Biomedicine - MIT Technology Review

This $40,000 Robotic Exoskeleton Lets the Paralyzed Walk

Mon, 01 Feb 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Still pricier than motorized wheelchairs, SuitX’s Phoenix exoskeleton weighs just 27 pounds and is custom-fit to the user’s body.

Paralyzed from the waist down after a BMX accident, Steven Sanchez rolled into SuitX’s Berkeley, California, office in a wheelchair. A half-hour later he was standing and walking thanks to the Phoenix—a robotic exoskeleton now available for around $40,000.

This Is How to Stop the Zika Virus

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:50:00 +0000

Halting the explosive spread of Zika means waging war with mosquitoes. There are several ways, old and new, to win that war.

The Zika virus is out of control. Earlier this week, the World Health Organization called it an “explosive” epidemic, and officials in Brazil, the country hardest hit by the disease, have admitted that they are “losing badly” to the disease. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff went so far as to declare war on Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits Zika. Officials in several other countries in the region have asked women to consider not getting pregnant until the epidemic is brought under control.

Seven Must-Read Stories (Week ending January 30, 2016)

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Another chance to catch the most interesting and important articles from the previous week on MIT Technology Review.

Recommended from Around the Web (Week ending January 30, 2016)

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 21:00:00 +0000

A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.

The Real Legacy of Steve Jobs
An interesting connection between Steve Jobs’s approach to business and the way Apple is handling AI research.
—Brian Bergstein, executive editor

The Drug That Killed Michael Jackson Is Helping Us Unravel the Mystery of Consciousness

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 19:35:00 +0000

Using the powerful anesthetic propofol, researchers have begun to pick apart how human brain activity gives rise to consciousness.

Although doctors have been giving general anesthesia to patients for more than 150 years, the mechanism by which it puts people under is still a medical mystery. Unraveling that mechanism could shed light on another mystery: how consciousness works.

Pope Francis Said to Bless Human-Animal Chimeras

Wed, 27 Jan 2016 23:10:00 +0000

A scientist sought the Vatican’s approval for mixing human cells in animal embryos. And the Pope said yes.

A Spanish scientist working at the Salk Institute in California told Scientific American that Pope Francis personally blessed his cutting-edge research to mix human cells into animal bodies.

Immune System Offers Major Clue to Schizophrenia

Wed, 27 Jan 2016 18:45:00 +0000

A massive genetic study has sketched out a molecular link between schizophrenia and how the brain is shaped in adolescence.

Winning a rare insight into the cause of schizophrenia and possible ways to treat it, scientists in Boston say they have identified a biochemical pathway that contributes to the disease by altering connections between brain cells.

First Laser Measurements of Magnetic Fields of Single Nerves

Wed, 27 Jan 2016 10:02:00 +0000

Physicists have worked out how to measure the magnetic fields generated by single nerves from outside the body and at room temperature.

Biologists have known that nerves produce and respond to electrical signals since the 18th century, when Luigi Galvani discovered that the muscles in a frog’s leg twitch when stimulated by a spark.

Gorgeous New 4-D Printing Process Makes More Than Just Eye Candy

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 22:20:00 +0000

A new technique for making “programmable” materials could lead to all sorts of medical and electronic devices.

If you are tired of the hype around 3-D printing, brace yourself, because it’s time to add another “D.” Yesterday, researchers unveiled a new process they can use to “4-D print” flat objects that change into complex shapes when they are immersed in water.

Can the Lead Poisoning in Flint Be Fixed?

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 20:35:00 +0000

What are the prospects for helping the children of Flint, or children with lead poisoning anywhere?

It has been a disaster in painfully slow motion. When the city of Flint, Michigan, switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in 2014, citizens almost immediately complained about the possibility that their water was tainted with lead. They were right, and the water source was switched back in October 2015. But a state of emergency was declared in December, and as of the end of last year, 114 children under age six were shown to have elevated levels of lead in their blood.

Theranos Gets a Bad Lab Report

Mon, 25 Jan 2016 22:20:00 +0000

U.S. regulators add to the pressure on a struggling blood-testing startup.

Updated January 27, 2015 at 6:01 p.m.

Women Asked to Avoid Pregnancy as Zika Epidemic Worsens

Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:30:00 +0000

As the outbreak spreads, affected countries may look toward a technological solution.

The Zika virus is spreading in the Americas, and is now expected to reach nearly every country, including the United States. Since it first appeared in Brazil in May 2015, over a million cases have been reported in that country alone. Symptoms are usually mild, but the virus is thought to be responsible for 3,500 cases of infants born with abnormally small heads, a debilitating condition known as microcephaly. Late last week, countries in Central and South America began taking the dramatic step of urging women to hold off on getting pregnant. In Colombia, the recommended hiatus is six to eight months. In El Salvador the government has gone even further, asking women to consider avoiding pregnancy until 2018. Jamaica and Honduras have made similar pleas.

First Monkeys with Autism Created in China

Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:00:00 +0000

They spin in their cages and don’t interact. The scientists who created autistic monkeys say they’ll now try to cure them.

Scientists in China say they used genetic engineering to create monkeys with a version of autism, an achievement that could make it easier to test treatments but that raises thorny practical and ethical questions over how useful such animal models will be.

Seven Must-Read Stories (Week ending January 23, 2016)

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 14:00:00 +0000

Another chance to catch the most interesting and important articles from the previous week on MIT Technology Review.

A Peek Inside a Dead Football Player’s Brain

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 05:00:00 +0000

The brains that come through Ann McKee’s lab don’t lie. But they are only the beginning of the story about head trauma and its role in neurodegenerative disease.

The brain on the table once belonged to a pro football player. It’s also much bigger than average, so it may have been the brain of a very big man—perhaps he played lineman. Those are the only things I know about it before Ann McKee starts cutting it into pieces.

Recommended from Around the Web (Week ending January 23, 2016)

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.

Instead of Computer Code, ‘Plant Hackers’ Tinker with Genetics
Genetically modifying plants—as a hobby or an art project.
—Brian Bergstein, executive editor

Using Patient Fingerprints to Break Down Medical Record Silos

Wed, 20 Jan 2016 05:00:00 +0000

A startup uses encryption and fingerprint authentication to compare medical records across providers—and aims to make them easier to move, too.

For the over 40 million people served by the more than 300 health systems working with startup CrossChx, checking in for a doctor’s appointment is much like unlocking an iPhone. All you need is your right index finger. Touch it onto a fingerprint reader at the check-in desk, and your identity is verified. Your driver’s license can stay in your wallet.

A Scientist's Contested History of CRISPR

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 22:33:00 +0000

Eric Lander of the Broad Institute writes a history of a gene-editing technique that may be seen as partial to one side of a patent dispute.

History is written by the victors. But in the hard-fought battle over credit and patents to CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing technology, the victor may be whoever writes history.

Zika Virus Could Stir Demand for GM Mosquitoes

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 21:40:00 +0000

Mosquitoes that have been genetically modified to cause population crashes in the wild could be a potent tool against a host of troublesome diseases.

An outbreak in the Western Hemisphere of the Zika virus could give countries including the United States new reasons to try wiping out mosquitoes with genetic engineering.

Companies Aim to Make Drugs from Bacteria That Live in the Gut

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Relatively new discoveries about of the role of the microbiome in human health have sparked a race to develop new therapies based on microbes.

Scientific discoveries in recent years suggest that some serious conditions could be cured by adding “good” bacteria to your digestive tract. Now several companies are racing to develop drugs that do so.