CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug 8, 2024 --- Insilico Medicine ("Insilico"), a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven biotechnology company, today announced ISM6331, potential best-in-class pan-TEAD inhibitor, has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance for the treatment of mesothelioma, following the grant of Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) in June 2024. It brings the total number of IND-approved molecules of Insilico to nine. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the mesothelium, a thin layer of tissue that covers most of the ...

A crowd or a flock of birds have different characteristics from those of atoms in a material, but when it comes to collective movement, the differences matter less than we might think. We can try to predict the behavior of humans, birds, or cells based on the same principles we use for particles. This is the finding of a new study published in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, JSTAT, conducted by an international team that includes the collaboration of MIT in Boston and CNRS in France. The study, based on the physics ...

Experts provide clarity on key terms for urgent species recovery actions to support the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) is a landmark agreement ratified in 2022 by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity that outlines ambitious goals to combat biodiversity decline. The Framework states outcomes for species to be achieved by 2050 in Goal A and establishes a range of targets to reduce pressures on biodiversity and halt biodiversity loss ...

As our climate changes and soil salinity increases in many agricultural areas, finding crops that can thrive in these challenging conditions is crucial. Cultivated tomatoes, while delicious, often struggle in salty soils. Their wild cousins, however, have evolved to survive in diverse and often harsh environments. A recent study delved into the genetic treasure trove of wild tomatoes to uncover secrets of salt tolerance that could be used to develop resilient crop varieties. A team of researchers focused on Solanum pimpinellifolium, the closest wild relative of our beloved cultivated tomato. These tiny, ...

Climate change is one of the most significant environmental challenges of present times, leading to extreme weather events, including droughts, forest fires, and floods. The primary driver for climate change is the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere due to human activities, which trap heat and raise Earth’s temperature. Aerosols (such as particulate matter, PM2.5) not only affect public health but also influence the Earth's climate by absorbing and scattering sunlight and altering cloud properties. Although future climate change predictions are being reported, it is possible that the impacts of climate change could be more severe than predicted. ...

According to the attention-based view, a firm’s actions and growth performance are directly influenced by its attentional allocation to specific issues. The consequences of organizational attention are reflected in the firm’s strategic decision-making and adaptability. However, existing literature is limited in its exploration of how a firm’s attentional uniqueness impacts its behavior and performance. Notably, attentional uniqueness refers to how the firm’s attentional allocation diverges from competitors in the same industry. To address the above-mentioned knowledge gap, Associate Professor Takumi ...

The deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA, the molecular system that carries the genetic information of living organisms, can transcribe and amplify information using its two helical strands. Creating such artificial molecular systems that match or surpass DNA in functionality is of great interest to scientists. Double-helical foldamers are one such molecular system.   Helical foldamers are a class of artificial molecules that fold into well-defined helical structures like helices found in proteins and nucleic acids. They have garnered considerable attention as stimuli-responsive switchable molecules, tuneable chiral materials, and cooperative supramolecular systems due to their chiral and ...

A saliva test can more accurately indicate the severity of recurrent respiratory infections in children than the standard blood test. If saliva contains too few broadly protective antibodies, a child is more likely to suffer from pneumonia episodes. This is reported by researchers from Radboudumc Amalia Children's Hospital and UMC Utrecht Wilhelmina Children's Hospital in the European Respiratory Journal. Saliva testing provides valuable information for treatment and is more comfortable for children.  About ...

Research Highlights: Researchers found repeated one-minute bursts of high-intensity interval training were more effective than traditional, moderate continuous exercise for improving the body’s aerobic fitness after a stroke. Fitness level improvements doubled in participants in the high-intensity interval training group compared to those in the moderate intensity exercise group. Researchers found the level of fitness changes in the high intensity interval training group were associated with improved survival and lower risk of stroke-related ...

Pathological abnormalities associated with motor neurone disease have been identified using a new technique developed at the University of Birmingham.  The method will help scientists better understand the changes in the brain that lead to motor neurone disease (MND) and could eventually yield insights that will help with the development of new treatments. The abnormalities were identified in a collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the University of Sheffield and published today [8 Aug] in Nature Communications.  Motor neurone disease, also known ...

Using zebrafish “Avatars”, an animal model developed by the Cancer Development and Innate Immune Evasion lab at the Champalimaud Foundation (CF), led by Rita Fior, Mayra Martínez-López – a former PhD student at the lab now working at the Universidad de las Américas in Quito, Ecuador – and colleagues studied the initial steps of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine’s action on bladder cancer cells. Their results, which are published today (August 1, 2024) in the journal Disease Models and Mechanisms, show that macrophages – the first line of ...

August 8, 2024, Cleveland: New Cleveland Clinic research shows that consuming foods with erythritol, a popular artificial sweetener, increases risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. The findings, from a new intervention study in healthy volunteers, show erythritol made platelets (a type of blood cell) more active, which can raise the risk of blood clots. Sugar (glucose) did not have this effect.   Published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, the research adds to increasing evidence that erythritol may not be as safe as currently ...

Scientists have developed a new way of counting labelled proteins in living cells that could become a standard and valuable tool in the field of biomedical research. This powerful new technique, known as Protein-tag Degree of Labelling (ProDOL), provides a robust and versatile approach for precisely determining labelling efficiencies, the number of proteins that are labelled with fluorescent markers in living cells, in microscopy, a crucial aspect of protein quantification in biological research. The method ...

Since the industrial revolution, microbes have successfully colonized one novel type of habitat after another: for example marine oil spills, plastic floating in the oceans, industrial brownfields, and even the interior of the International Space Station. However, it turns out that one extreme environment harboring a specialized community of highly adapted microbes is much closer to home: inside microwaves. This finding has now been reported for the first time in a study in Frontiers in Microbiology by researchers from Spain. It’s not only important from the perspective of ...

The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) today announced it is investing in a state-of-the-art cluster of over 100 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs to enhance its computing infrastructure and scale up machine learning for academic research. The latest-generation GPU cluster specializes in training large language models for generative AI and machine learning. The Institute-funded, multi-million investment helps accelerate AI research in the public sphere at scale and consolidates ISTA as a European computational hotspot. In the generative artificial intelligence (AI) era, AI research and ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. (Aug. 8, 2024) – With a new $11.3 million Program Project grant from the National Institutes of Health, experts from the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University are working to better understand the underlying mechanisms of cardiovascular disease. “Blood vessels are critical for the transport of oxygen, nutrients, and immune cells and when they don’t function properly it not only impacts the function of the heart, but other organs such as the lung, eye, brain ...

A new joint study by RMIT and the University of Bristol has revealed secrets to the remarkably steady flight of kestrels and could inform future drone designs and flight control strategies.   Watch video: YouTube  Making drones safer and more stable in turbulent conditions, or in cities where wind gusts from tall buildings make flying more difficult, makes applications like parcel delivery, food delivery and environmental monitoring more feasible, more often.     The study conducted in RMIT’s Industrial Wind Tunnel facility – one of the largest of its kind in ...

In a new study, a molecule identified and synthesized by UCLA Health researchers was shown to restore cognitive functions in mice with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease by effectively jumpstarting the brain's memory circuitry.  If proven to have similar effects in humans, the candidate compound would be novel among Alzheimer’s disease treatments in its ability to revitalize memory and cognition, study authors said.   “There is really nothing like this on the market or experimentally that ...

TUCSON, Ariz., August 7, 2024 – Critical Path Institute (C-Path), whose mission is to lead collaborations that accelerate drug development, advancing better treatments for people worldwide, is proud to announce its inaugural C-Path Global Impact Conference (CGIC), taking place from September 9-11, 2024, at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center.  The conference represents a significant expansion of C-Path’s mission, focusing on critical areas of drug development. These areas highlight ...

Skin-to-skin cuddling with a parent has lasting cognitive benefits for premature babies, according to a new Stanford Medicine study. Preemies who received more skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, while hospitalized as newborns were less likely to be developmentally delayed at 1 year of age, the study found. The research, which was published online July 11 in the Journal of Pediatrics, showed that even small increases in the amount of skin-to-skin time made a measurable difference in the babies’ neurologic development during their first year. “It’s ...

Ever since we learned that the surface of planet Mars is cold and dead, people have wondered if there is a way to make it friendlier to life.   In a groundbreaking study published Aug. 7 in Science Advances, researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Central Florida have proposed a revolutionary approach towards terraforming Mars. This new method, using engineered dust particles released to the atmosphere, could potentially warm the Red Planet by more ...

A new global analysis of the dietary habits of children and adolescents from 185 countries revealed that youth, on average, consumed nearly 23% more sugar-sweetened beverages in 2018 compared to 1990. Overall, intakes were similar in boys and girls, but higher in teens, urban residents, and children of parents with lower levels of education. Researchers from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University published the findings Aug. 7 in The BMJ. The study drew from the Global Dietary Database, a large comprehensive compilation of what people around the world eat or drink, to generate the first global estimates and trends of sugar-sweetened ...

Children and adolescents across the world consumed on average 23% more sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) in 2018 than they did in 1990, show the results of a study published in The BMJ today. Over the same period, a corresponding rise was seen in the prevalence of obesity among young people. Unhealthy diets, especially intake of sugar sweetened beverages, play a crucial role in obesity. Although tracking the consumption of these drinks by children and adolescents is essential to understanding ...

New evidence published by The BMJ today casts doubt on a much-hyped blood test for the NHS that promises to detect more than 50 types of cancer. The test, called Galleri, has been hailed as a “ground-breaking and potentially life-saving advance” by its maker, the California biotech company Grail, and the NHS is currently running a £150m Grail-funded trial of the test involving more than 100,000 people in England, report Dr Margaret McCartney and investigative journalist Deborah Cohen. NHS England claims the test can identify many cancers that “are difficult to ...

Providing radiotherapy after surgery could prevent breast cancer from returning in the same place for up to 10 years, a long-term study suggests. This protective effect is limited after a decade, when the risk of cancer recurrence is similar to that in those who have not received radiotherapy. The findings provide a more complete picture of the long-term benefits of radiotherapy following breast cancer surgery, experts say. Surgery followed by radiotherapy remains the standard care for women with ...