Metastasis remains the primary challenge to reducing cancer deaths worldwide. Now, a study by Memorial Sloan Kettering, published in Nature is providing unique insights into metastasis that researchers say point to new therapeutic opportunities. Source: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center News

Researchers are developing preclinical microgrippers that could be deployed throughout the upper urinary tract to grab tiny pieces of tissue and facilitate early detection of disease.

In a study published in Small, researchers at the University of Rochester outline a new method for using ultrathin membranes to easily identify extracellular vesicles for rapid liquid biopsies. The method, called catch and display for liquid biopsy (CAD-LB), holds promise for diagnosing cancer quickly and affordably, and assessing the progress of therapies used to treat diseases.  Source: University of Rochester News Center

A team of engineers at the University of Houston has published a study in the journal Nature on how international air travel has influenced the spread of COVID-19 around the world. By using a newly developed AI tool, the team identified hotspots of infection linked to air traffic, pinpointing key areas that significantly contribute to disease transmission. Source: University of Houston Newsroom

Researchers at Washington University Medicine have reduced scar formation and improved heart function in mouse models of heart failure using a monoclonal antibody treatment. The antibody that reduces inflammation could serve as cardio-immunotherapy for heart failure patients.  Source: WashU Medicine  

The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) has solved a challenge that has long stymied researchers, reimagining the process of creating hydrogels to build a powerful semiconductor in hydrogel form that can be used to create better brain-machine interfaces, biosensors, and pacemakers. Source: UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering News.

A team of researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and collaborators from five institutes have developed a new 3D atlas of developing mice brains using advanced imaging and microscopy techniques. The new high-resolution maps of the mouse brain will help advance the understanding of brain development and the study of neurodevelopment disorders. 

Source: Penn State Research News

NIBIB bioengineer Kaitlyn Sadtler has flourished as a leader of many impactful, interdisciplinary studies. For her role in shaping the future of medical research, TIME magazine has named Kaitlyn Sadtler to the TIME100 Next 2024 List.

NIBIB-funded researchers are working to bring in vivo gene editing to the fore. Through rational engineering of lipid nanoparticles, this collaborative team developed a way to effectively target specific organs in the body to precisely deliver therapeutic cargo, including gene-editing molecules. Their research demonstrated that a one-time treatment with their nanoparticles resulted in durable gene editing in mouse lungs for nearly two years. Further, their technique showed promise in correcting a mutation present in a currently untreatable form of cystic fibrosis in several models of the disease.