Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have packed a gene-editing payload into a customizable, synthetic nanocapsule.
News
Fear of more dangerous second Zika, dengue infections unfounded in monkeys
As outbreaks on Pacific islands and in the Americas in recent years made Zika virus a pressing public health concern, the Zika virus’s close similarity to dengue presented the possibility that one infection may exacerbate the other.
Jawless fish take a bite out of the blood-brain barrier
A team of biomedical engineers and clinician-scientists borrowed molecules from the immune system of the parasitic sea lamprey to deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to brain tumors.
Inflamed monkey guts produce Parkinson’s-related proteins
A new study lends support to the idea that inflammation may play a key role in the development of the degenerative neurological disorder.
Clinical trial begins to test universal vaccine against canine cancer
Dogs started receiving a vaccine against cancer this week in a clinical trial at UW-Madison. If the vaccine works in dogs, it may not only provide a new strategy for addressing a critical canine health concern, it might also work in people.
Orthopedic injury therapy in rodents may soon be headed to the clinic
The research team is now working to obtain FDA approval for a first human clinical trial to treat devastating injuries in musculoskeletal tissues.
Primate studies supported 40-year-old PCB ban
When the Environmental Protection Agency banned polychlorinated biphenyls — industrial compounds once used widely in coolants and electrical insulators — in April of 1979, they were relying on the results of studies in animals that linked PCBs to dire health consequences including cancer, problems with conception, disruption of the nutrients in maternal milk and reduced cognitive abilities in offspring. Much of that work was done studying monkeys at the Wisconsin National Primate Center, and UW–Madison findings informed reference levels for PCB contamination that still guide cleanup at sites around the United States.
Hibernating Squirrels and the Government Shutdown
Hannah Carey’s lab studies how hibernating squirrels slow their metabolisms to fall into their seasonal torpor — and then speed it back up to go about their squirrel lives during the warm months. Her work could help humans extreme in extreme conditions. But the trick to studying hibernation is that happens when it happens, and disrupting scheduled research for an unscheduled government shutdown — as Carey, a comparative bioscience professor, explains in Scientific American — could cost taxpayers the fruits of the science they’re funding.
Implantable device aids weight loss
New battery-free, easily implantable weight-loss devices developed by engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison could offer a promising new weapon for battling the bulge.
Ritalin drives greater connection between brain areas key to memory, attention
New research is a first step toward understanding the way Ritalin affects the organization of the pathways that build brain networks used in attention and learning.