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

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  

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

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.

Labs that can’t afford expensive super-resolution microscopes could use a new expansion technique to image nanoscale structures inside cells. Source: MIT News