Injections to the brain to help treat Parkinsonās, and less invasive FDA brain computer interfaces to aid in surgeries, and potentially help patients. Sounds like weāre living more in a science fiction world day by day, but itās reality! Although weāre still seeing quite a bit of negative voices towards the āwar against scienceā in the us and its overarching ramifications that are not going to be short-lived. So grab a cuppa and letās enjoy some science stories.
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Now, for some truly encouraging news in the medical field. Two early-stage clinical trials focused on using stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease have yielded positive results. These trials primarily aimed to assess the safety of injecting neural progenitor cells derived from stem cells into the brains of patients with Parkinson's. Importantly, the results indicate that the procedure is indeed safe. Beyond safety, the trials also showed promising signs of effectiveness. The transplanted cells survived and, crucially, produced dopamine, the neurotransmitter that is progressively lost in individuals with Parkinson's. Some participants in the trials even experienced visible reductions in tremors, a hallmark symptom of the disease.
Brain-computer interface company Precision Neuroscience just got the FDA's okay (late last month, btw) for their brain-computer interface implant. It's kinda limited right now, but still a maaaajor step towards controlling tech with just your thoughts. It was recently tested in surgeries for interfacing with a robotic arm to help with Parkinsonās disease and as a monitor to avoid risky areas, with great results. Wild, right? Bloomberg dropped the news. āØ
In similar news, Science Corp., a neurotech startup founded by Neuralink co-founder Max Hodak, has raised over $100 million in a round led by Khosla Ventures. The Alameda-based company is developing a retina implant to treat eye diseases, alongside a brain implant system targeting broader neurological applications. Read more about it from Bloomberg as well.
Technologies in the field of medicine always advance rapidly. One such innovation is the PillCam, a small swallowable camera that can be used as a minimally invasive method to view the intestinal tract. However, things donāt always go as smoothly as was the case with Adrian Thiessen, who was battling a mysterious gastrointestinal condition. Ultimately, he ended up swallowing this pill, which ended up stuck and was removed only 6 months later, with a surprising additional result of finding the cause for his troubles: more than 30 cm of scarred tissue in his small intestine, probably developed due to a localized form of Crohnās disease.
Read the full story HERE
You may remember us covering the data privacy issues surrounding 23andMeās bankruptcy. Now Congress is getting involved and has sent a letter to 23andMeās interim CEO to ask how the now-bankrupt company will handle customer data if it gets acquired. āGiven the lack of HIPAA protections, the patchwork of state laws covering genetic privacyā¦we are concerned that this trove of sensitive information is at risk of being compromised.ā
Read more HERE
Although we have covered Trumpās actions on science before, they are still raising voices. Even from a recent 2024 Nobel prize winner, a biochemist and a computational biologist, focusing on proteins. He has said that just from his team, 15 PhDs and postdocs want to leave the US. It is alarming how many cuts science is seeing, even within areas like cancer and Alzheimerās research, potentially putting roadblocks in the way of getting solutions to those who need them.
Read more about it HERE
That was it for our favorites this week. Weāve been quite enjoying seeing the spring come to bloom this week as the grass is starting to get greener, the leaves are growing on the trees, and the first flowers have also appeared. Hope you have been doing the same! Now we love sharing these stories but of course we canāt get to everything since we are all busy individuals so we love hearing from you as well if you see something cool or interesting (or maybe you are getting something published!) we would love to hear about it, potentially share it and credit about it. So shoot us a message by replying here or on LinkedIn, for example!
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