Say goodbye to dentures! Scientists develop new drug that can regenerate lost TEETH in mice and ferrets
Researchers developed antibodies which suppress a gene called USAG-1
They found targeting this gene allowed a lost tooth to regrow completely
Trials were successful in mice and ferrets and the next step is to test it on pigs
By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline
Published: | Updated:
A genetic treatment has been discovered which can regrow teeth, offering hope for the millions of people living with dentures.
Suppression of the gene USAG-1 with an antibody treatment was found to allow teeth to grow back.
The antibody treatment targets the sole gene and therefore stimulates tooth growth. In mice and ferret studies, missing teeth were seen to regrow fully.
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An antibody treatment targets the gene USAG-1 and stimulates tooth growth. In mice and ferret studies, missing teeth were seen to regrow (pictured)
Researchers in Japan at the universities of Kyoto and Fukui looked at the molecules which are known to be involved with dental growth.
Some of these chemicals are also involved in growth of other organs, so finding a gene which targets only teeth is difficult.
However, the researchers thought the gene USAG-1 —uterine sensitization associated gene-1 — may be a viable target.
‘We knew that suppressing USAG-1 benefits tooth growth. What we did not know was whether it would be enough,’ says study author Katsu Takahashi from Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine.
Monoclonal antibodies which target USAG-1 were given to animals in a single dose and were enough to regenerate an entire tooth.
After successful trials in mice, the researchers branched out to ferrets, a more complex animal with similar dental patterns to humans.
‘Our next plan is to test the antibodies on other animals such as pigs and dogs,’ says Dr Takahashi.
Current treatments for tooth loss are limited to dentures and other forms of artificial tooth replacement.
Current treatments for tooth loss are limited to dentures and other forms of artificial tooth replacement. However, they are not permanent and are often expensive while being inferior to real teeth
However, they are not permanent and are often expensive while being inferior to real teeth.
‘Conventional tissue engineering is not suitable for tooth regeneration,’ adds Manabu Sugai of the University of Fukui, another author of the study.
‘Our study shows that cell-free molecular therapy is effective for a wide range of congenital tooth agenesis.’
The study is published in Science Advances.
Adults who suffer from gum disease are TWICE as likely to have high blood pressure, study warns
People with severe gum disease are twice as likely to have high blood pressure, according to a new study.
A study of 250 people with periodontitis — severe gum disease — found people with the condition are 2.3 times more likely to have a systolic blood pressure higher than 140 mm Hg, the medical threshold for hypertension.
Periodontitis is an infection of the gums that often leads to bleeding and can result in tooth or bone loss.
Researchers from University College London studied both systolic and diastolic blood pressure — how much force the blood is under when the heart contracts and relaxes, respectively.
Both metrics are measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and people with gum disease have, on average, a 3.36 mm Hg higher systolic pressure.
Their diastolic blood pressure is also elevated by 2.16 mm Hg compared to people with impeccable dental health.
Among orally healthy people only seven per cent of individuals had a systolic blood pressure above 140 mm Hg.
This figure doubles to 14 per cent among people with gum disease.
In the struggle to slow the runaway freight train of humanity’s destructive impact on Earth, scientists are increasingly looking at the role our oceans can play.
Teaming up with industry, scientists from the University of Southern California have discovered a ‘kelp elevator’ technique that produces ample seaweed, potentially providing a high-yield biofuel to help wean us off fossil fuels.
Many land-based biofuels capable of powering cars, planes, ships, and trucks are currently sourced from mass-produced farm crops like corn, soybeans, and switchgrass. There are several problems with these options, including using up limited food-providing land space, guzzling massive amounts of water, pollution from pesticides and fertilizers, and encroaching on rare biodiverse habitats.
Not only does relying on giant marine algae like seaweed avoid these problems, but the biology of seaweed is also more suited to use as a biofuel.
Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) can grow at an impressive rate of up to 35 cm (14 inches) a day, in ideal conditions. They constantly form new fronds, allowing the harvesting of the mature fronds, which can reach 30 metres (98 feet) in length and would otherwise just deteriorate and die, without impacting the kelp’s growth.
As kelp is a protist, rather than a plant, its molecular composition lacks the sturdy plant lignin that complicates the process of converting land crops into fuel. Furthermore, growing kelp also captures carbon dioxide, which in turn elevates pH levels and oxygen supplies in the immediate areas – helping mitigate the local effects of ocean acidification.
But questions remain over whether we can farm enough seaweed to fuel our future in an environmentally friendly way. Now, researchers may have discovered a way to effectively mass produce kelp – by raising and lowering kelp’s depth in the water.
“We found that depth-cycled kelp grew much faster than the control group of kelp, producing four times the biomass production,” University of Southern California environmental scientist Diane Young Kim said.
By cycling the depth of the kelp across a day, the team discovered it was taking nutrients from deeper in the water that were missing closer to the surface at night, fueling its extra growth, while still receiving enough access to sunlight in shallower depths during the day.
The team found the kelp exposed to greater depths experienced some physiological changes that made them better equipped to deal with the increased pressure. Their pneumatocysts – the air-filled structures that help kelp fronds float closer to the sun – became thicker and more filled with fluid.
The researchers built a kelp elevator off the coast of California out of fibreglass and stainless steel, with horizontal beams they could “plant” juvenile kelp on. The whole structure was cycled through the water column using an automated, solar-powered winch.
“The good news is the farm system can be assembled from off-the-shelf products without new technology,” explained one of the team, chief engineer of Marine BioEnergy Brian Wilcox. “Once implemented, depth-cycling farms could lead to a new way to produce affordable, carbon-neutral fuel year-round.”
This technique could open up to farming huge regions of nutrient-poor ocean where kelp wouldn’t usually grow, which would allow us to also protect vital carbon sinks of naturally occurring kelp forests while still making use of the brown algae.
The team urged further investigation in this area as much remains to work out before we can see if this idea really is as good as it sounds, including the costs and energy requirements involved in growing, transportation, and converting the kelp biomass into liquid fuels.
But other scientists, like Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution biologist Scott Lindell, are also working on selectively breeding hardier and larger kelp species that would be even more suitable for use as a biofuel.
“In a hotter and drier world of the future,” Lindell said in 2019, “it will be hard to find a better resource for biofuels than farmed seaweeds that require no arable land, no fresh water, and no fossil-fuel-derived fertilizer in contrast to modern land crops.”
This research was published in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
TAOYUAN, Taiwan — Apple has partnered with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to develop ultra-advanced display technology at a secretive facility in Taiwan, Nikkei Asia learned.
The California tech giant plans to develop micro OLED displays — a radically different type of display built directly onto chip wafers — with the ultimate goal of using the new technology in its upcoming augmented reality devices, sources briefed on the matter said.
Apple is collaborating with its longtime chip supplier TSMC because micro OLED displays are not built on glass substrates like the conventional LCD screens in smartphones and TVs, or OLED displays used in high-end smartphones. Instead, these new displays are built directly onto wafers — the substrates that semiconductors are fabricated on — allowing for displays that are far thinner and smaller and use less power, making them more suitable for use in wearable AR devices, according to sources familiar with the projects.
The project represents a further deepening of Apple’s relationship with TSMC, the sole supplier of iPhone processors, even as the U.S. tech giant works to reduce its reliance on other major suppliers. The Taiwanese chipmaking giant is also helping Apple build its in-house designed central processors for Mac computers.
The micro OLED project is now at the trial production stage, sources said, and it will take several years to achieve mass production. The displays under development are less than 1 inch in size.
“Panel players are good at making screens bigger and bigger, but when it comes to thin and light devices like AR glasses, you need a very small screen,” said a source who has direct information on the micro OLED R&D project. “Apple is partnering with TSMC to develop the technology because the chipmaker’s expertise is making things ultra-small and good, while Apple is also leveraging panel experts’ know-how on display technologies.”
Some parts of the planned microdisplay manufacturing will use TSMC’s existing chip-production equipment and processes, sources said.
The project is one of two being conducted at Apple’s secretive labs in Longtan District in the northern Taiwanese city of Taoyuan. In addition to micro OLED displays, the company is also working on micro LED technology, and has trial production lines in place for both types, Nikkei has learned.
Apple’s complex in Longtan Science Park consists of several unmarked white buildings — there is no company logo or address on the outside, and only a very faint apple symbol could be seen in the lobby, Nikkei reporters saw on a recent visit. Apple registered a company at the park in 2014, and expanded it in 2020. The complex is within walking distance of TSMC’s advanced chip-packaging and testing plant, which is located in the same science park.
Apple has hired dozens of veterans from Taiwanese display maker AU Optoelectronics to work on the micro OLED project, one of the sources familiar with the situation said, as well as display experts from Japan and elsewhere. Anyone who signs up to work on the program must sign a strict non-disclosure agreement that forbids them from even meeting with friends or acquaintances working in the tech industry, the source added.
The U.S. tech giant on Monday posted on a Taiwanese job platform seeking applicants to work in Longtan who have expertise in operating OLED vacuum evaporation equipment, packaging and testing equipment, and measurement equipment. It is the first time for Apple to hire manufacturing-related employees in Taiwan via public platforms.
Apple is not the only company pursuing this new line of display technology. Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a longtime Apple supplier, says it has developed micro OLED display technology that can be used in AR and VR glasses, as well as for other industrial and consumer products.
China’s display national champion BOE Technology Group has teamed up with Yunnan North OLiGHTEK Opto-Electronic Technology and U.S.-based Kopin, an ultra-small display technology provider, on a joint-venture to develop micro OLED displays for wearable and AR devices.
Apple’s other display project at the Longtan campus focuses on micro LED technology, which the company hopes to eventually use in the Apple Watch, iPads and MacBooks. Apple has partnered with Taiwanese LED company Epistar to co-develop the technology.
Like micro OLEDs, the micro LED project also involves some chip manufacturing technology. The components are 100 times smaller than those used in LED lighting products and they do not need backlight modules like traditional LEDs and LCDs, meaning the display can be much thinner. Micro LEDs also provide high color contrast and can be used to make curved or foldable screens, similar to OLED screens.
Samsung, Apple, BOE Technology and China’s largest LED maker San’an Optoelectronics are all working to make the technology commercially viable, but finding a way to mass-transfer millions of tiny components to a substrate accurately and affordably remains a major hurdle.
Apple’s push to develop these new display technologies is part of its efforts to reduce its dependence on Samsung Electronics, the global leader in OLEDs — and the U.S. company’s biggest rival in the smartphone arena. The South Korean company is Apple’s main supplier of the cutting edge displays, which are now seen as a must-have feature for high-end smartphones. OLED screens are the second-most costly component in the iPhone 12 range, after the Qualcomm 5G modem.
“Not every technology that Apple develops will be introduced or actually used in its products, but the company could strategically apply patents for its own patent portfolio and technology advancements to gain more control in the next generation technologies,” one of the people said.
TSMC declined to comment for this story. Apple did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Eric Chiou, a veteran display analyst at research agency TrendForce, told Nikkei that Micro OLED could be the most ideal display technology for next-generation AR displays as it can make a display ultra-small, reducing the overall weight of the device, but also comes with high-resolution. “The technology is a mix of semiconductor and display manufacturing know-how,” Chiou said.
“However, it is currently in its early stage of development. It is not likely Apple could immediately introduce its self-developed technology into its first AR products in one to two years,” the analyst added.
NASA will pay a scientific foodie up to $500,000 if they can discover a way to feed astronauts more efficiently in deep space.
(NASA’s “Deep Space Food Challenge” iStock)
The “Deep Space Food Challenge,” in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and the Privy Council Office (PCO), is a competition aimed at serving up food technologies or systems “that require minimal inputs and maximize safe, nutritious, and palatable food outputs for long-duration space missions,” according to a description on its website.
NASA ASTRONAUTS CONDUCT FIRST SPACEWALK OF 2021
The space agencies are trying to find a more feasible way to use tech to bring nutritious food into the restricted spacecraft environment, but not weigh the spacecraft down, or produce more waste. The contest specifically calls for creators to find a variety of “palatable, nutritious, and safe foods that requires little processing time for crew members,” which indicates that taste is a factor, too.
The Deep Space Food Challenge’s website stipulates that this tech should be designed to feed a crew of up to four astronauts over the course of a three-year period. Scientists who want to cook up an idea have until May 28 to register. NASA will award $25,000 to up to 20 teams.
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“NASA has knowledge and capabilities in this area, but we know that technologies and ideas exist outside of the agency,” Grace Douglas, NASA lead scientist for advanced food technology at Johnson Space Center in Houston, told UPI.
“Raising awareness will help us reach people in a variety of disciplines that may hold the key to developing these new technologies,” she added.
Thanks to its flexibility and adhesion, the biodegradable display can be worn directly on the hand. Credit: Manuel Pietsch, KIT
In the next years, increasing use of electronic devices in consumables and new technologies for the internet of things will increase the amount of electronic scrap. To save resources and minimize waste volumes, an eco-friendlier production and more sustainable lifecycle will be needed. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now been the first to produce displays, whose biodegradability has been checked and certified by an independent office. The results are reported in the Journal of Materials Chemistry.
“For the first time, we have demonstrated that it is possible to produce sustainable displays that are largely based on natural materials with the help of industrially relevant production methods. After use, these displays are no electronic scrap, but can be composted. In combination with recycling and reuse, this might help minimize or completely prevent some of the environmental impacts of electronic scrap,” says Manuel Pietsch, first author of the publication and researcher of KIT’s Light Technology Institute (LTI), who is working at the Heidelberg InnovationLab.
Low energy consumption, simple component architecture
Functioning of the display is based on the so-called electrochromic effect of the initial organic material. When voltage is applied, light absorption is modified and the material changes its color. Electrochromic displays have a low energy consumption and simple component architecture compared to commercially available displays, such as LED, LCD, and E-paper. Another advantage is that these displays can be produced by inkjet printing in a customized, inexpensive, and material-efficient way. Moreover, this process is suited for scaling with a high throughput. The materials used mainly are of natural origin or biocompatible. Sealing with gelatine makes the display adhesive and flexible, such that it can be worn directly on the skin.
Use in medical diagnostics and food packagings
The display is generally suited for short-lifecycle applications in various sectors. In medical diagnostics, for instance, where hygiene plays an important role, sensors and their indicators have to be cleaned or disposed of after use. The newly developed display will not be dumped as electronic scrap, but is compostable. It can also be used for quality monitoring in food packagings, where reuse is not permitted. Digital printing allows the displays to be adapted to persons or complex shapes without any expensive modification of the process. This reduces the consumption of resources.
“As far as we know, this is the first demonstration of a biodegradable display produced by inkjet printing. It will pave the way to sustainable innovations for other electronic components and to the production of eco-friendlier electronics,” says Gerardo Hernandez-Sosa, Head of LTI’s Printed Electronics Group at the Heidelberg InnovationLab.
Having an eye for colors: Printable light sensors
More information:
Manuel Pietsch et al. Biodegradable inkjet-printed electrochromic display for sustainable short-lifecycle electronics, Journal of Materials Chemistry C (2020). DOI: 10.1039/d0tc04627b
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Researchers develop biodegradable printed display (2021, January 26)
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