New Class of Hydrogels can Leverage Light for Drug Delivery and Regenerative Medicine
Written by AZoNanoJun 3 2021
Hydrogels are commonly used inside the body to help in tissue regeneration and drug delivery. However, once inside, they can be challenging to control for optimal use. A team of researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University is developing a new way to manipulate the gel by using light.
Graduate student Patrick Lee and Dr. Akhilesh Gaharwar, associate professor, are developing a new class of hydrogels that can leverage light in a multitude of ways. Light is a particularly attractive source of energy as it can be confined to a predefined area as well as be finetuned by the time or intensity of light exposure. Their work was recently published in the journal
Hydrogels are commonly used inside the body to help in tissue regeneration and drug delivery. However, once inside, they can be challenging to control for optimal use. A team of researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University is developing a new way to manipulate the gel by using light.
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Short circuiting solid tumors
Two major hurdles in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for solid tumors are ensuring specificity to tumor cells without affecting healthy cells and avoiding tumor escape due to antigen loss. To address these challenges, Hyrenius-Wittsten
et al. and Choe
et al. developed synthetic Notch (synNotch)–CAR T cells targeting solid tumor antigens and used them to treat mouse models of mesothelioma, ovarian cancer, and glioblastoma. In both studies, the authors demonstrated that synNotch-CAR T cells were better at controlling tumors than traditional CAR T cells and did not result in toxicity or damage to healthy tissue. These results suggest that synNotch-CAR T cells may be an effective treatment strategy for solid tumors.
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Axion BioSystems Announces Formation of Scientific Advisory Board
April 20, 2021 GMT
ATLANTA (BUSINESS WIRE) Apr 20, 2021
Axion BioSystems, a leading life science tools company focused on developing and commercializing label-free, bioelectronic assays used to study the function of live cells
in vitro, announces the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB will be chaired by Jim Ross, Ph.D., founder and Chief Technology Officer, and will work closely with Axion BioSystems’ management team to help identify and prioritize Axion’s next generation of bioelectronic products.
WEST LAFAYETTE â Bovine respiratory disease is the most common and costly disease affecting beef cattle in the world.
Mohit Verma, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University, recently received multiple awards, totaling $1.4 million, from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to support his groundbreaking work to produce a biosensor-based decision-making tool to manage the disease.
The innovation also will help reduce and target the use of antibiotics, strengthening public trust in animal agricultural practices of antibiotic stewardship.
FFAR recently announced Vermaâs receipt of its New Innovator Award and the International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture Technology Working Group Award.