Shapeshifting microrobots can brush and floss teeth - research at University of Pennsylvania [Phys.org, July 2022]

Title:

Shapeshifting microrobots can brush and floss teeth

 

By:

Katherine Unger Baillie

University of Pennsylvania

 

Published:

Phys.org, 5 July 2022

https://phys.org/news/2022-07-shapeshifting-microrobots-floss-teeth.html

 

From the article:

A shapeshifting robotic microswarm may one day act as a toothbrush, rinse, and dental floss in one. The technology, developed by a multidisciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania, is poised to offer a new and automated way to perform the mundane but critical daily tasks of brushing and flossing. It's a system that could be particularly valuable for those who lack the manual dexterity to clean their teeth effectively themselves. 

 

Chewing Gum Developed That Could Reduce COVID Transmission – Laced With Protein That “Traps” the SARS-CoV-2 Virus [SciTechDaily, December 2021]

Title:

Chewing Gum Developed That Could Reduce COVID Transmission – Laced With Protein That “Traps” the SARS-CoV-2 Virus

 

By:

University of Pennsylvania, USA

 

Published:

SciTechDaily, 4 December 2021

https://scitechdaily.com/chewing-gum-developed-that-could-reduce-covid-transmission-laced-with-protein-that-traps-the-sars-cov-2-virus/

 

From the article:

A chewing gum laced with a plant-grown protein serves as a “trap” for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, reducing viral load in saliva and potentially tamping down transmission, according to a new study.

 

University of Pennsylvania - Scientists Unveil a Promising New Strategy For Combating Pancreatic Cancer

Title:

Scientists Unveil a Promising New Strategy For Combating Pancreatic Cancer: Common mutation in pancreatic cancer creates a sensitivity to some PARP1 inhibitor drugs

 

Published:

Penn Medicine News (Press Release), University of Pennsylvania, 14 December 2020

https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2020/december/scientists-unveil-a-promising-new-strategy-for-combating-pancreatic-cancer

 

From the article:

A DNA mutation that occurs frequently in the development of many pancreatic tumors appears to make these cancers vulnerable to an existing type of drug known as PARP inhibitors, according to a new study from scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Plato was right: Earth is made, on average, of cubes

Title:
Plato was right: Earth is made, on average, of cubes

By:
University of Pennsylvania

Published:
Phys.org, 20 July 2020
https://phys.org/news/2020-07-plato-earth-average-cubes.html

From the article:
In a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team from the University of Pennsylvania, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and University of Debrecen uses math, geology, and physics to demonstrate that the average shape of rocks on Earth is a cube.

United States of America - Meharry Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania to Launch New MD/Ph.D. Program

Title:
Meharry Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania to Launch New MD/Ph.D. Program

Published:
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 3 July 2020
https://www.jbhe.com/2020/07/meharry-medical-college-and-the-university-of-pennsylvania-to-launch-new-md-ph-d-program/

From the article:
Meharry Medical College in Nashville and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School Health Care Management Department recently announced a joined MD/PhD program to foster more diversity in the healthcare field. The new Meharry/Wharton alliance serves as a continuance of a long-existing collaboration between Wharton, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and Meharry’s Center for Health Policy. The joint MD/PhD program will further both institutions’ efforts to bolster minority influence in healthcare and increase participation by members of underrepresented communities in health research. The program is expected to launch in 2021.

SingularityHub, 19 May 2020 - Scientists Are Cloning the Coronavirus Like Crazy. Here’s Why - and the Risks

Title:
Scientists Are Cloning the Coronavirus Like Crazy. Here’s Why - and the Risks

Author:
Shelly Fan

Publised:
SingularityHub, 19 May 2020
https://singularityhub.com/2020/05/19/cloning-the-coronavirus-could-mean-a-faster-cure-lets-talk-about-the-risks/

From the article:
"Most biomedical researchers are busy finding ways to squash the new coronavirus. Meanwhile, synthetic biologists are busy cloning it in droves.  

In late February a team from the University of Bern, led by Dr. Volker Thiel, published a relatively simple recipe to artificially cook up SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in the lab. It required only two main ingredients: synthetic chunks of the virus’s genomic instructions, which can be ordered online; and yeast. In experienced hands, the process isn’t much harder than baking sourdough bread from a self-made starter."

&

"Yet there’s a dark side to that broader access: the same platform used to make SARS-CoV-2 from scratch can potentially also make it more deadly or more transmissible. In nightmare scenarios, the same technology that could rid us of the plague could also turn it into a bioweapon."