Tech

An FDA-approved drug for high blood pressure, guanabenz, prevents myelin loss and alleviates clinical symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in animal models, according to a new study. The drug appears to enhance an innate cellular mechanism that protects myelin-producing cells against inflammatory stress. These findings point to promising avenues for the development of new therapeutics against MS, report scientists from the University of Chicago in Nature Communications on Mar. 13.

A new "app" for finding and mapping chromosomal loci using multicolored versions of CRISPR/Cas9, one of the hottest tools in biomedical research today, has been developed by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Studying the intricate fractal patterns on the surface of cells could give researchers a new insight into the physical nature of cancer, and provide new ways of preventing the disease from developing.

This is according to scientists in the US who have, for the first time, shown how physical fractal patterns emerge on the surface of human cancer cells at a specific point of progression towards cancer.

Most military battlefield casualties die before reaching a surgical hospital. Of those soldiers who might potentially survive, most die from uncontrolled bleeding.

In some cases, there's not much medics can do -- a tourniquet won't stop bleeding from a chest wound, and clotting treatments that require refrigerated or frozen blood products aren't always available in the field.

A new technique for creating artificial DNA that is faster, more accurate and more flexible than existing methods has been developed by scientists at Imperial College London.

The new system - called BASIC - is a major advance for the field of synthetic biology, which designs and builds organisms able to make useful products such as medicines, energy, food, materials and chemicals.

The increased use of engineered nanoparticles (ENMs) in commercial and industrial applications is raising concern over the environmental and health effects of nanoparticles released into the water supply. A study that analyzes the ability of typical water pretreatment methods to remove titanium dioxide, the most commonly used ENM, is published in Environmental Engineering Science.

Computers that function like the human brain could soon become a reality thanks to new research using optical fibres made of speciality glass.

The research, published in Advanced Optical Materials, has the potential to allow faster and smarter optical computers capable of learning and evolving.

Apple Watch

Apple’s event at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center was widely expected to focus on the release of the Apple Watch.

ResearchKit

Researchers at the Universities of Basel and Valencia have reported important advances in the development of next generation lighting technologies in the journal "Chemical Science".

Lighting technology is in a state of change. The old-fashioned light-bulb, which was more efficient at converting electricity into heat than light, is currently being replaced by fluorescent devices and it is expected that light emitting diodes (LEDs) will be the technology of choice in the mid-term future.

Abaloparatide-SC, an injectable drug being studied for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, reduces the rate of new spinal fractures by a statistically significant 86 percent and as well as statistically significant reductions in the fracture rate at other parts of the body, a phase 3 clinical trial finds. Results of the ACTIVE fracture prevention trial will be described in a late-breaking oral presentation Thursday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego.

A new paint makes robust self-cleaning surfaces and can be applied to clothes, paper, glass and steel and when combined with adhesives, maintains its self-cleaning properties after being wiped, scratched with a knife and scuffed with sandpaper.

Self-cleaning surfaces work by being extremely repellent to water but often stop working when they are damaged or exposed to oil. The new paint creates a more resilient surface that is resistant to everyday wear and tear, so could be used for a wide range of real-world applications from clothing and cars, say the researchers.

A new testosterone nasal gel raises men's low testosterone levels to normal, with few side effects, according to the results of a phase 3 clinical trial to be presented Saturday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego.

Last May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the medication, now called Natesto, making it the only FDA-approved nasal testosterone replacement therapy, according to the manufacturer, Trimel Pharmaceuticals.

Obesity guidelines recommend an initial weight loss goal of 5 to 10% of start weight to improve health. A recent study found that patients who received liraglutide 3.0 mg, combined with fewer calories and more physical activity, were more than twice as likely to achieve at least that level of weight loss, compared to patients on placebo who made similar lifestyle changes.

Lithium-ion batteries are common in consumer electronics and one of the most popular types of rechargeable batteries for portable electronics, with a reasonable energy density, no memory effect and a slow loss of charge when not in use. But they are the oldest technology in that system, due to not having changed much since the World Wide Web first came into existence.

A letrozole pill once a week restored fertility in obese, infertile men and led to their partners giving birth to two full-term, healthy babies, according to a new study from Canada. The results will be presented Thursday at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting in San Diego.

"To our knowledge, this is the first report of successful pregnancies with the use of letrozole at this low dose in men," said the study's lead investigator, Lena Salgado, MD, an endocrinology fellow at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM).