Important Innovations

Universal, Cheaper, Stable Vaccines Source:  University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston DNA Vaccines that Could Impact World Health Scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston have developed a universal vaccine platform.  It cuts production and storage costs by 80%.  It can be stockpiled at room temperature for years.  And the new vaccines are as effective and safe as current vaccines. DNA Based Immunizations The breakthrough is that the scientists engineered the vaccines in DNA form.   According to the scientists, testing proved a resounding success with the desired immunizations resulting. Global Health Impact The scientists' findings and their new vaccine methodology was published in EBioMedicine.  This is of particular importance to hot, 3rd world countries where 80% of the vaccine cost comes from refrigeration.

Successful Treatment on Dogs with the Disease London and Dallas Research Team  For the first time, there is real hope for a potential cure for Muscular Dystrophy.  A team of scientists from the Royal Veterinary College in London and UT Southwestern Medical College in Dallas used gene therapy on dogs with the disease.  They repaired a gene mutation that triggers the fatal condition. Editing DNA This is an important step in the process to edit DNA in people with the fatal disease.  20,000 children, mostly boys, are diagnosed with it every year.  Muscular Dystrophy is caused by a gene mutation that stops production of dystrophin, a protein that's essential to healthy muscle function.  Without the protein muscles dramatically deteriorate. More Research The research was published in the journal Science.  The scientists successfully used gene editing in 4 dogs with the disease.  The procedure restored the production of dystrophin in the animals.  Experts say much more res

No Programming, AI Learns from Experience - Radical New Approach Researchers are developing a novel platform for artificial intelligence that can teach computers to learn like humans do.  The program is being developed by scientists at the University of Texas at San Antonio.  It's cognitive learning that is teaching computers to learn without specifically programming them to do it.  This is a very radical AI system and approach that's based on the human ability to learn from experience. Cloud Based System Built on 5 Centuries The scientists say this involves an entirely new platform for machine learning to teach computers to learn like we do.  They built a cloud-based platform based on their studying how education and understanding have evolved over the past 5 centuries.  This to help computers develop deductive reasoning. Goal - Smarter Machines to Help Humans Their goal is to teach machines to be smarter.  To do that they studied how humans learn over a lifetime.  C

Potential Remedy for 25 Million People with Autism More than 25 million people have autism globally. 4 million in the US alone.  For them and their families comes hopeful news.  Researchers have just discovered that editing a gene in the brain can decrease the repetitive behavior, which is a symptom of autism spectrum disorders. This is believed to be the first time that a causal gene for autism in the brain was successfully edited and the disease's symptoms were diminished.  The diminished symptoms were permanent. Nanoparticles at Work Like a Pair of Scissors on DNA Researchers at the University of Texas in San Antonio are behind this breakthrough.  They used nanoparticle carriers to inject a gene editing enzyme into the striatum, a brain region associated with the formation of habits. Enzymes are proteins that trigger biochemical reactions.  The  enzyme used by the team was Cas9. The researchers said Cas9 is like a pair of scissors which they used to cut the genetic blu