New Atlas

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Supercool technique keeps liquids liquid well below freezing

Michael Irving August 12, 2018

Freezing is one of the simplest methods of preserving food, biological tissue and other perishables, but the formation of ice crystals can damage cells. Now, researchers have developed a new way to “supercool” water in a liquid form well below the usual freezing point.

Researchers have developed a new method to supercool liquids well below freezing without ice crystals forming

Medical

Cell-killing electrical pulses help heal burns

Ben Coxworth August 9, 2016

Although high-voltage electrical shocks can cause burns, scientists have recently shown that the application of pulsed electric fields actually aids in healing them. It does so by killing skin cells.

In rat trials, burn scars were reduced in size by 58 percent by the end of ...

Medical

Stripping donor hearts and repopulating them with recipient-derived stem cells

David Szondy March 14, 2016

Scientists are working on ways to create bioengineered human hearts by first stripping donor hearts of cells and then using the potential recipient's own induced pluripotent stem cells to generate cardiac muscle cells that can be used to repopulate the heart in an automated bioreactor system.

A partially recellularized human whole-heart cardiac scaffold, reseeded with human cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem ...

Medical

Researchers use ultrasound waves to improve GI tract drug delivery

Chris Wood October 26, 2015

A team of researchers has successfully used ultrasound waves to speed up drug delivery to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The study was conducted by researchers from MIT and the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and could significantly improve improve treatment.

The new technique could lead to much quicker drug delivery for inflammatory GI diseases, and could ...

Medical

Scientists come a step closer to "regrowing" limbs

Ben Coxworth June 3, 2015

Currently, recipients of limb transplants need to take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their lives. If we could grow our own replacement limbs, however, that wouldn't be necessary. Now, scientists have created a shortcut of sorts for doing so.

The decellularized rat forelimb is injected with muscle and vascular cells

Electronics

Coating makes swallowing batteries safer for curious kids

Darren Quick November 5, 2014

Children swallowing batteries is a serious problem that can result in burns to the esophagus or tears in the digestive tract. Researchers may not have found a way to stop kids swallowing batteries, but they have found a way to make such culinary no-nos safer.

Researchers have developed a coating that prevents a battery from conducting electricity when swallowed (Image: Christine ...

Medical

MIT pioneers drug delivery system with the potential to replace injections

Anthony Wood October 2, 2014

MIT has pioneered a method of drug distribution with the potential to dispense with traditional subcutaneous injections. The system uses a small capsule coated with microneedles in order to administer the medicines directly into the lining of the intestine.

Diagram of the capsule releasing its pharmaceutical payload into the intestinal lining (Image: MIT)

Medical

"Smart" bandage glows to indicate how wounds are healing

Ben Coxworth October 1, 2014

When a person's skin is burnt or otherwise injured, part of the body's healing process involves boosting oxygen levels in the damaged tissue. A new paint-on bandage indicates those levels, by glowing when exposed to bright light.

The bandage indicates oxygen concentrations across the wound site (Image: Li/Wellman Center for Photomedicine)

Medical

Corneas regrown using human stem cells

Colin Jeffrey July 4, 2014

Researchers have discovered a way to improve regrowth of corneal tissue in the human eye using a molecule known as ABCB5 to act as an identifying marker for rare limbal stem cells. Transplants in mice using this technique have successfully grown fully-functional transparent corneas.

Researchers regrow corneas using human stem cells (Photo: Shutterstock)

Health & Wellbeing

Bionic pancreas shows promise in trials

Ben Coxworth June 16, 2014

This February, we first heard about a "bionic pancreas" that could radically improve the lives of type 1 diabetics. At the time, multi-day trials involving groups of adult and adolescent patients were still yet to occur. Those trials have now taken place, and the results are definitely encouraging.

The bionic pancreas' two pumps, sensor, and app-packing iPhone 4s