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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Grace Sun, a 16-year-old from Kentucky, won $75,000 for her research on biomedical devices.</li><li>She took home the top prize at the ISEF — the "granddaddy of all <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/archimedes-death-ray-science-fair-project-middle-school-teen-2024-2">science fairs</a>."</li></ul>Grace Sun can't drive yet. Unlike many 16-year-olds, getting her license hasn't been her top priority. Instead, she's been busy <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/regeneron-science-talent-search-winner-achyuta-rajaram-machine-learning-2024-3">working on a project</a> to revolutionize biomedicine.The high schooler from Lexington, Kentucky, developed a new technique to improve organic electronic devices. The technology could someday make <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/synchron-brain-computer-chip-implant-elon-musk-neuralink-human-trial-2021-7">medical implants</a> significantly more compatible with human bodies and far less invasive. It could also lead to new early-diagnosis tools for a wide variety of diseases.On Friday she won $75,000 for her research."They called my name. I thought they got the wrong person. I was like, is there another Grace up here?" Sun told Business Insider backstage at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/regeneron-international-science-fair-high-school-students-school-shootings-2023-5">Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair</a> (ISEF) awards ceremony.Her hands were trembling and a huge smile beamed across her face. Just minutes before, rainbow confetti had exploded behind her on stage in front of hundreds of her peers, while lights flashed and peppy music boomed over the audience. She suddenly held a trophy in her hands."I'm in disbelief because of how good everyone else is," she said.Despite the exhilaration, though, Sun easily slipped into a calm and authoritative demeanor to explain her research, which focused on organic electrochemical transistors, or OECTs."They have performance issues right now," she said of the devices. "They have instability in the body. You don't want some sort of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-bill-gates-jeff-bezos-invest-in-brain-implants-2022-12">implanted bioelectronic</a> to degrade in your body."But OECTs have huge potential. Compared to other devices made of silicon, they're soft and flexible. That makes them a better fit for heart and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interest-neuralink-human-trial-patient-elon-musk-brain-implant-report-2023-11">brain implants</a>."They're so much more accurate, their speed is higher, their performance is higher because they consider signals in the body that previous electronics haven't considered. They're also safe because they're made of organic materials," she said.She hopes that her work improving their performance can be a first step to commercializing them and getting them into wide use, within the next two decades.<h2 id="66aca2be-a3b5-4d69-b1ad-6c96b243b249">Sun won the Olympics of science fairs</h2>ISEF is the world's biggest pre-college STEM competition, run by the Society for Science. It's like the Olympics of science or the "grandaddy of all science fairs," said judging chair Christopher Gould.Nearly 2,000 students spent the week in Los Angeles attending talks, mingling, and defending their research to judges. The event doled out $9 million in awards this year — its largest purse yet. But Sun took home the biggest sum with the $75,000 George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award."This was our number one project, without a shadow of a doubt," Ian Jandrell, a judging co-chair for the materials science category at ISEF, told BI about Sun's research. He oversaw hours of discussion among the materials-science judges."It was crystal clear that that room was convinced that this was a significant project and worthy of consideration for a very top award because of the contribution that was made," he said.Research at ISEF is not peer-reviewed, so it's not held to the standard that studies published in journals like Nature or JAMA must meet. Instead, ISEF encourages students to learn about the scientific process by doing it themselves and defending their work.Jandrell said the judges were impressed by "the sophistication and the diligence" of Sun's research and her ability to explain it and respond to questions on the spot."It's the whole package," he added.<h2 id="e2f03e1b-5c68-4381-b823-a95ce87d277f">Long days in a university lab</h2><div type="image" title="A girl in blue shirt with long dark hair holds a small OETC device that looks like a small clear square with white inside" height="1500" width="2250" msid="110221051" hostid="261"></div>Sun has been working on her project for over six months. It took long hours, and much of it needed to be done in a lab at the University of Kentucky. The devices she worked on were tiny, small enough to fit on your thumb.For a few weeks, she left school three hours early to work in a lab for another five hours. Luckily, her teachers were understanding about why she needed extensions on some of her assignments.Sun engineered a new technique to improve the devices' performance and take them closer to commercial use. In the research that snagged the five-figure award, Sun tried "doping" the OECTs — introducing chemical impurities to see how they affected the device's electrical properties — with a series of organic salts.She found that one salt, called tetrabutylammonium chloride, was especially effective because it improved the device's amplification abilities, sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio, and switching speed.These qualities are important because they improve overall performance, which could one day help create biomedical devices capable of detecting early hints of disease in your body's biochemical makeup.The salt that Sun tested improved amplification performance by 97% and switching speed by 77%, Sun found. "These are significant numbers," Jandrell said.Sensitive OECTs could detect proteins or nucleic acids that correspond with the disease long before traditional symptoms appear. Sun imagines OECTs embedded in clothing to monitor sweat or used to accurately test blood-alcohol levels before you drive.Eventually, OECTs could lead to new technologies that replace invasive implants like pacemakers.As for Sun, she sees a future for herself in chemical engineering to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatbots-tech-doctors-medicine-healthcare-system-empathy-quality-email-2023-6">help improve medicine</a>."Hopefully I can make some sort of commercializable breakthrough, like what I'm trying to do now with these devices," Sun said. "If possible, I do want to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/healthcare-biotech-pitch-decks-that-raised-millions-from-vc-investors">start a business</a> so that I can get them into the real world in industries to impact more people directly."

A 16-year-old took home $75,000 for her award-winning discovery that could help revolutionize biomedical implants

Researchers have manipulated a type of white blood cells, called macrophages, to eliminate solid tumours by silencing their molecular pathway that prevents them from attacking our own cells. Cancers that form solid tumours such as in the breast, brain, or skin are particularly hard to treat. Surgery is typically the first line of defence for patients fighting solid tumours. However, surgery may not remove all cancerous cells, and leftover cells can mutate and spread throughout the body. The new approach, described in the journal <keyword id="3877163" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nature-biomedical-engineering" source="Orion">Nature Biomedical Engineering</keyword>, not only eliminates cancerous cells, but teaches the immune system to recognise and kill them in the future. "Due to a solid tumour's physical properties, it is challenging to design molecules that can enter these masses," said <keyword id="17692657" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="dennis-discher" source="Orion">Dennis Discher</keyword>, a professor at the <keyword id="83492" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="university-of-pennsylvania" source="Orion">University of Pennsylvania</keyword> in the US. "Instead of creating a new molecule to do the job, we propose using cells that 'eat' invaders-macrophages," Discher said. Macrophages, a type of white blood cell, immediately engulf and destroy invaders such as bacteria, viruses, and even implants to remove them from the body. A macrophage's innate immune response teaches our bodies to remember and attack invading cells in the future. This learned immunity is essential to creating a kind of <keyword id="6355291" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cancer" source="Orion">cancer</keyword> vaccine. However, a macrophage can not attack what it cannot see. "Macrophages recognise cancer cells as part of the body, not invaders," said the University of Pennsylvania postdoctoral fellow <keyword id="17692656" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="larry-dooling" source="Orion">Larry Dooling</keyword>. "To allow these white blood cells to see and attack cancer cells, we had to investigate the molecular pathway that controls cell-to-cell communication. Turning off this pathway-a checkpoint interaction between a protein called SIRPa on the macrophage and the CD47 protein found on all 'self' cells-was the key to creating this therapy," Dooling said. The engineered macrophages were put to the test on "tumoroids," conglomerates of mouse melanoma cells in culture plates. The macrophages cooperatively clustered around the cancer cells, picked them apart and progressively destroyed the tumour. When tested, the engineered cells were able to eliminate tumours in 80 per cent of mice. Tumour elimination triggered an adaptive immune response. Weeks later, the anti-cancer immunoglobulin G antibody increased, the researchers said. The engineered macrophage therapy works best in combination with existing antibody therapy, the researchers said, adding one day, patients may be able to rely on these cells to eliminate solid tumours as well as the need for future treatments. Macrophage therapy may be the key to a cancer vaccine, destroying cancer cells and teaching the body to destroy emerging cancer cells in the future-a gamechanger in the fight against cancer, they added. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/aviom-india-housing-finance-secures-30-million-in-funding/articleshow/100965232.cms">Aviom India Housing Finance secures $30 million in funding</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/sensex-jumps-418-pts-to-6-month-high-on-positive-domestic-macro-data-firm-global-equities/articleshow/100965080.cms">Sensex jumps 418 pts to 6-month high on positive domestic macro data, firm global equities</a>

Engineered white blood cells can eliminate cancer, study finds

Researchers from Indian Institute of Science (<keyword id="41780" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="iisc" source="Orion">IISc</keyword>) have shown that surface modifications of two-dimensional molybdenum disulphide (2D-MoS2) nanosheets can make them highly effective for applications like delivering drugs to diseased cells. Nanomaterials usually need to be modified or customised depending on the application to improve their efficiency. Typically, they are chemically modified through a process called functionalisation, which involves attaching ligands (small or large molecules) to the surface of the nanomaterial. In a new study, the researchers from the Department of Organic Chemistry (OC) and Materials Research Centre (MRC), IISc, modified the surface of 2D-MoS2 nanosheets with thiol (sulphur-containing) ligands. They found that these thiols can be exchanged with naturally-occurring thiols in biological systems, which could allow drugs attached to these nanosheets to be released. These chemically-modified nanosheets were also found to be safe to use inside living cells. "Our study shows that thiol exchange on 2D-MoS2 nanosheets is effective, and the nanomaterial is stable in the presence of various biomolecules. This is an important observation as it will make this nanomaterial highly beneficial for <keyword id="74268" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="biomedical" source="Orion">biomedical</keyword> applications like drug delivery," explained Mrinmoy De, Associate Professor at the Department of Organic Chemistry and senior author of the study published in scientific journal 'ACS Nano'. The team first used a fluorescent thiol called boron-dipyrromethene (BOD-SH) to modify the surface of the 2D-MoS2 nanosheets in order to create a functionalised version (BOD-MoS2), an IISc statement said. Then, they tested the possibility of thiol-to-thiol exchange on BOD-MoS2 using glutathione (<keyword id="7384427" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="gsh" source="Orion">GSH</keyword>) - a naturally occurring thiol found in abundance in cancer cells. They found that GSH molecules swapped places with BOD-SH on the surface of the nanosheet - a process that they confirmed using fluorescence techniques. When the researchers attached an anti-cancer drug named <keyword id="3080710" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="dox" source="Orion">dox</keyword>orubicin (DOX) to the nanosheet surface, they found that thiol exchange could also happen between GSH and DOX, allowing DOX to get dropped off at the diseased site. "Because the exchange happens only in the presence of high concentrations of GSH found in diseased cells, drugs like DOX can be delivered specifically to cancer cells without affecting normal cells, which can also potentially reduce any side effects," the statement said. Previous efforts have focused on using gold nanoparticles for such biomedical applications, according to the researchers, but these nanoparticles are expensive and have limited efficiency due to their non-selectivity between mono thiols and disulphides. "Our experiments show that 2D-MoS2 nanosheets can be an effective substitute for gold nanoparticles, and they will be greatly beneficial in the field of nanomedicine," said Pradipta Behera, a postdoctoral research scholar at IISc and the first author of the study. The MoS2 nanosheets were found to be stable in the presence of biofluids, IISc said. They also have a higher surface area than gold nanoparticles, which means that they can be more efficient. Moving forward, the team plans to work on improving the stability of the nanomaterial in the presence of various thiol-containing liquids and exploring alternative surface modification approaches to customise the nanosheets for other applications. "This work on 2D-MoS2 nanosheets can be developed in the future as an alternative to RNA and DNA delivery applications, which can be useful for detecting and treating infections such as COVID-19," added Behera. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/startup-fundraising-hits-an-8-month-low-in-february-falls-over-83-yoy/articleshow/98390347.cms">Startup fundraising hits an 8-month low in February, falls over 83% YoY</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/tractors-commercial-vehicles-drive-auto-sales-in-february-but-el-nio-threat-looms-large/articleshow/98386451.cms">Tractors &amp; commercial vehicles drive auto sales in February but El Niño threat looms large</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/adani-group-stocks-rally-after-it-sells-stake-to-gqg-partners/articleshow/98384846.cms">Adani group’s marketcap rises by over ₹2 lakh crore in four days</a>

IISc researchers show chemically-modified nanosheets are effective for biomedical applications

The Indian Council of Medical Research (<keyword id="6364396" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="icmr" source="Orion">ICMR</keyword>) has come up with the country's first Ethical Guidelines for the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Research and <keyword id="6354525" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="healthcare" source="Orion">Healthcare</keyword> to provide an ethical framework for the development of <keyword id="6355999" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ai" source="Orion">AI</keyword>-based tools which will benefit all stakeholders. According to a document drafted by the Department of Health Research and ICMR's Artificial Intelligence Cell, AI for health, to a large extent, depends on data obtained from human participants and invokes additional concerns related to potential biases, data handling, interpretation, autonomy, risk minimization, professional competence, data sharing, and confidentiality. "It is therefore imperative to have an ethical framework that addresses issues specific to AI for biomedical research and healthcare," the guidelines stated. The adoption of AI technology in healthcare is growing in India. However, AI as data-driven technology has many potential ethical challenges which include algorithmic transparency and explainability, clarity on liability, accountability and oversight, bias and discrimination, said ICMR Director General Dr Rajiv Behl. "The DHR-ICMR AI Cell has identified the need to develop these guiding ethical principles concerning artificial intelligence and machine learning-based tools. "These guidelines will provide the ethical framework for the development of AI-based tools which will benefit all stakeholders, including innovators, developers, patients, technologists, researchers, healthcare professionals, ethics committees, sponsors and funding agencies involved in research related to AI in biomedical research and healthcare," he said. NTAGI chief Dr N K Arora said the purpose of the guideline is to provide an ethical framework which can assist in the development, deployment, and adoption of AI-based solutions for biomedical research and healthcare delivery. The guidelines are intended for all stakeholders involved in research on artificial intelligence in healthcare, including creators, developers, technicians, researchers, clinicians, ethics committees, institutions, sponsors, and funding organizations. It includes separate sections addressing ethical principles for AI in health, guiding principles for stakeholders, the ethics review process, governance of artificial intelligence for healthcare and research, and the informed consent process involving human participants and their data. The guideline has been formulated after extensive discussions with subject experts, researchers and ethicists, said Dr Arora. The induction of AI into healthcare has the potential to be the solution for significant challenges like diagnosis and screening, therapeutics, preventive treatments, clinical decision-making, public health surveillance, complex data analysis, and predicting disease outcomes. This list is likely to grow in the future, the document said. The purpose of these guidelines is not to limit innovation or recommend any disease-specific diagnostic or therapeutic approach but to guide effective yet safe development, deployment and adoption of AI-based technologies in biomedical research and healthcare delivery, it said. These guidelines will be used by experts and ethics committees reviewing research proposals involving the use of AI-based tools and technologies. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ashneer-grovers-new-startup-crickpe-is-a-fantasy-sports-app-that-will-also-reward-cricketers/articleshow/98964195.cms">Ashneer Grover's new startup CrickPe is a fantasy sports app that will also reward cricketers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/you-will-soon-lose-your-legacy-blue-tick-on-twitter-heres-everything-you-need-to-know/articleshow/98960333.cms">You will soon lose your legacy blue tick on Twitter – here’s everything you need to know</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/three-out-of-four-premium-smartphones-sold-in-2022-were-an-iphone/articleshow/98855033.cms">Three out of four premium smartphones sold in 2022 were an iPhone</a>

ICMR comes up with first ethical guidelines for application of AI in biomedical research, healthcare

Canadian researchers have grown a small-scale model of a human left heart ventricle - the main chamber of heart - in the lab. In the human heart, the left ventricle is the one that pumps freshly oxygenated blood into the aorta, and from there, into the rest of the body. The bioartificial tissue construct is made with living heart cells and beats strongly enough to pump fluid inside a bioreactor, said the team from the <keyword id="127994" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="university-of-toronto" source="Orion">University of Toronto</keyword>. The new lab-grown model, described in the journal <keyword id="1405245" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="advanced-biology" source="Orion">Advanced Biology</keyword>, could offer researchers a new way to study a wide range of heart diseases and conditions, as well as test potential therapies. "With our model, we can measure ejection volume - how much fluid gets pushed out each time the ventricle contracts - as well as the pressure of that fluid," said <keyword id="14474898" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sargol-okhovatian" source="Orion">Sargol Okhovatian</keyword>, doctoral candidate in the varsity's <keyword id="14487304" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="institute-of-biomedical-engineering" source="Orion">Institute of Biomedical Engineering</keyword>. "With these models, we can study not only cell function, but tissue function and organ function, all without the need for invasive surgery or animal experimentation. We can also use them to screen large libraries of drug candidate molecules for positive or negative effects," added <keyword id="3029427" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="milica-radisic" source="Orion">Milica Radisic</keyword>, Professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry. To grow the human cells in three-dimensions (3D), the team used tiny scaffolds made from biocompatible polymers. The model is a tube composed of three overlapping layers of heart cells that beat in unison, pumping fluid out of the hole at the end. The inner diameter of the tube is 0.5 millimetres and its height is about 1 millimetre, making it the size of the ventricle in a human foetus at about the 19th week of gestation. Further, they measured the ejection volume and pressure using a conductance catheter, the same tool used to assess these parameters in living patients. At the moment, the model can only produce a small fraction - less than five per cent - of the ejection pressure that a real heart could, but <keyword id="14487303" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="okhovatian" source="Orion">Okhovatian</keyword> said that this is to be expected given the scale of the model. "Our model has three layers, but a real heart would have 11," she said. "We can add more layers, but that makes it hard for oxygen to diffuse through, so the cells in the middle layers start to die. Real hearts have vasculature, or blood vessels, to solve this problem, so we need to find a way to replicate that." SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/article/opinion-green-financing-in-india-need-significance-urgency-and-way-forward/articleshow/92948265.cms">OPINION: Green financing in India — Need, significance, urgency, and way forward</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/top-10-airlines-in-the-world/slidelist/92950615.cms">Top 10 Airlines in the world in 2022: Stats and performance explained</a>

This heart chamber, made in a lab with bioartificial tissue, beats enough to pump liquid

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Medical face masks can block some germs, but germs also linger on their surfaces. </li><li>Researchers say they've created a new type of face mask with a salt coating that can neutralize germs.</li><li>The technology has been tested on three influenza strains.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Medical face masks can feel almost impossible to keep on properly. Wearers constantly touch them to readjust, move them to scratch their faces, and regularly take them off and put them back on.All of those actions can help the germs on a mask's surface get into your body. Experts say that for most people outside of Wuhan, China, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-face-masks-not-entirely-effective-2020-1">face masks</a> are unlikely to protect you from the current coronavirus outbreak, for example. But Hyo-Jick Choi, a biomedical engineer and professor at the University of Alberta in Canada, says he has a potential solution: A mask that can kill harmful pathogens, rather than just block them. The secret ingredient is table salt.Because the molecular structure of salt is crystalline, its hard, sharp corners can pierce viruses, rendering them unviable, Choi says.His team has been testing salt-coated masks in the lab for the past few years, and found that they can inactivate three strains of the influenza virus. The team <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39956">published those initial findings in the journal Scientific Reports</a> in 2017. They think the pathogen-neutralizing technology could significantly improve infectious-disease prevention efforts and hope to bring the masks to market within the next 18 months. <h2>How the salt-coated mask works</h2>Viruses and other pathogens travel either through the air; in droplets such as saliva or phlegm from coughing, sneezing, speaking, or breathing; or on surfaces. "The coronavirus-carrying droplets, expelled from coughing, sneezing, speaking or breathing, can stay on the surface of the masks," Choi told Business Insider. "The biggest technical challenge of the current surgical mask and n95 respirator is that they cannot kill the virus sitting on their surface, which increases the chance of the contact transmission."But when a virus-carrying droplet encounters a mask coated in Choi's salt solution, he says, it begins to absorb the salt. Then once the liquid evaporates, all that remains is the virus and the crystallized salt - which slices through the virus, neutralizing it. The process takes as long as it takes the water to evaporate, Choi said.In his lab tests, he added, "the virus is inactive within five minutes, and it all got destroyed within 30 minutes."<h2>Failed experiments sparked an idea for new masks</h2>Choi said he got the idea for a salt-coated mask from the failure of a different experiment.He was trying to develop oral vaccinations that are easier to deliver than shots. As part of that process, a weakened form of a virus was mixed into a sugar solution. But the structure of the sugars kept cutting the virus particles open, making the vaccine ineffective."Crystal formation in sugar-based formulations destabilizes vaccines," Ilaria Rubino, a University of Alberta Ph.D student in Choi's lab group, told Business Insider in an email. "We wondered: Would then crystal re-growth of salt be able to inactivate viruses?" The group began developing a salt film coating and applying it to the fibers of mask filters. Then they built and tested prototypes.Choi now has a provisional patent on the technology.<h2>Choi says the technology is commercially scalable</h2>Rubino said the simplicity of the salt-coating solution makes it easy to integrate into existing mask manufacturing processes."One of the advantages of our technology is that it is not complicated, yet it is robust," she said. "This would require very low capital investment and the material (salt) itself is inexpensive."She added that the team hopes to work with companies to begin manufacturing the devices commercially within two years."This also means that salt-coated masks could be stockpiled in preparation for pandemics and epidemics," Rubino said. "They could be readily used at the time of outbreak, irrespective of the disease."

A biomedical engineer created a mask coated in salt that he says could neutralize viruses like the coronavirus in 5 minutes

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">RevMedX</div></div></div>It was a busy - and often awe-inspiring - year for biomedical <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>.From face transplants to a method to rewrite our DNA, 2015 has seen some major breakthroughs.Without further ado, here are the major breakthroughs that have helped advance the field this year:

10 game-changing biomedical innovations that transformed medicine in 2015

</div></div></div>On June 14, 2012, a Taliban sniper shot Marine Corps Captain Derek Herrera in the back during an ambush&#xa0;in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Herrera had been leading a patrol in the area when his Marines came under attack. He continued to give orders during the firefight, even after getting shot.Herrera's quick thinking moments after suffering the battlefield injury&#xa0;contributed to the&#xa0;safe evacuation of his team and a fellow Marine who was wounded alongside him. The act of valor <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-paralyzed-marine-walks-bronze-star-20141122-story.html">earned</a> Herrera a Bronze Star.&#xa0;The wound left Herrera a paraplegic. He's been spurred on by his experience, and by the leadership skills that he learned in the Marine Corps during his service from May 2006 until November 2014.After leaving the Marines, Herrera enrolled in UCLA's executive MBA program at the Anderson School of Management, which he graduated from in the summer of 2015. Towards the end of his enrollment, he co-founded&#xa0;<a href="http://www.spinalsingularity.com/">Spinal Singularity</a>, a medical startup focusing on potentially groundbreaking spinal health research.&#xa0;Spinal Singularity proposes what the company believes to be&#xa0;a revolutionary new model for biomedical research. Herrera founded the for-profit company with two friends from UCLA, Alex Shen, who has a PhD in mechanical engineering, and Zach McKinney, who will soon complete a PhD in biomedical engineering. At the moment, Spinal Singularity is aiming&#xa0;to create a smart catheter system for people&#xa0;dealing with <a href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000754.htm">neurogenic bladder dysfunction</a> - a condition in which an individual lacks bladder control for reasons ranging from spinal cord injuries to extreme ADHD.&#xa0;Spinal Singularity's main project now is the creation of what they call the&#xa0;Connected Catheter - an alternative to the roughly eight to 10 catheters a day currently used by patients&#xa0;with spinal cord injuries."We haven't followed the traditional model of biomedical research within the industry," Herrera told BI. "We're the opposite. I went out, found a problem, tried to find a solution, and we went out and built it."&#xa0;<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>There's more to Spinal Singularity than just its individual projects. The company wants to change the way the medical devices are developed. Herrera notes that while traditional industry research can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive, Spinal Singularity is making quick strides towards creating a product that is accountable to the public, and that's developed through through&#xa0;feedback from a range of doctors, engineers, and potential users.&#xa0;Herrera <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-connected-catheter-by-spinal-singularity#/story">launched</a> an IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign for Spinal Singularity which reached its goal of $50,000 in contributions on October 27. Fundraising through this campaign has allowed the company to make quick strides. It's helped that it's already racked up awards from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, <a href="http://blogs.anderson.ucla.edu/anderson/2015/05/judges-tap-spinal-singularity-first-prize-knapp-venture-competition.html">Knapp Business Plan Competition</a>, and the&#xa0;UCLA Institute for Technology Advancement (ITA) <a href="http://www.venturecapital.ucla.edu/blog/spinal-singularity-wins-last-week-s-ucla-ita-venture-competition">Student Engineering Venture Competition</a>. The company was also&#xa0;&#xa0;a semi-finalist in the <a href="http://medtechinnovator.com/company/spinalsingularity">MedTech Innovator Accelerator program</a>.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>"The money from this fundraiser will help us build a prototype and test the device," Herrera said. "It's critical, but it allows us to not just sit on our hands for a year fundraising and waiting for grants and research money."Herrera wants to move quickly once the catheter&#xa0;is past the prototype stage. "The goal is to have a clinical trial for the first iteration, which will have the plastics but not the full electronics, in the next six months or less."&#xa0;He's&#xa0;encouraged by the response to far - especially from people whose lives have also been impacted by spinal injuries.&#xa0;"We have plenty of people who reached out unsolicited saying that this project is great," Herrera told BI. "They said that their aunt or uncle would love this product, or even people saying that this could change their lives.&#xa0;"So many people are talking about the problem, either validating the need or offering feedback," he adds.&#xa0;Herrera&#xa0;has earned an MBA and launched a medical research company from nothing. He says his drive and motivation is rooted in his experience as a Marine.&#xa0;"I've spent my adult life leading people towards a goal, so that's the easy part," says Herrera. "Now that I've got a team, the background that I have is essential to any success to moving forward."&#xa0;Herrera is quick to credit others for Spinal Singularity's success.&#xa0;"We didn't get anywhere by ourselves. We've had a lot of help from the military, UCLA, doctors, clinicians, and supporters," Herrera said. "Hundreds and hundreds if not thousands have helped us achieve what we have so far."&#xa0;<a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-connected-catheter-by-spinal-singularity#/story">You can learn more about Spinal Singularity and become a&#xa0;financial backer of the campaign here»</a>You can watch Herrera discuss Spinal Singularity and the Connected Catheter below:&#xa0;<div><div></div></div>

A war hero, this former Marine and star MBA is leading an ambitious biomedical startup

<div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="" title_caption="Larry Ellison" class="zoomin" href="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5239dc8669bedd7e04f5a1fd-960/larry-ellison-49.jpg"></a>AP<keyword id="146621" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Larry-Ellison">Larry Ellison</keyword></div></div>Google isn't the only big name in tech <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-launching-a-company-that-hopes-to-cure-death-2013-9">working on a "cure" for death,</a> or at least a cure for a lot of the things associated with <keyword id="24314" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aging">aging</keyword>.
Venture capitalist <keyword id="380555" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Peter-Thiel">Peter Thiel</keyword>, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Microsoft cofounder and angel investor <keyword id="72398" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Paul-Allen">Paul Allen</keyword> are all working doing the same.
Peter Thiel, who earned his billions largely thanks to backing Facebook in its early days, finances medical research that could help people live to be 150 years or more. He once said that he doesn't believe that people really, truly have to die.
His Thiel Foundation has supports a bunch of anti-aging projects like Aubrey de Grey's Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, which hopes to reverse aging, and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIR), which is working on artificial intelligence. His foundation's newest project, <a href="http://www.breakoutlabs.org/recipients.html">called Breakout Labs</a>, funds startups working on radical science technology.
Larry Ellison may be better known for his extravagant lifestyle than his philanthropy, but he is a generous donor, too, particular for medical projects. He has created his own Ellison Medical Foundation.
Ellison jokes about it: "We are focused on diseases related to aging-I mean, for obvious reasons." (He's 69.)
It's no joke. He's trying to cure diseases like Alzheimer's and arthritis. The foundation awarded 70 new grants, giving away $46.5-million last year alone, reports <a href="http://philanthropy.com/article/The-2013-Philanthropy-50/137153/">Philanthropy.com</a>.
Paul Allen, Microsoft's other billionaire cofounder who is also known for an extravagant lifestyle, is interested in curing diseases associated with aging, too.
He's invested a half billion dollars into the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
It will study how the brain works with a goal of curing diseases like Alzheimer's, an illness his mother suffered from. And ultimately, institute has another goal: to replicate the brain and build machines with human intelligence.

Larry Ellison And Other Tech Billionaires Are Trying To Cure Death, Too

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div>Photo courtesy of Michelle Khine</div>
This is part of our series on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/50-sexy-scientists-2013-2">Sexiest Scientists Alive</a>. 
Shrinky Dinks, the flexible plastic sheets that shrink dramatically when heated but maintain their shape and color, reached the peak of their popularity in the 1980s. 
Many children from that era grew up using the cheap art supply (which is actually just a sheet of special plastic) in craft projects. But now Dr. Michelle Khine, of the University of California, Irvine, is using the plastic sheets to make microfluidic devices which can help diagnose medical problems using small amounts of body fluids.
Khine is a <keyword id="74268" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Biomedical">biomedical</keyword> engineer who hopes her Shrinky Dinks could help improve substandard <keyword id="6354750" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="health">health</keyword> care in the developing world — a largely economic problem. She thinks the craft supply can produce medical testing devices at a fraction of the cost of comparable products.
Creating these products at such low cost will enable their widespread use, allowing for earlier detection of preventable and treatable illnesses that often go undiagnosed and untreated in the developing world.
Using Shrinky Dinks also allows her to cut down production time for these tests from weeks to minutes. This helps her develop a cheaper product faster, especially when she wants to make design changes.
<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tensafefrogs/4991188038/">Flickr</a>An example of a Shrinky Dink after being baked. </div>Using Shrink Dinks, she doesn't have to wait weeks for a new shipment of devices from a manufacturer. She can immediately make them herself by printing out designs and baking them in the oven in her lab.
The Shrinky Dink solution is just one way this analytical problem solver spurs innovation within the medical device field. She is also creating a graduate program at UC Irvine that will develop entrepreneurs.
We spoke to Khine about bioengineering, microfluidic devices, and how she juggles her time between the lab, academia, and her personal life.
Business Insider: How would you explain biomedical <keyword id="27859" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="engineering">engineering</keyword> to a non-scientist?
Michelle Khine: It's a relatively new field where we invent devices and technologies to improve human health.
BI: What specifically is a microfluidic device?
MK: It is analogous to a computer chip, except instead of it working with electronics, it uses fluids at very small scales. Using small samples of bodily fluids like blood and saliva, we can get a lot of different information about someone's health.
BI: You mentioned that the chips can be used to detect diseases in third world countries. What draws you to these applications? Have you been to these places?
MK: When I was a graduate student I heard a statistic that about 20 percent of the world lives on less than $1 per day. A lot of diseases that are killing babies and children in the developing world are completely preventable. They are just not diagnosed or not diagnosed in time. I recently got to go to Kenya which was an enlightening experience as well.
BI: What do you hope to accomplish with your work?
MK: My personal goal is to roll out low cost point-of-care devices for the developing world. It can't be about the business. It has to be about enough people being passionate about developing devices that are affordable. We have an economic problem in the developing world. The technology exists, but it cannot be produced inexpensively enough where it can be rolled out into these areas, and I want to fix that.
BI: Tell me about your new graduate program at UC Irvine.
<div class="image-container float_left" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><a href="http://www.uci.edu/features/2009/09/feature_khine_090909.php">University of California - Irvine</a>Inspired by Shrinky Dinks, Michelle Khine, a UCI biomedical engineering assistant professor, pioneered an easy, quick and cheap way to fabricate microfluidic chips.</div>
MK: I want to invent medical device inventors. We are trying to develop the framework and infrastructure to create entrepreneurs, and to give them the support they need through a graduate program.
BI: How did you get interested in biomedical engineering?
MK: I did a high school BME program at a local college and found it really interesting. But most schools didn't even have it as a major. I studied mechanical engineering in undergrad and always thought I would go to medical school, but then I fell in love with research. As a doctor you can treat and help one patient at a time, but if you invent a product or device, you can help thousands of people. 
BI: You told the MIT Technology Review that you are a "very impatient person." How has that impacted your life as a scientist considering that research is usually a time-consuming process?
MK: One of the reasons for coming up with the Shrinky Dinks idea is because I'm impatient. Normally you would have to wait weeks to get similar devices. Now we can make them in a couple of minutes. We can also quickly adapt and come up with a new design in minutes instead of starting a long process over from scratch. I also get impatient waiting on projects, so I end up running a bunch of projects at once.
BI: So what are those other projects? 
MK: We are making super-hydrophobic surfaces. They also have anti-bacterial applications. We're also interested in flexible electronics and hope to move into wearable electronics soon.
BI: You are also starting a new company. 
MK: Its called Novoheart and I'm working with collaborators from Mt. Sinai Medical School. We're developing drug toxicity screens. All the pharmaceutical compounds that are coming down a pipeline have to be tested for various adverse cardiac side effects. My lab has been working on differentiating stem cells into heart cells and we have created structures to do that. With our collaborators we have come up with a platform to perform efficient, high-content drug screens.
BI: You mentioned to Berkeley's Innovation Newsletter that you never thought you would go into academia. What made you change your mind?
MK: My PhD advisor was my mentor and he called me into his office one day right before I was going to graduate. He said, "I think you should be a professor." I didn't think I was smart enough to be a professor but he thought I would be good at it. He told me to try it out and if I didn't get any job offers, he would stop bugging me. So I basically did it to get him off my back. I'm really glad I listened to his advice. I tell my students that sometimes someone else sees something in you that you don't see yourself. 
BI: What challenges have you faced as a woman in the male dominated environment that is engineering?
MK: I think you have an added responsibility to be a good role model. I get a lot of emails from girls interested in going into <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> and engineering and you have to prove that you are getting there not because you are a woman or because you are riding anything else, but because you are just as good, if not better, than the guys in the field. You have to be uncompromising with the quality of your work.
BI: So aside from working with your lab, starting graduate programs and companies, and mentoring female science students, do you have any time left for non-science related hobbies?
MK: I play tennis and I like Acroyogo, which is two person yoga. I also enjoy spending time with my dog. We also do a lot of sports activities with my lab, like kickball and dodgeball tournaments.

This Scientist Is Using A Cheap Kids Toy To Detect Diseases 

Nanoplastics and microplastics (NMPs) are sneaky invaders, hiding in the tap water we drink every day. These tiny fragments of plastic have already been linked to unsettling changes in gut health and antibiotic resistance, raising alarm bells about their impact on our bodies. But here’s some refreshing news: scientists have discovered a surprisingly simple solution — boiling your water. <h2>A kitchen hack for cleaner water</h2>Researchers, led by biomedical engineer Zimin Yu, have found that boiling water and then filtering it can remove up to 90% of nanoplastics and microplastics from tap water. “This simple boiling water strategy can 'decontaminate' NMPs from household tap water and has the potential for harmlessly alleviating human intake of NMPs through water consumption,” the team explains. Even better? You probably already have the tools you need in your kitchen: a pot to boil water and a simple stainless steel mesh to filter out any leftover bits. <h2>How does it work?</h2>The trick lies in the build-up of limescale — or calcium carbonate — when water is heated. If you’ve ever peeked inside a kettle, you’ve seen this chalky layer. When water is boiled, calcium carbonate naturally precipitates out of the solution, forming a crust. This crust traps NMPs on its surface, making it easier to filter them out. “Our results showed that nanoplastic precipitation efficiency increased with increasing water hardness upon boiling,” the researchers write. For example, in soft water (low in calcium carbonate), the process managed to remove about 25% of NMPs. Meanwhile, in hard water (higher calcium carbonate levels), the process removed up to 90% of NMPs. <h2>The harder the water, the better the results</h2>Hard water, often considered a nuisance because of limescale, might actually be a secret weapon against microplastics. The researchers found that the harder the water, the more effective the boiling process was at capturing and removing plastic fragments. In water containing 300 mg/L of calcium carbonate, NMP removal reached an impressive 90%. Even at lower levels, such as 80 mg/L, over a third of the plastics were filtered out. Using a simple tea strainer or other household filters, these lime-encrusted plastic fragments can be easily removed before the water is consumed. <h2>Why it matters</h2>Microplastics aren’t just a problem for the planet — they’re becoming an intimate part of our daily lives. Previous studies have identified plastics like polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene in drinking water. While the long-term effects on human health remain uncertain, the evidence suggests we’re better off without them. “Drinking boiled water apparently is a viable long-term strategy for reducing global exposure to NMPs,” the researchers say. For many, boiling water before drinking it is already a cultural norm. But the researchers hope their findings will encourage more people worldwide to adopt this practice as plastics continue infiltrating our water sources. The findings of this research have been published in Environmental Science &amp; Technology Letters and can be accessed <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00081">here</a>.

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