Category: Biotechnology
Stem cell treatments: Miracle cures or dangerous experiments?
Hype has led some to pay thousands of dollars for stem cell treatments that promise to cure ailments but that often don’t help and may harm patients.
DIY Tech Gives People More Freedom In Managing Diabetes
Using instructions freely available online, do-it-yourselfers ― who belong to what’s known as the “open-source community” ― close the loop between an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor.
Despite Failed Promises, Stem Cell Advocates Again Want Taxpayers To Pony Up Billions
In 2004, Californians voted to shell out billions in taxpayer money to fund stem cell research. But 15 years later, some are asking ‘Where are the cures?”
Infusion Treatments For Low Iron Can Deplete Patients’ Wallets
Physicians profit handsomely from infusions. And they are paid based on the prescribed drug’s average price giving them an incentive to pick the most expensive.
Doctor Alexa Will See You Now: Is Amazon Primed To Come To Your Rescue?
Amazon thinks Alexa, its virtual assistant, could help diagnose mental illness, autism, concussions and even tell when you’re having a heart attack.
Researchers create protein switch that allows unprecedented control over cells function
Scientists have created the first completely artificial protein switch that can work inside living cells to modify—or even commandeer—the cell’s complex internal circuitry. The switch is dubbed “LOCKR,” short for Latching, Orthogonal Cage/Key pRotein. Companion papers published July 24 in…
Stem Cell Company Persuades Employers To Steer Workers Toward Controversial Therapy
The benefits of stem cells are hotly debated in the medical community, and federal regulators have warned the public to beware of clinics that peddle unapproved injections as a cure-all.
“Alexa, monitor my heart.”
UW researchers have developed software that would allow smart speakers and smartphones to detect heart attacks in the home and call for help.
Miracle machine can leave patients in limbo
ECMO is designed to be a bridge to somewhere — recovery, transplantation or an implanted heart device. But for some patients it can be “bridge to nowhere.”
Is virtual medicine going to be good for your health?
My doctor’s nurse is far better equipped to answer a question about my ongoing health problem than someone at a call center reading from a script.
Hidden Reports Masked The Scope Of Widespread Harm From Faulty Heart Device
Shortly after the device’s recall, the FDA and Medtronic made a deal to keep reports of its malfunction — now totaling 50,000 — shielded from public scrutiny.
Stem cell clinics pushing unproven treatments largely unregulated
There are more than 700 clinics in the U.S. selling unproven stem cell cellular therapies, generating $2 billion in global business that is largely unregulated.
Breast cancer diagnosis by AI now as good as human experts
One artificial intelligence system recently achieved a cancer detection accuracy comparable to an expert radiologist.
Gene therapy restores immunity in infants with ‘bubble boy’ disease
A small clinical trial has shown that gene therapy can safely correct the immune systems of infants newly diagnosed with a rare, inherited disorder.
UW protein design group wins $45 million award
“We hope to attract the best and brightest in the world to the institute to work on what we believe is going to be a protein-design revolution.”