

Iowa State's Nicole Hashemi has used her expertise in microfluidics to lead development of a device that models a human placenta. She and her research team have used the 'placenta-on-a-chip' to study transport of caffeine from the mother, across the placental barrier, to the fetus. The journal Global Challenges has just published a paper describing the device and reporting on the caffeine study.

Researchers at Duke University have shown that a single systemic treatment using CRISPR genome editing technology can safely and stably correct a genetic disease -- Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) -- for more than a year in mice, despite observed immune responses and alternative gene editing outcomes.