New nanoparticles and nanoclusters dubbed “superballs” offer more control to optogenetics. Optogenetics is a technique that uses light to control cells within living tissue. The biological technique controls cells in tissues genetically modified for light sensitivity. Drawbacks are that the light can activate several genes at once and that it must penetrate deeply to be…
Category: Science
New Technologies For The Brain Require Ethical Approaches To Innovation
Brain technologies are all the rage these days. Entrepreneurs are selling wearable devices in the open marketplace with claims of benefits to memory, attention and concentration. Neurosurgeons and psychiatrists are exploring new ways and further developing old invasive ones to intervene in the brains of people with major mental illnesses whose conditions are resistant to…
DNA Microscopy Offers A New Chemically Encoded Imaging System
A novel type of imaging dubbed DNA microscopy that can see inside cells at the genomic level has been invented by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators. Rather than relying on light, or any kind of optics at all, the method uses DNA “bar codes” to help pinpoint molecules’ relative positions within a sample. With…
Memristive Artificial Synapses Based On Nanowires
A memristive element made from nanowires that functions in much the same way as a biological nerve cell has been produced by scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich along with colleagues from Aachen and Turin. The component is able to save and process information, as well as receive numerous signals in parallel. The resistive switching cell made…
DNA Sequencing Is Inadvertantly Exacerbating Social Biases And Inequalities
At the cutting edge of modern science, DNA sequencing promises to transform many aspects of human life. It’s already playing a significant role in law enforcement, as well as medical and historical research. But there’s a growing inequality in its impacts and in the chances of your genetic data being recorded – whether that’s by…
3D Printed Neural Progenitor Scaffold For Spinal Cord Injury
A 3-D-printed guide, made of silicone, which serves as a platform for specialized cells that are then 3-D printed on top of it, has been developed by a team at the University of Minnesota. The device that could someday help patients with long-term spinal cord injuries regain some function. The guide would be surgically implanted…
Controlling Robots With Brainwaves And Hand Gestures
Getting robots to do things isn’t easy: Usually, scientists have to either explicitly program them or get them to understand how humans communicate via language. But what if we could control robots more intuitively, using just hand gestures and brainwaves? A new system spearheaded by researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)…
Fluorescence Microscopy Images Predicted Using Deep Learning
It may be possible to teach machines how to pick out features in neurons and other cells that have not been stained or undergone other damaging treatments, according to a new study. “This approach has the potential to revolutionize biomedical research. Researchers are now generating extraordinary amounts of data. For neuroscientists, this means that training…
How A Blind Artist Is Challenging Our Understanding Of Color
For centuries, people who were born blind have been the intellectual curios of philosophers studying consciousness. This is particularly true for those exploring the way our consciousness is effected by our bodies, especially our eyes, which Leonardo da Vinci described as the “window of the soul”. One interesting fallacy is the belief that people born…