In February, there were  a study involving Japanese women whose reproductive stem cells were donated because they were undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital were able tocoax these ovarian stem cells into becoming immature human egg cells, which were then incubated in mice so they’d have the proper ovarian structures. Now these same scientists, working with a team at Edinburgh University, want to fertilize them.

After sperm implantation, the scientists would watch the blastocysts develop into embryos for two weeks — the legal limit — and determine if they’re viable. Then these embryos would either be frozen or "allowed to perish," according to the independent. The tests would validate the stem-cell-derived human eggs, more properly called oocytes, and serve as an early indicator of whether they could someday be used to eradicate infertility.

Stem-cell derived oocytes could replenish the stocks of women undergoing menopause, or they could be used to allow infertile women to reproduce. The Independent goes so far as to mention an “elixir of youth,” wherein women of any age are full of stem-cell derived oocytes, remaining fertile and youthfully healthy forever.

This potential stem cell-based embryo construction still faces some hurdles — reproductive biologists are applying for a license to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in the UK. But if it’s approved, the eggs could be fertilized this year, according to the Independent.

Stem cells hold such great promise because they can differentiate into any cell, potentially replacing neurons, islet cells, kidney cells and more. But this research conceivably turns stem cells into an infinite supply of cellular material. The stem cell eggs would obviously most likely be used to help women conceive a child, but it’s not a huge leap to much more frightening scenarios: Stem cells turned into human egg cells, which could be fertilized to grow embryos, which would contain more stem cells, which could in turn be harvested …. and so on, as self-contained stem cell factories. It will be interesting to see how the UK authority interprets the possibilities.

Assistant professor Kee-Hong Kim from Purdue University is testing a compound that is commonly found in red wine for its ability to block the processes of fat cell development

Piceatannol results from the conversion of resveratrol – a compound found in red wine, grapes and peanuts that is also thought to combat cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative diseases. When resveratrol is converted into the piceatannol compound, which naturally occurs after consumption, the compound has the ability to delay fat cell growth.

"Piceatannol actually alters the timing of gene expressions, gene functions and insulin action during adipogenesis, the process in which early stage fat cells become mature fat cells," explains Kee-Hong Kim, an assistant professor of food science at the Purdue University. "In the presence of piceatannol, you can see delay or complete inhibition of adipogenesis."

Young fat cells develop over a period of 10 days or more and go through several stages of development before becoming mature fat cells. The researchers are currently testing the effects of the piceatannol compound during the early stages of fat cell development before mature fat cells occur. "These precursor cells, even though they have not accumulated lipids, have the potential to become fat cells," Kim said. "We consider that adipogenesis is an important molecular target to delay or prevent fat cell accumulation and, hopefully, body fat mass gain."

The research found that piceatannol binds to insulin receptors of immature fat cells in the first stage of adipogenesis, blocking insulin’s ability to control cell cycles and activate genes that carry out further stages of fat cell formation. In other words, piceatannol is able to block the immature fat cells from maturing and growing.

Professor Kim will now start testing the compound with an animal model of obesity and hopes to find a way to protect piceatannol from degrading in the bloodstream. "We need to work on improving the stability and solubility of piceatannol to create a biological effect," Kim said.

Kim explains the study in the video below.

Knowing that stimulating various regions of the brain can trigger behaviors and memories, the researchers set out to manipulate specific memories by inserting two genes into mice. One of the genes produces receptors that the researchers could chemically trigger to activate a neuron. This gene was tied to a natural gene that turns on only in active neurons, such as those involved in the formation or recall of a particular memory. Put simply, the researchers installed on-off switches on neurons involved in the formation of specific memories.

The team’s main experiment saw the “on” switch triggered in neurons that were active as mice learned about a new environment – dubbed Box A – that had distinct colors, smells and textures. The mice were then given a chemical that would activate the neurons associated with the memories formed of Box A and placed in a second distinct environment – Box B.

When the chemical switch was turned on while they were in Box B, the mice showed signs of recognition, indicating that they were forming a kind of hybrid memory that combined their external observations (Box B) with their internal thoughts (Box A). Neither being in Box B without the chemical switch activated nor activating the switch outside of Box B produced memory recall by the mice.

“We know from studies in both animals and humans that memories are not formed in isolation but are built up over years incorporating previously learned information,” said Scripps Research neuroscientist Mark Mayford, who led the study. “This study suggests that one way the brain performs this feat is to use the activity pattern of nerve cells from old memories and merge this with the activity produced during a new learning session.”

The team is now working towards more precise control that will allow them to turn a specific memory on or off at will, so that a mouse will perceive itself to be in Box A, when it is in fact in Box B.

It is hoped that, once the processes are better understood, the research could lead to the development of drugs that target the perception process to help with the treatment of certain mental illnesses in which the patient’s brains produce false perceptions or disabling fears, such as schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). With drug treatments that target the neurons involved when a patient thinks about a certain fear, they could turn off the neurons involved and interfere with the disruptive thought patterns.

A team led by Dr. Hugh S. Taylor, professor and chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale, exposed pregnant mice to mobile phone radiation by positioning a muted mobile phone placed on an active phone call above their cage for the duration of the trial. The same conditions but with a deactivated phone were replicated for a control group.

A battery of tests measuring the electrical activity of the brains of adult mice that were exposed to radiation as fetuses showed that they tended to be more hyperactive and had reduced memory capacity when compared to the control group.

Although the definition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is based on behavior and is not classified as a neurological disease, magnetic resonance imaging of the prefrontal cortex in sufferers has shown a development lag in this area of the brain. This led Taylor to attribute the behavioral changes in the mice to an effect of mobile phone radiation on the development of neurons in the prefrontal cortex during pregnancy.

“This is the first experimental evidence that fetal exposure to radiofrequency radiation from cellular telephones does in fact affect adult behavior,” Taylor told Yale News. “We have shown that behavioral problems in mice that resemble ADHD are caused by cell phone exposure in the womb. The rise in behavioral disorders in human children may be in part due to fetal cellular telephone irradiation exposure.”

Although Taylor admits that further research in humans into the mechanisms behind the findings is needed to identify safe exposure limits during pregnancy, he says that limiting exposure of the fetus to mobile phone radiation seems advisable.

“Cell phones were used in this study to mimic potential human exposure but future research will instead use standard electromagnetic field generators to more precisely define the level of exposure,” said first author of the study Tamir Aldad, who added that mice pregnancies last only 19 days and that mice are born with less-developed brains than human babies.

Typically, treatment consists of anti-inflammatory drugs and diuretics, along with the use of items such as compression stockings. Now scientists have developed a method of mass-producing artificial venous valves, that could replace the malfunctioning natural ones.

The artificial valves are being developed by scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation. They are made from polycarbonate-urethane (PCU), a plastic that is strong yet flexible, can be formed into very thin layers, and is easy to sew into body tissue.

In the production process, a solvent containing dissolved PCU is deposited by a dispensing tool, one droplet at a time, onto a three-dimensional venous valve prosthetic mold. The system is able to deliver up to 100 droplets per second (each one with a volume of 2 to 60 nanoliters), and is accurate to within 25 micrometers. To ensure an even covering, the droplet feeding mechanism is mounted on a six-axis positioning system, above the mold.

Once the mold is completely covered, it is subjected to a warm stream of nitrogen. This causes the solvent to evaporate, leaving nothing but the PCU behind. The process is repeated a number of times, building up multiple layers of plastic on the mold. Once the desired thickness has been reached, the finished prosthesis is simply peeled off. By varying the amount of droplets deposited in different areas of the mold, each valve ends up with six distinct grades of elasticity and hardness – this will allow it to stand up to the stresses it will encounter within the body.

According to the researchers, the artificial valves could be implanted in the leg veins via a catheter inserted through the patient’s skin. There is no word at this point on clinical trials or availability.

BAM! You’ve Just Been Speech Jammed

Psychologists have long known that for whatever reason, it’s very difficult to talk when your words are being immediately repeated to you. Not annoying-younger-sibling repeated to you, but spit back at you just a fraction after you’ve spoken. So by using a simple directional microphone and speaker device, the researchers have created a handheld “speech jammer” that records what a person is saying and repeats it back at them with a two-tenths-of-a-second delay.

In tests, the researchers said the device works well at a distance, rendering the person at the receiving end without causing any physical discomfort (nevermind the mental discomfort caused by suddenly being rendered mute). The only limitation is that it only works with words; meaningless syllables like those often expressed by pirates or onomatopoeia don’t necessarily work.

The researchers see it as a tool to maintain order in meetings or discussion groups where someone is trying to dominate the conversation. But the commercial applications are virtually endless, as there are obvious applications for anyone who ever plans to get into a relationship with another human being ever.

Those treatments are a long way off, but the finding is nonetheless pretty huge. It means that not only could stem cells be isolated from women with fertility problems to produce eggs in the lab, but that biologists could gain whole new insights into the way fertility works–how eggs are impacted by things like nutrition and pharmaceuticals.

The new study comes on the heels of a number of recent animal fertility studies that suggest that adult mice produce the same kind of stem cells that can produce healthy eggs and healthy offspring. Using equipment that can identify a specific protein found on the surfaces of reproductive cells (both male and female), scientists isolated them in the lab. They then showed that the mice cells wold generate viable eggs, capable of producing healthy embryos.

But it was unclear if the same technique would work with humans. To find out, a team of researchers obtained reproductive stem cells donated by Japanese women undergoing gender reassignment because of gender identity disorder. From these stem cells, the team was able to generate immature egg cells that showed the properties of human eggs. The researchers then placed the stem cells into human ovarian tissue and placed that into mice. Within a couple of weeks, these cells generated the proper ovarian structures for producing eggs, as well as egg cells that appear healthy and ready for fertilization.

Of course, there’s no telling yet whether that’s really the case. In the U.S., researchers aren’t allowed to fertilize human eggs in the lab just to see what happens, and there’s no guarantee that a lab-grown cell wouldn’t develop some kind of abnormality (actually, this happens a lot). Initial use of the technique would be to create eggs for research use in the lab (sans fertilization of course). But fertility treatments, while on the distant horizon, aren’t out of the question at some point in the future.

E. Coli Scanner: the device attaches to a cell phone camera.

It attaches to a typical cell phone camera and uses fluorescence imaging to detect the bacteria. Engineers at UCLA combined quantum dots, a type of tiny semiconductor, with capillaries containing antibodies. When the capillaries contain an E. coli sample, they emit light.

The cell phone attachment thereby works like a fluorescent microscope, illuminating the presence of the nasty bacteria. It’s another example of how cell phones can serve as a platform for a multitude of other sensors — CellScope, a previous PopSci Best of What’s New winner, takes microscope images and can send them to distant labs for analysis.

It’s not clear whether this UCLA scanner will ever reach the market, but it shows the potential of a portable, cheap detector for one of the worst food and water contaminants out there.

While the benefits of medical implants have already been realized with devices such as artificial pacemakers and cochlear implants, which are stationary within the body, energy storage continues to limit such devices. With half of the volume of implants often consumed by the battery, the locations in which they can be placed are limited. Additionally, batteries also need to be periodically replaced, which generally requires a surgical procedure.

Developing implants capable of traveling through the bloodstream not only requires an energy source to power the device’s medical functions, but also its propulsion system – something that today’s batteries are unable to deliver in a form factor that is small enough to fit inside arteries.

The obvious approach would be to remove the battery from the device altogether and look to wireless electromagnetic power delivery. This is just what many scientists have been working on for fifty years. While such wireless power transmission technology has recently entered the mainstream through wireless chargers for consumer devices such as mobile phones, it wasn’t believed the technology could be made small enough to be compatible with tiny implantable devices.

The problem is that, according to mathematical models, high frequency waves that would require antennas small enough to be used in such devices were believed to dissipate quickly in human tissue, fading exponentially the deeper they go. At the same time, antennas to harness enough power from low-frequency signals, which are able to penetrate the human body well, would need to be a few centimeters in diameter, making them OK for larger devices, but too large to fit in all but the biggest arteries.

However, when electrical engineer Ada Poon looked at the models more closely she realized they were calculated assuming that human muscle, fat and bone were generally good conductors of electricity. Realizing that human tissue is actually a poor conductor of electricity but that radio waves could still move through it, Poon decided to redo the models with human tissue as a type of insulator called a dielectric. Her new calculations revealed that high-frequency waves travel much farther in human tissue than previously thought.

"When we extended things to higher frequencies using a simple model of tissue we realized that the optimal frequency for wireless powering is actually around one gigahertz," said Poon, "about 100 times higher than previously thought."

This meant that antennae inside the body could be 100 times smaller while delivering the same amount of power. This finding enabled Poon to create an antenna of coiled wire small enough to be placed inside the body and receive power from a radio transmitter outside the body. The transmitter and the antenna are magnetically coupled so that any change in current flow in the transmitter induces a voltage in the coiled wire.

Poon has created two types of wirelessly powered devices that are able to propel themselves through the bloodstream. One creates a directional force by driving an electrical current directly through the blood to push itself forward at a velocity of just over half a centimeter (0.2 inches) a second. The second type switches current back-and-forth in a wire loop to produce a swishing motion to propel the device forward.

Poon’s research could finally enable the development of medical implants capable of traveling through the bloodstream to deliver drugs to a specific area, perform analyses, and maybe even zap blood clots or remove plaque from arteries.

"There is considerable room for improvement and much work remains before these devices are ready for medical applications," said Poon. "But for the first time in decades the possibility seems closer than ever."

Poon recently demonstrated one of her tiny, wirelessly powered, self-propelled devices at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). The animation below produced by Carlos Suarez at StrongBox3d shows how such a device might move through the bloodstream.

The Beam Brush will monitor a person’s dental hygiene using sensors that sync with an app, which will then track that data and offer incentives to improve their brushing habits. It may seem odd to equip something as simple as a toothbrush with Bluetooth features, but when the average person spends only 46 seconds out of the dentist-recommended two minutes brushing their teeth, a little technology might go a long way. Sensors in the Beam Brush are activated by contact with the mouth, which syncs with a timer in the app to time how long a user actually spends brushing their teeth. The app will also track this over a period of time, so people can share the results with their dentist and see if they need to improve their habits.

Later versions of the app will detect how long a person scrubs different areas of their mouth as well, and play music while they brush. Beam Technologies is also planning to add some social elements and game-like achievements to reward users for their good dental habits. It should be a useful tool in particular for parents who want to make sure their children are brushing their teeth correctly.