biotechnology

A team from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche and the Alicante Hospital has implanted a microelectrode array in the brains of two blind people. This array is capable of sending electrical stimuli that evoke visual perceptions, something that has been done before, and also of "reading" neuronal responses and adapting to them in real time. The system has allowed them to recognize various complex patterns, movements, shapes, and even some letters. According to the researchers, this new technology "can help make the difference between perceiving a flash and seeing the world." The results are published in the journal Science Advances.  

An international team, including several Spanish groups and coordinated by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), has developed a pioneering technology that allows for the creation of multiple human kidney organoids, their combination with pig kidneys outside the body, and their successful transplantation back into the same animal. The method could contribute to improving future research and, according to the authors, allows us to envision a future clinical scenario in which organs destined for transplantation can be treated and conditioned before implantation. The work is published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. 

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness and there is no treatment that can restore vision. Now, an international team has tested a device that combines a small wireless chip implanted in the back of the eye with high-tech glasses. The scientists have managed to partially restore vision in people with an advanced form of the disease. Specifically, 26 of the 32 people who completed the trial had clinically significant improvement and were able to read. The results are published in the journal NEJM.

A team led by the University of Cambridge (UK) has used human stem cells to produce three-dimensional embryo-like structures that replicate certain aspects of early development, including, they say, the production of blood stem cells. They have called these structures “hematoids” and, according to the university press release, “they offer great potential for better understanding blood formation during the earliest stages of human development, for simulating disorders such as leukemia, and for producing long-lived blood stem cells for transplantation.” The results are published in the journal Cell Reports. 

Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted protein engineering is enabling advances in the design of new molecules, but it also poses biosafety challenges related to the potential production of harmful or dangerous proteins. Some of these threats, whether deliberate or accidental, may not be detected by current control tools. An international team has analyzed the situation and developed software patches to improve their identification, although they acknowledge that it remains incomplete. The authors of the study, published in the journal Science, warn that some of the data and code should not be published in a public repository due to its potential misuse.

A US research team has designed an ‘environmentally friendly and economically viable’ method for recovering rare earth elements from electronic waste. It is cheaper than traditional methods, uses less water, acid and energy, and emits fewer greenhouse gases, according to the authors in PNAS. Rare earth elements (REE) are a group of chemical elements needed to manufacture batteries, magnets and electronic components. Both the European Union and Spain are committed to these critical materials in order to reduce their dependence on foreign sources. 

In 2015, the United Kingdom became the first country to pass legislation allowing the use of mitochondrial donation technology, pronuclear transfer. The technique is designed to limit, through in vitro fertilization, the transmission of mitochondrial DNA diseases in babies born to women who are at high risk, and for which there is no cure. Two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) describe the results of the first treatments performed to date, from which eight babies have been born by mitochondrial donation, with reduced risk of disease.

An international team, co-led by researchers from the CNAG in Barcelona, has developed a new technique that allows millions of individual cells to be analysed at the same time without the need for sequencing, using what is known as spatial genomics. The technique, called STAMP, could make this type of analysis cheaper and more widespread. ‘We are opening the door to revolutionary advances in precision medicine, enabling the development of highly targeted diagnostics and therapies capable of transforming clinical outcomes,’ say the authors, who publish their findings in the journal Cell.

A team led by the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has developed and used a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool called CANYA, together with a large volume of data, to predict when and why protein aggregation takes place. The resource could be used to advance research into neurodegenerative diseases and drug production, according to the joint press release. The results are published in the journal Science Advances.

A research team has managed to ‘rejuvenate’ embryonic stem cells from mice to give them greater differentiation potential, according to an article published in the EMBO Journal. Changing the type of sugar these cells use to grow modifies their metabolism and, according to the researchers, could improve their therapeutic potential or their use in in vitro fertilisation treatments.