With the release of platforms like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney, diffusion generative models have achieved mainstream popularity, owing to their ability to generate a series of absurd, breathtaking, and often meme-worthy images from text prompts like “teddy bears working on new AI research on the moon in the 1980s.” But a team of researchers at […]
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Biologics, a class of therapeutics derived from living organisms, offer enormous advantages to patients battling challenging diseases and disorders. Treatments based on biologics can boost the immune system to stem attacks from infections or target specific pathways to block the formation of tumors. “These drugs, which have been around for just the last 20 years, […]
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When Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during a Monday Night Football game, the whole country watched in shock as everyone, including players on the field, wondered if the Buffalo Bills’ safety would ever wake up again. What It Really Means To “Build Up Immunity” Against COVID-19 Off English Thankfully he did, and now he’s […]
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Engineers at MIT and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have designed a new type of nanoparticle that can be administered to the lungs, where it can deliver messenger RNA encoding useful proteins. With further development, these particles could offer an inhalable treatment for cystic fibrosis and other diseases of the lung, the researchers say. […]
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Researchers have developed a novel combination therapy using the anticancer agent mitoxantrone (MTX), together with an antibiotic, vancomycin, for treating bacteria that are resistant to the vancomycin, which are also known as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis or VRE. The therapy uniquely targets both VRE and the host, stimulating the host immune system to more effectively clear […]
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Choosing a major was a long process for Mercy Oladipo. Coming into MIT, she was interested in both computer science and medicine, but a plan for how those passions would intersect took some time to coalesce. Oladipo finally settled on a joint major in computer science and molecular biology, which allowed her to dive into […]
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The American public really can’t handle hearing about another plague situation. But our tenuous emotional stability isn’t really the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s problem. CC Off English On Monday, the CDC announced that an “emerging” fungus, known as Candida auris, spread rapidly in U.S. healthcare facilities during the pandemic. Cases rose from 476 […]
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At a Techonomy healthcare innovation summit last fall, Ann Garnier, CEO of Lisa Health, forecasted that 2023 will be “the Year of Menopause.” And with the recent flood of high-profile investments and startup launches, her prediction seems to be coming true. The segment is overdue for attention: fewer than 7 percent of doctors have menopausal […]
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Using an RNA sensor, MIT engineers have designed a new way to trigger cells to turn on a synthetic gene. Their approach could make it possible to create targeted therapies for cancer and other diseases, by ensuring that synthetic genes are activated only in specific cells. The researchers demonstrated that their sensor could accurately identify […]
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Upon the conclusion of the Memphis Police Department’s investigation into the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, the city promised the public an additional 20 hours of video and audio evidence. However, before its expected release, the court put a block on its release, per The New York Times. That’s not the only evidence taking forever […]
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Rett syndrome is a devastating developmental disorder, principally occurring in girls, caused by mutations in the gene MECP2 that leads to severe cognitive, motor, and other symptoms. As such, the March 10 approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the first-ever treatment for the disorder, a drug called Trofinetide based on the natural […]
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Climate change is altering our bodies and changing our lives every day. But as with all public health crises, the health impacts of climate change are not evenly felt. Those who already suffer the brunt of systemic inequalities are also those who face the most severe consequences of climate change. One of the most serious […]
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One of the 12 labors of Hercules, according to ancient lore, was to destroy a nine-headed monster called the Hydra. The challenge was that when Hercules used his sword to chop off one of the monster’s heads, two would grow back in its place. He therefore needed an additional weapon, a torch, to vanquish his […]
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Imani PerryPhoto: Courtesy of the subject We know Imani Perry as a brilliant New York Times bestselling author who won the 2022 National Book Award for non-fiction for her book “South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation.” The ivy-league educated professor of African American Studies, is frequently […]
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Imani PerryPhoto: Courtesy of the subject We know Imani Perry as a brilliant New York Times bestselling author who won the 2022 National Book Award for non-fiction for her book “South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation.” The ivy-league educated professor of African American Studies, is frequently […]
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Photo: Emma McIntyre (Getty Images) As someone who’s spent their entire life struggling with weight issues, I am very familiar with how the stigma around being overweight can affect every aspect of your life. The thing people don’t know about obesity is that it’s actually a disease. To increase understanding around weight issues, on March […]
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Thanks to technology improvements and automation, there have been huge strides recently in DNA sequencing platforms — and that’s promising news for efforts to bring this valuable tool into mainstream healthcare. DNA sequencing has already been a poster child for how technology innovation can drive costs lower. The Human Genome Project, which sequenced the very […]
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Photo: Courtesy of the subject NFL running back Tevin Coleman and his wife Akilah are proud parents of 5-year-old twins, Nazaneen and Nezerah. Shortly after the twins’ birth, their daughter, Nazaneen, was diagnosed with sickle cell disease (SCD), a red blood cell disorder that can prevent the body’s organs from receiving oxygen they need. CC […]
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One of the most expensive steps in manufacturing protein drugs such as antibodies or insulin is the purification step: isolating the protein from the bioreactor used to produce it. This step can account for up to half of the total cost of manufacturing a protein. In an effort to help reduce those costs, MIT engineers […]
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In 2020, the School of Engineering and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company launched the MIT-Takeda Program, which aims to leverage the experience of both entities to solve problems at the intersection of health care, medicine, and artificial intelligence. Since the program began, teams have devised mechanisms to reduce manufacturing time for certain pharmaceutical products, submitted a patent […]
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Photo: PixelsEffect (Getty Images) In January, we told you about the increasing popularity of Ozempic and other drugs used to treat people with type 2 diabetes doubling as drugs used for weight loss. Since then, the demand has grown, making it even more difficult for the people who actually need the drugs to get a […]
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As a first-year U.S. Air Force cadet in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), Jupneet Singh never imagined she would rise to the rank of wing commander by the end of her MIT career. She approached her first year as a trial period without many expectations, but the close-knit community and inspiring leadership compelled her […]
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No two hearts beat alike. The size and shape of the the heart can vary from one person to the next. These differences can be particularly pronounced for people living with heart disease, as their hearts and major vessels work harder to overcome any compromised function. MIT engineers are hoping to help doctors tailor treatments […]
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NewsOne Featured Video Source: izusek / Getty A California-based HBCU is elevating its mission to increase the representation of Black doctors in medicine. The creation of a new graduate school at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is underway, CBS News reported. Although historically Black colleges and universities make up just 2.3 percent […]
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Engineers at MIT and Caltech have demonstrated an ingestible sensor whose location can be monitored as it moves through the digestive tract, an advance that could help doctors more easily diagnose gastrointestinal motility disorders such as constipation, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and gastroparesis. The tiny sensor works by detecting a magnetic field produced by an electromagnetic […]
Read MoreWhile there are many powerful bald people, from Vin Diesel and Jason Statham to The Rock and… well… apparently everybody else who has appeared in a Fast and Furious franchise movie, bald(ing) people also experience adversity and pain that most of society cannot understand. To compensate, some of them (like the aforementioned) become extremely ripped, […]
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Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is a chatbot that can not only engage in human-like conversation, but also provide accurate answers to questions in a wide range of knowledge domains. The chatbot, created by the firm OpenAI, is based on a family of “large language models” — algorithms that can recognize, predict, and generate text […]
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Seeking an opportunity to do something impactful in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, Julian Zulueta applied for an internship with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, through MIT’s PKG Public Service Center. During the summer of 2020, he analyzed requisition data to better understand how different regions across the United States were affected […]
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Despite increased awareness and substantial media coverage, the addiction and overdose crisis continues across the United States. According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 46.3 million people aged 12 or older had a substance use disorder (SUD). Among people aged 12 or older in 2021, only 4.1 million (or 1.5 percent) […]
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NewsOne Featured Video Source: FG Trade / Getty Howard University has been a driving force behind groundbreaking research that explores the correlation between racial inequities and health disparities. The historically Black university will be able to advance its efforts through a collaboration with Georgetown University. The two Washington, D.C.-based institutions are joining forces for the […]
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Photo: Rawf8 (Shutterstock) Just when you thought American prison systems couldn’t be any more inhumane, a ridiculous new bill has been proposed in Massachusetts that would permit prisoners to donate their organs in exchange for reduced sentences. Perhaps most shockingly, Democrats are sponsoring the legislation. CC Off English The “act to establish the Massachusetts incarcerated […]
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