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For millennia, <keyword id="20114072" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mammals" source="keywords">mammals</keyword> and their remarkable ability to nourish their young with milk have captivated scientists. But how did this extraordinary ability evolve? And how does it work? These questions have puzzled scientists for ages. Now, researchers are using a revolutionary tool — miniature, 3D structures called <keyword id="22303611" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="organoids" source="keywords">organoids</keyword> — to unlock these secrets in a dish. <br /><br />Imagine a tiny version of a <keyword id="22866309" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mammary-gland" source="keywords">mammary gland</keyword>, complete with intricate structures mimicking real tissue. These are organoids, grown from stem cells and holding immense potential for biomedical research. Unlike traditional flat cell cultures, organoids offer a 3D glimpse into the complex world of tissues, allowing scientists to study development, <keyword id="21286955" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="regeneration" source="keywords">regeneration</keyword>, and even disease progression. <br /><br />Traditionally, organoids have been used for human disease modelling and drug testing. But the team at Tufts University is taking it a step further. Their focus? Unveiling the fascinating diversity of mammary glands across the vast spectrum of mammals. <br /><br />Think about the platypus, a mammal that lays eggs! Its milk production is unlike anything seen in cows or humans. This diversity, shaped by millions of years of <keyword id="19900305" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="evolution" source="keywords">evolution</keyword>, holds valuable clues about how mammary glands have adapted to different environments and lifestyles.<br />  <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111522625" title="A woman&amp;#39;s breast cancer was missed on multiple mammograms. She had higher breast density, which can hide tumors." mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>By comparing organoids from various species, researchers can reconstruct the evolutionary history of these glands. It's like having a mini-mammal zoo in the lab, allowing scientists to rewind the evolutionary clock and understand how these structures have transformed over time.<br /><br />The mammary gland's remarkable ability to regenerate after each pregnancy makes it a prime candidate for studying tissue renewal. Organoids can help us observe this process in real-time, revealing the secrets behind regeneration in different species. This knowledge could pave the way for advancements in regenerative medicine, potentially leading to treatments for heart disease, diabetes, and even injuries. <br /><br />Organoids also hold immense promise for <keyword id="16070" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="breast-cancer" source="Orion">breast cancer</keyword> research. Studying these tiny tissues from animals with low <keyword id="19896991" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cancer" source="keywords">cancer</keyword> rates, like cows and pigs, could reveal protective mechanisms that may translate to humans. Additionally, organoids can be used to model the early stages of tumour formation, providing insights into the cellular environment that fuels cancer development. <br /><br />Organoids offer a distinct advantage over traditional animal models. They provide a controlled and ethical environment for research, allowing scientists to study complex processes efficiently. Moreover, organoids can be genetically modified, enabling researchers to pinpoint the exact genes and pathways involved in mammary gland function. <br /><br />While not perfect replicas of living tissues, organoids are a powerful tool with immense potential. As the technology continues to advance, scientists will be able to explore the incredible diversity of mammals and unlock the secrets of milk production, regeneration, and disease. This knowledge can not only benefit human health but also revolutionise fields like agriculture and nutrition science.<br />  <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112220702" title="Millennial and Gen X are developing 17 types of cancers far more frequently than older generations, study finds" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><br />

Why are scientists growing mini “breasts” in the laboratory?

Every time you have a discussion with <keyword id="15681942" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chatgpt" source="Orion">ChatGPT</keyword> about why your tummy hurts or when the next season of your favourite show will arrive, the application guzzles down an entire half-litre bottle of freshwater. This helps the <keyword id="107950" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence" source="Orion">artificial intelligence</keyword> keep itself cool and composed while it answers your “hard-hitting” questions. Despite this scary bit of information being common knowledge for a while now, the <keyword id="19899640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI" source="keywords">AI</keyword> boom has only gathered more *<em>ahem</em>* steam in recent years.<br /><br />As AI technology advances, the <keyword id="20028292" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="energy-consumption" source="keywords">energy consumption</keyword> of the IT industry is also projected to spike significantly, potentially reaching 3.5% of global electricity by 2030. This is undoubtedly a lot of energy and a mountain of toxic carbon dioxide — levels of emissions we certainly cannot afford at the moment.<br /><br />However, our brains, despite still being far more complex and efficient than current computers, clearly don’t require nearly the same amount of energy to function. To emulate the supreme model organ, scientists have pulled a move straight out of science fiction: they grew brains of their own to hook up to a computer!<br /><br />In a massive development, a Swiss start-up named <keyword id="22019428" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FinalSpark" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="FinalSpark" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="FinalSpark">FinalSpark</keyword> has launched a '<keyword id="20353366" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="biocomputer" source="keywords">biocomputer</keyword>' that connects to living, pulsing brain cells. Their online platform “taps” into spherical clusters of lab-grown human brain cells about half a millimetre in diameter, which are kept alive via an electrode and a microfluidics system that supplies the necessary water and nutrients. And yes, this system consumes far less energy than traditional, bit-based computers.<br /><br />This innovative approach, referred to as <keyword id="22019427" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wetware-computing" source="keywords">wetware computing</keyword>, utilises researchers' ability to culture organoids in the lab. Organoids, essentially mini replicas of individual organs, have gained popularity as a research technique alongside the rise of energy-intensive artificial <keyword id="21395212" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="neural-networks" source="keywords">neural networks</keyword> such as ChatGPT.<br /><br />The electrodes can supply electric pulses to the brain organoids and measure how the cells respond. These organoids are exceptional at determining patterns, which is the kind of processing very helpful for computer engineers trying to solve their many problems. During the training process, the <keyword id="22019430" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mini-brains" source="keywords">mini-brains</keyword> can also be “rewarded” with dopamine rushes and “punished” using electrical stimulation.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Far less energy than traditional digital processors" comment="subhead" text="Far less energy than traditional digital processors"><span data-til="noop">Far less energy than traditional digital processors</span></cmsannotation><br />FinalSpark claims that their bioprocessors "consume a million times less power than traditional digital processors." To put this into perspective, training a single large language model like GPT-3, a precursor to the latest GPT-4, required 10 gigawatt hours of energy — roughly 10,000 times the per capita energy consumption of an average Indian citizen in 2023. In contrast, the human brain operates its 86 billion neurons with just 0.3 kilowatt hours per day, less than 30 times as much energy as a light bulb!<br /><br />Currently, FinalSpark's system is being used to run lengthy experiments on brain organoids. Researchers can connect to this system remotely, and the mini-brains can be sustained for up to 100 days with their electrical activity continuously monitored. The system is freely available for research purposes, and numerous research groups have already begun using it.<br /><br />However, it may be noteworthy that FinalSpark is not the first to attempt connecting probes to biological systems or programming neural networks to perform specific tasks. In 2023, US researchers built a bioprocessor that connected computer hardware to brain organoids, enabling the system to learn to recognize speech patterns. Another Australian organisation created the DishBrain device that learned to play Pong within five minutes.<br /><br />Looking ahead, FinalSpark plans to expand the capabilities of their platform to manage a broader range of experimental protocols relevant to wetware computing. This includes injecting molecules and drugs into organoids for testing. Whether aiding computing or organoid research, the potential achievements in this field are vast and exciting.<br /><br />The findings of this study have been published in<em> Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence</em> and can be accessed <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2024.1376042">here</a>.<br />

A living computer? This AI made from interconnected "mini-brains" requires a million times less power than ChatGPT!

In a breakthrough, Japanese scientists have created mice with two biological fathers, an advance that can pave the way for new fertility treatments in humans.<br /><br />The team led by scientists at the universities of Kyushu, and Osaka in Japan made the mice using eggs from male skin cells, The Guardian reported.<br /><br />The novel technique can help two men to have children together. And also help in treatments for severe forms of infertility, such as <keyword id="169084" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="turner" source="Orion">Turner</keyword>'s syndrome, where one copy of the X chromosome is missing or partly missing.<br /><br />"This is the first case of making robust mammal oocytes from male cells," <keyword id="1832881" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="katsuhiko-hayashi" source="Orion">Katsuhiko Hayashi</keyword>, from Kyushu was quoted as saying.<br /><br /><keyword id="585248" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="hayashi" source="Orion">Hayashi</keyword> presented the development at the <keyword id="16742487" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="third-international-summit-on-human-genome-editing" source="Orion">Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing</keyword> at the Francis Crick Institute in London on Wednesday.<br /><br />Previously, scientists have created mice that technically had two biological fathers, and also mice with two mothers. However, this is the first time eggs have been cultivated from male cells.<br /><br />In the study, yet to be published, Hayashi and the team transformed a male skin cell with the XY chromosome combination, into an egg, with the female XX version.<br /><br />Male skin cells were reprogrammed into a stem cell-like state to create so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The team then deleted the Y-chromosome and replaced it with an X chromosome that was "borrowed" from another cell to produce iPS cells with two identical X chromosomes, the report said.<br /><br />"The trick of this, the biggest trick, is the duplication of the X chromosome," said Hayashi. "We really tried to establish a system to duplicate the X chromosome."<br /><br />The cells were then cultivated in an ovary organoid which replicated the conditions inside a mouse ovary.<br /><br />After fertilising the eggs with normal sperm, the team obtained about 600 embryos. These were then implanted into surrogate mice, resulting in the birth of seven mouse pups.<br /><br />The efficiency of about 1 per cent was lower than the efficiency achieved with normal female-derived eggs, where about 5 per cent of embryos went on to produce a live birth, the team said.<br /><br />The baby mice appeared healthy, had a normal lifespan, and went on to have offspring as adults, the report said.<br /><br />"They look OK, they look to be growing normally, they become fathers," said Hayashi.<br /><br />Scientists now look to replicate the new findings with human cells. Hayashi, who is internationally renowned as a pioneer in the field of lab-grown eggs and sperm predicted it is possible in the span of a decade<br /><br />"Purely in terms of technology, it will be possible (in humans) even in 10 years," he said.<br /><br />"I don't know whether they'll be available for reproduction," he said. "That is not a question just for the scientific programme, but also for (society)."<br /><br /><b>SEE ALSO:<br /></b><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/sebi-extends-deadline-till-mar-15-to-submit-public-comments-on-proposal-on-reits-invits-sponsors/articleshow/98512451.cms"><strong>SEBI extends deadline till Mar 15 to submit public comments on proposal on REITs, InvITs sponsors</strong></a><b><u><strong><br /></strong></u></b><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/42-lakh-essays-on-ahom-hero-lachit-borphukan-enters-guinness-world-records/articleshow/98512930.cms"><strong>42 lakh essays on Ahom hero Lachit Borphukan enters Guinness World Records</strong></a><b><br /></b>

Japanese scientists create mice with two fathers, pave way for new fertility treatments

By Vishwam Sankaran <p>New Delhi, May 7 () An emerging technique that uses lab-grown tiny human organs to study viral diseases can accelerate research on the novel coronavirus, and pave the way for new COVID-19 therapies, leading scientists say.</p><p> "Organoids, are lab-grown organs, which closely resemble human tissues that are relevant for disease," Josef Penninger, Director, Life Science Institute at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada, told .</p><p> In these human organ-like structures, Penninger said, scientists are beginning to perform more experiments to explore how the SARS-CoV-2 virus replicates in hosts, or even test vaccines and drugs against COVID-19.</p><p> Cultured from undifferentiated cells in the human body called stem cells, he said, these tiny organs contain cells which are also present in a "real" human organ.</p><p> For instance, organoids of blood vessels are perfect mini versions of the vascular tissue, made up of an empty cavity, cells that stabilise it, and a membrane wrapped around and keeping it all together, Penninger explained.</p><p> Similarly, the scientist said, kidney organoids have multiple cell types found in a normal kidney, including those expressing the ACE2 receptor which acts as an entry gate for SARS-CoV-2.</p><p> According to Penninger, research using organoids can open new doors for studying COVID-19 symptoms.</p><p> The tiny organs have previously helped scientists understand how the Zika virus, an emerging mosquito-borne pathogen, causes smaller head size, and intellectual disability in developing newborns.</p><p> Infection of brain organoid models with Zika virus revealed which cells were affected, and resulting neurological disorders, noted a study published last year in the journal Viruses.</p><p> But even now, preliminary experiments on viral infection use only mouse models or lab-grown animal or human tissues, which do not possess the complexity seen in human organs, Penninger said.</p><p> "For studying infectious diseases, the commonly used lab models are vero cell lines which are derived from monkey kidneys, and colon cancer cell lines, but these do not fully capture what happens in humans," Shuibing Chen, stem cell biologist from Cornell University in the US, told .</p><p> While scientists also study SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice, Chen said the rodents do not have the same human version of ACE2 -- the SARS-CoV-2 'gateway' receptor.</p><p> Organoids can help overcome these limitations, she said, adding that they can change how scientists understand and test potential COVID-19 therapeutics.</p><p> For instance, Penninger and his colleagues recently found that a trial drug could block early stages of COVID-19 in a study involving blood vessel and kidney organoids.</p><p> Another study, published in the pre-print server bioRxiv, screened 1,280 drugs already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration against novel coronavirus infection of the intestines.</p><p> The researchers, who studied these drugs on large intestine organoids, said there is an urgent need to create standard models of these tiny organs to study COVID-19.</p><p> "In colon, we have more than 10 different cell types like nutrient absorbing cells, and cells which produce hormones," Chen explained.</p><p> Since using just one human cell line over-simplifies studies, she said there is a growing number of COVID-19 research using organoids to "capture the complexity of infection".</p><p> Citing an example, Chen mentioned a study published in the journal Science, which showed how SARS-CoV-2 infects intestinal cells.</p><p> Joep Beumer, co-author of this study from Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands, told  that organoid experiments revealed which cells in the outer layer of the intestine are infected by the virus, likely contributing to gut-related COVID-19 symptoms like diarrhea.</p><p> The scientists led by Hans Clevers had previously developed a new method to grow snake venom gland cells as organoids.</p><p> The first pathogen-organoid cultures were done only a few years ago, and since then these studies have been increasing, with COVID-19 likely accelerating this further, Beumer said.</p><p> Penninger too believes that several COVID-19 puzzles -- such as how the virus lives inside cells, and how it can be blocked from entering them -- can be pieced together via organoid studies.</p><p> He said tricking the virus, and preventing it from finding the ACE2 entry gate, is "probably the most rationale therapy possible for COVID-19."</p><p> "Many groups in the world have followed our example, and are using or developing organoids for COVID-19 studies, also in tissues like the heart, and especially the lung," Penninger added.</p><p> Some scientists also caution that organoids may not capture the whole reality of diseases.</p><p> "Organoids are certainly better than cell culture, but they are missing the immune system and the endocrine system," Saisubramanian N, Professor of microbiology at SASTRA School of Chemical &amp; Biotechnology in Tamil Nadu, told .</p><p> In order to overcome this limitation, special versions of the tiny organs in which the virus, organoids, and immune cells are co-cultured can be used, Beumer noted.</p><p> Commenting on the affordability of organoid studies in developing countries, Penninger said, "this is still relatively expansive work, but we work on making it much cheaper, and at numbers that allow testing of new drugs and combinations in thousands of experiments."</p><p> Beumer said growing these mini organs requires equipment like culture hoods and 37 degree Celsius incubators, along with the supply of patient biopsies as a source for the organoid culture.</p> "Once this infrastructure is developed, organoids can be grown for years," he added.  VIS  SARSAR

Lab-grown mini human organs may play key role in COVID-19 drug development: Scientists

Beijing, May 13 () The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 may be capable of infecting human intestinal tract, in addition to the respiratory system, according to a study.<p> The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, was conducted on human and bat organoids -- miniaturised and simplified versions of the intestine produced in the laboratory.</p><p> In addition to reporting the creation of the first bat intestinal organoid, the study also included clinical isolation of the virus from a human stool sample, said the researchers from the University of Hong Kong.</p><p> Genetic analysis has revealed that SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to SARS-related coronaviruses found in horseshoe bats, they said.</p><p> However, the absence of laboratory models that can be used to study bat viruses limits study in this area, according to the researchers.</p><p> It is thought that bat organoids could potentially help in elucidating the origins of SARS-CoV-2, they said.</p><p> The researchers noted that the first bat organoid was derived from the horseshoe bat species Rhinolophus sinicus and simulates the cellular makeup of the intestinal epithelium.</p><p> They then assessed whether the organoids were susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, and found that they were capable of sustaining viral replication.</p><p> The findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can infect bat intestinal cells, and thus, recapitulate the natural infection in bat intestine.</p><p> The researchers also investigated whether human intestinal organoids were susceptible to the virus and observed that viral replication took place here too.</p><p> They were also able to isolate SARS-CoV-2 from the stool specimen of a female patient diagnosed with COVID-19, which suggests that intestinal infection may have occurred.</p> The researchers note that the precise route by which human intestinal infection may take place is unclear, but that this could represent an additional route of viral transmission.   SARSAR

Novel coronavirus may infect human intestines as well: Study

London, May 3 () Researchers have shown that the novel coronavirus can infect and multiply in cells of the human intestine, a finding that could explain why many COVID-19 patients experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea.<p> The scientists, including those from Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands, successfully propagated the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in cell culture models of the human intestine, and monitored the response of the cells to the virus. </p><p> They said the findings, published in the journal Science, could explain the observation that nearly one third of COVID-19 patients experience symptoms such as diarrhea, and the fact that the virus often can be detected in stool samples. </p><p> Patients with COVID-19 show a variety of symptoms associated with respiratory organs such as coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath, and fever, and the disease is transmitted via tiny droplets that are spread mainly through coughing and sneezing. </p><p> One third of the patients, however, also experience gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea and diarrhea, the researchers said. </p><p> Long after the respiratory symptoms have been resolved, the virus can be detected in human stool, they added, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 can also spread via so-called "fecal-oral transmission".</p><p> Though the respiratory and gastrointestinal organs seem very different, the study noted some key similarities. </p><p> One observation, it said, is the presence of the ACE2 receptor through which the SARS-CoV-2 virus can enter cells. </p><p> The researchers said the inside of the intestine is loaded with these receptors.</p><p> Until now, they said it was unknown whether intestinal cells could actually get infected and produce virus particles.</p><p> So the scientists attempted to culture the viruses in human intestinal organoids, which are tiny versions of the human intestine that can be grown in the lab. </p><p> "These organoids contain the cells of the human intestinal lining, making them a compelling model to investigate infection by SARS-CoV-2," said study co-author Hans Clevers froom Hubrecht Institute.</p><p> When the virus was added to the organoids, the cells were rapidly infected, the study noted. </p><p> According to the scientists, the virus entered a subset of the cells in the intestinal organoids, and the number of cells that were infected increased over time.</p><p> Using electron microscopy -- an advanced way to visualize different components of the cell in great detail -- the researchers found virus particles inside and outside the cells of the organoids. </p><p> "Due to the lockdown, we all studied virtual slides of the infected organoids remotely from home," said Peter Peters, co-author of the study from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.</p><p> Assessing the response of the organoid to the virus, the researchers found that genes stimulated by the chemical messenger of the immune system, interferons, were activated in these cells. </p><p> They said these genes are known to combat viral infection. </p><p> The researchers believe that future work focussing on these genes more carefully, can help understand how they could be used to develop new treatments.</p><p> When the scientists then cultured the organoids in different conditions, resulting in cells with higher and lower levels of the ACE2 receptor, they found that the virus infected cells with both high and low levels of the ACE2 receptor.</p><p> The study, the scientists said, may lead to new ways to block the entry of the virus into our cells.</p><p> They also believe that the findings may provide a new cell culture model for the study of COVID-19.</p><p> "The observations made in this study provide definite proof that SARS-CoV-2 can multiply in cells of the gastrointestinal tract. However, we don't yet know whether SARS-CoV-2, present in the intestines of COVID-19 patients, plays a significant role in transmission," said Bart Haagmans, another co-author of the study. </p><p> "Our findings indicate that we should look into this possibility more closely," Haagmans added. </p><p> According to the study, special attention may be needed for patients with gastrointestinal symptoms. </p><p> The researchers said that more extensive testing using not only nose and throat swabs, but also rectal swabs or stool samples may be needed.</p> In further studies, the scientists said they hope to understand the differences between infections in the lung and the intestine by comparing lung and intestinal organoids infected with SARS-CoV-2.  VIS  VISVIS

'How coronavirus infects intestine cells decoded'

London, May 4 () The novel coronavirus can infect and replicate in cells that line the inside of the human intestines, according to a study that could explain why some patients with COVID-19 experience gastrointestinal symptoms.<p> The finding, published in the journal Science, shows that the intestines are a target organ for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.</p><p> Studies have shown that the virus enters epithelial cells in the lungs by exploiting an enzyme called ACE2, allowing it to replicate and spread further, according to the researchers, including those from Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands.</p><p> The ensuing damage results in some of the respiratory symptoms that COVID-19 is known for, which can range from coughing and shortness of breath to pneumonia in more severe cases, they said.</p><p> The researchers noted that preliminary observations suggest that the virus may also infect cells in the gut.</p><p> Patients sometimes show gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea, and researchers know that gut epithelial cells also harbour ACE2, they said.</p><p> The team generated three dimensional (3D) structures that display all cell types of the human small intestinal epithelium and grew them in four different culture conditions.</p><p> The human small intestinal organoids grown in different conditions expressed varying amounts of ACE2, and could be infected with SARS-CoV-2, the researchers said.</p><p> Using electron microscopy, they discovered that the virus infected both mature and progenitor enterocytes, which are intestinal absorptive epithelial cells that line the inner surface of the intestines.</p><p> The researchers also found that the virus provoked the activity of genes involved with antiviral responses.</p> The rates of infection were similar across the organoid models, indicating that even low quantities of ACE2 may be enough for the virus to infect epithelial cells, they said.   SARSAR

COVID-19 virus infects human intestinal cells, study finds

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (<keyword id="25253" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PETA">PETA</keyword>) have sent letters, co-signed by an expert primatologist, calling on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and National Institute of Virology to reverse the decision to allow the <keyword id="6383393" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Monkeys">monkeys</keyword>' capture and use.<br /><br />PETA took the step on the basis of the recent reports which alluded to the approval given by the Maharashtra government to capture thirty wild rhesus macaques for the National Institute of Virology for use in tests for a Covid-19 vaccine.<br /><br />In its letter, PETA outlines the well-established scientific drawbacks of using wild monkeys for experiments, discusses the risk that those who capture or handle the monkeys could contract zoonotic diseases such as Kyasanur forest disease, and highlights the importance of using superior non-animal technology to develop Covid-19 vaccines.<br /><br />"Conducting Covid-19 research using wild monkeys is dangerous, as they're likely infected with pathogens that will skew the results and put laboratory workers at risk of contracting zoonotic diseases," says PETA India Science Policy Adviser Dr. Dipti Kapoor.<br /><br />She added, "PETA India is asking NIV to develop safe and effective Covid-19 treatments and vaccines using modern, animal-free methods instead of cruel and wasteful animal tests."<br /><br />Scientists worldwide are researching and developing Covid-19 treatments using human-relevant, animal-free technology - such as human organoids, organs-on-chips, and supercomputers - since animal tests are often misleading, time-consuming barriers to introducing life-saving drugs.

'Stop vaccine tests on monkeys,' PETA urges India's health ministry

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>System 1</span></p><p class="caption">Sean Escola is the CEO and co-founder of System1.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Silicon Valley startup System1 is a new biotech company growing "mini brains" to create new <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-drugs-from-mdma-mushrooms-ketamine-marijuana-2018-5">drugs</a> for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ketamine-depression-brain-how-it-works-opioid-2018-8">psychiatric diseases</a> including autism, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-fda-2018-5">epilepsy</a>, and schizophrenia.</strong></li><li><strong>By growing the organoids from the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stem-cell-freezing-longevity-silicon-valley-new-york-2018-9">stem cells</a> of patients with the diseases, they hope to illuminate new hallmarks of the illnesses and then make treatments that target those hallmarks.</strong></li><li><strong>Backed by the venture arm of drug giant Pfizer and several of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-life-science-biotech-vc-investor-list-2018-8">Silicon Valley's leading venture capital firms</a>, System1 has raised $25 million. </strong></li></ul><p>Behind a rusted metal door in an industrial part of San Francisco, a live display of miniature brains flickers with activity.</p><p>Grown from the stem cells of patients with autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia, the mini brains - more accurately called cerebral organoids - are expected to help reveal to a team of researchers some fundamental hallmarks of those diseases which can then be treated with new drugs.</p><p>The researchers are employed by a small but well-funded startup called System1. Traditionally in neuroscience, drug developers have homed in on specific molecules or cells that they believe play a role in psychiatric disease. But System1's scientists are zooming out. They are looking instead for key hallmarks of disease that may reside across larger networks of brain activity and cause everything from the forgetfulness of schizophrenia to the seizures common in epilepsy.</p><p>"The traditional target-based drug discovery approach is broken," <a href="https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/profile/gary-s-escola-md">Sean Escola</a>, the co-founder and CEO of <a href="https://system1.bio/">System1</a>, told Business Insider. At the same time, "people are hungry for innovation."</p><p>The idea that sick systems - rather than simply sick molecules or sick cells - cause psychiatric disease has only recently begun to yield new research efforts. It may also be one of the reasons why some drug giants are returning to neuroscience despite previous failed attempts to create new drugs for diseases like depression. In October, drug giant Pfizer <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/bain-capital-and-pfizer-create-new-cns-company-cerevel-therapeutics-1027644241">resurrected</a> its brain division by launching the company Cerevel Therapeutics. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/depression-medication-treatment-ketamine-like-drugs-2018-5">Allergan</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/drugs-for-depression-ketamine-2018-4">Johnson &amp; Johnson</a> have also made recent rebounds into the area with investments in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/drugs-for-depression-ketamine-2018-4">depression drugs</a> inspired by the the club drug ketamine.</p><p>Several big-name investors are betting that System1's system-level approach could work, having poured a total of $25 million into the startup.</p><p>They include Pfizer's venture arm, as well as bi-coastal venture firm <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-life-science-biotech-vc-investor-list-2018-8#dylan-morris-takes-his-experience-with-his-own-diagnostic-startup-and-applies-it-to-support-other-companies-attempting-to-cure-disease-6">CRV</a> and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-life-science-biotech-vc-investor-list-2018-8#laura-deming-one-of-the-youngest-fund-managers-in-the-us-wants-to-create-an-antidote-to-aging-1">Longevity Fund</a>, the first VC firm dedicated entirely to anti-aging startups. Frederic Kerrest, the COO and co-founder of the enterprise identity software company Okta, serves on System1's board of directors and was joined by CRV's George Zachary and Pfizer's Margi McLoughlin.</p><h2>Current attempts at creating drugs could be missing the forest for the trees</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>System1</span></p><p class="caption">A close-up of one of System1's cerebral organoids showing the part of the cerebral cortex involved in sight and hearing (green).</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>For decades, researchers who study psychiatric diseases have been coming up with new drugs by homing in on what they believe are broken or sick molecules or cells that may be causing the symptoms of the disease. But in <a href="https://www.bio.org/sites/default/files/Clinical%20Development%20Success%20Rates%202006-2015%20-%20BIO,%20Biomedtracker,%20Amplion%202016.pdf">some 90% of cases</a>, some part of their thesis about those molecules was wrong in the first place, and large amounts of time and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05267-x">billions</a> of dollars are wasted.</p><p>Still, most of our current drugs are a product of this model.</p><p>The most popular drugs for schizophrenia, for example, target dopamine - a molecule that's thought to play a key role in memory and pleasure. But these drugs fail to help many people. One reason is that many schizophrenia symptoms, from hallucinations to memory loss, could be the result of a much more fundamental set of cross-brain issues.</p><p>But current drug development approaches in neuroscience don't probe these system-level problems. Instead, they focus on one or two isolated components of the disease. Escola, who's also an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, believes that's a tragic oversight. He thinks it could also explain why so many medications fail to help patients.</p><p>"It is very possible that for some psychiatric disorders, you don't have any sick molecules or cells, you just have sick wiring diagrams," Escola said.</p><p>Put another way, that could mean that many of our previous attempts at creating drugs for psychiatric diseases like epilepsy and schizophrenia have been missing the forest for the trees.</p><p>To address that problem, Escola and his co-founder <a href="https://www.cin.ucsf.edu/HTML/Saul_Kato.html">Saul Kato</a>, a professor of neurology at the University of California in San Francisco, aim to mine the activity across their mini brains for signs of disease that could be happening at a much more foundational level of the illness.</p><p>"We're not measuring one thing," said Escola. "We're measuring many interactive features across many different levels of biology."</p><p>If they make a promising discovery in their work with mini brains, Escola and Kato's researchers will need to further test their idea and eventually run clinical trials in people. Escola wouldn't provide Business Insider with a timeline on that work, however.</p><h2>Rows of little tiny brains</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>System1</span></p><p class="caption">A System1 researcher examines an organoid sample.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>System1 is using its fresh funding to grow as many three-dimensional mini brains as possible.</p><p>For now, the stem cells used in the process come from nearby banked stem cell lines designed for research, but Escola said they've already exhausted all of the local suppliers. Their next sources will likely come from research institutions and universities where they've developed close relationships.</p><p>The researchers then spend months studying the organoids using software powered by machine learning. They hope to end up with several of what Escola calls "deep phenotypes," or characteristics of disease that can be seen across entire systems of activity as opposed to just inside specific molecules or cells.</p><p>"It may be the case that the pathology is most clear at a complex, network level rather than at the level of individual molecules," Escola said.</p><p>Several startups in the drug development field are using a similar approach to System1's data analysis component. Silicon Valley-based startup <a href="http://www.numerate.com/">Numerate</a> is using machine learning to optimize small molecule drug discovery and better predict toxic side-effects. <a href="http://www.insilico.com/">InSilico</a>, a startup out of Baltimore, is using what's known as "deep learning" to assess data on the genome, epigenome, and microbiome-level. And London-based startup BenevolentBio <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05267-x">feeds data</a> from clinical trials and research papers into an AI-powered algorithm that helps reveal deeper relationships between diseases and drug candidates.</p><p>But System1 is the only company doing it with their own source of biological data - the cerebral organoids.</p><p>"One way you could conceptualize our company is we've got our own data-generating process wrapped inside of a machine learning team," said Escola.</p> <p class="tagline">Get the latest Pfizer stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/pfe-Quote"> here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/einstein-reveals-manipulate-time-2016-3">This mind-melting thought experiment of Einstein's reveals how to manipulate time</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

A Silicon Valley startup is growing 'mini brains' to come up with drugs for schizophrenia and autism -and big pharma is investing millions

A global team of scientists has identified 21 existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.<br /><br />Notably, four of these compounds were found to work synergistically with <keyword id="8775508" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="remdesivir">remdesivir</keyword>, a current standard-of-care treatment for Covid-19, said the study published in the journal Nature.<br /><br />"Remdesivir has proven successful at shortening the recovery time for patients in the hospital, but the drug doesn't work for everyone who receives it. That's not good enough," said senior author of the study Sumit Chanda, Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in California, US.<br /><br />"As infection rates continue to rise in America and around the world, the urgency remains to find affordable, effective, and readily available drugs that can complement the use of remdesivir, as well as drugs that could be given prophylactically or at the first sign of infection on an outpatient basis."<br /><br />In the study, the research team performed extensive testing and validation studies, including evaluating the drugs on human lung biopsies that were infected with the virus.<br /><br />They also evaluated the drugs for synergies with remdesivir, and established dose-response relationships between the drugs and antiviral activity.<br /><br />Of the 21 drugs that were effective at blocking viral replication, the scientists found 13 have previously entered clinical trials for other indications and are effective at concentrations, or doses, that could potentially be safely achieved in Covid-19 patients.<br /><br />Two are already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration: astemizole (allergies), clofazamine (leprosy) and remdesivir has received emergency use authorization from the agency (Covid-19).<br /><br />Four worked synergistically with remdesivir, including the chloroquine derivative hanfangchin A (tetrandrine), an antimalarial drug that has reached Phase 3 clinical trials.<br /><br />"This study significantly expands the possible therapeutic options for Covid-19 patients, especially since many of the molecules already have clinical safety data in humans," said Chanda.<br /><br />"This report provides the scientific community with a larger arsenal of potential weapons that may help bring the ongoing global pandemic to heel."<br /><br />The researchers are currently testing all 21 compounds in small animal models and "mini lungs," or lung organoids, that mimic human tissue.<br /><br />If these studies are favourable, the team will approach the US FDA to discuss clinical trials evaluating the drugs as treatments for Covid-19.<br /><br />"Based on our current analysis, clofazimine, hanfangchin A, apilimod and ONO 5334 represent the best near-term options for an effective Covid-19 treatment," said Chanda.<br /><br />"While some of these drugs are currently in clinical trials for Covid-19, we believe it's important to pursue additional drug candidates so we have multiple therapeutic options if SARS-CoV-2 becomes drug resistant."<br /><br />The drugs were first identified by high-throughput screening of more than 12,000 drugs from the ReFRAME drug repurposing collection -- the most comprehensive drug repurposing collection of compounds that have been approved by the FDA for other diseases or that have been tested extensively for human safety.A global team of scientists has identified 21 existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.<br /><br />Notably, four of these compounds were found to work synergistically with remdesivir, a current standard-of-care treatment for Covid-19, said the study published in the journal Nature.<br /><br />"Remdesivir has proven successful at shortening the recovery time for patients in the hospital, but the drug doesn't work for everyone who receives it. That's not good enough," said senior author of the study Sumit Chanda, Professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in California, US.<br /><br />"As infection rates continue to rise in America and around the world, the urgency remains to find affordable, effective, and readily available drugs that can complement the use of remdesivir, as well as drugs that could be given prophylactically or at the first sign of infection on an outpatient basis."<br /><br />In the study, the research team performed extensive testing and validation studies, including evaluating the drugs on human lung biopsies that were infected with the virus.<br /><br />They also evaluated the drugs for synergies with remdesivir, and established dose-response relationships between the drugs and antiviral activity.<br /><br />Of the 21 drugs that were effective at blocking viral replication, the scientists found 13 have previously entered clinical trials for other indications and are effective at concentrations, or doses, that could potentially be safely achieved in Covid-19 patients.<br /><br />Two are already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration: astemizole (allergies), clofazamine (leprosy) and remdesivir has received emergency use authorization from the agency (Covid-19).<br /><br />Four worked synergistically with remdesivir, including the chloroquine derivative hanfangchin A (tetrandrine), an antimalarial drug that has reached Phase 3 clinical trials.<br /><br />"This study significantly expands the possible therapeutic options for Covid-19 patients, especially since many of the molecules already have clinical safety data in humans," said Chanda.<br /><br />"This report provides the scientific community with a larger arsenal of potential weapons that may help bring the ongoing global pandemic to heel."<br /><br />The researchers are currently testing all 21 compounds in small animal models and "mini lungs," or lung organoids, that mimic human tissue.<br /><br />If these studies are favourable, the team will approach the US FDA to discuss clinical trials evaluating the drugs as treatments for Covid-19.<br /><br />"Based on our current analysis, clofazimine, hanfangchin A, apilimod and ONO 5334 represent the best near-term options for an effective Covid-19 treatment," said Chanda.<br /><br />"While some of these drugs are currently in clinical trials for Covid-19, we believe it's important to pursue additional drug candidates so we have multiple therapeutic options if SARS-CoV-2 becomes drug resistant."<br /><br />The drugs were first identified by high-throughput screening of more than 12,000 drugs from the ReFRAME drug repurposing collection -- the most comprehensive drug repurposing collection of compounds that have been approved by the FDA for other diseases or that have been tested extensively for human safety.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/iit-madras-is-making-a-wrist-band-to-detect-covid-19-symptoms-and-has-raised-22-crore-to-do-it/articleshow/77164067.cms">IIT Madras is making a wrist band to detect COVID-19 symptoms and has raised ₹22 crore to do it</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/record-number-of-covid-19-cases-reported-to-the-world-health-organization-in-the-past-24-hours/articleshow/77160976.cms">Record number of COVID-19 cases reported to the World Health Organization in the past 24 hours</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-s20-will-soon-replace-physical-id-for-german-citizens/articleshow/77164875.cms"><strong>Samsung Galaxy S20 will soon replace physical ID for German citizens</strong></a><br />

More than 20 COVID drugs identified to keep the virus from replicating

<p>Hello,</p><p>Welcome to Insider <keyword id="6354525" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="healthcare">Healthcare</keyword>. I'm Andrew Dunn and this week in healthcare news:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-ceos-tell-insider-how-they-are-approaching-the-return-to-the-office-2021-04">Healthcare CEOs tell us how the pandemic has changed the business world;</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amy-klobuchar-pharma-industry-ma-scrutiny-senator-book-2021-4">Sen. Amy Klobuchar's new book on antitrust is a warning for Big Pharma;</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-fully-vaccinated-americans-can-go-maskless-outside-some-situations-2021-4">The CDC is easing mask-wearing guidance for vaccinated people.</a></li></ul><p>If you're new to this <keyword id="621414" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Newsletter">newsletter</keyword>, <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-healthcare">sign up here.</a> Tips, comments? Email me at <a href="mailto:adunn@insider.com">adunn@insider.com</a> or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewE_Dunn">@AndrewE_Dunn</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insider-most-transformative-ceos-barra-bourla-narayen-huang-2021-4"></a></p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-ceos-on-how-their-business-will-be-transformed-by-the-covid-19-pandemic">After the pandemic, what's next?</a></h3><p>How much permanent change will the pandemic leave on the business world? About a year ago, Insider's newsroom <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-ceos-on-how-their-business-will-be-transformed-by-the-covid-19-pandemic">asked more than 200 CEOs</a> for their initial thoughts.</p><p>Now, we've connected again with several dozen C-suite execs, including some big names in the healthcare space: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-ceos-tell-insider-how-they-are-approaching-the-return-to-the-office-2021-04#Gail-Boudreaux">Anthem's Gail Boudreaux</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-ceos-tell-insider-how-they-are-approaching-the-return-to-the-office-2021-04#Dr-Karen-DeSalvo">Google Health's Dr. Karen DeSalvo</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-ceos-tell-insider-how-they-are-approaching-the-return-to-the-office-2021-04#Albert-Bourla">Pfizer's Albert Bourla</a> among others.</p><p>These are the people steering healthcare's future, and we got them to share their thoughts on the future of work-from-home, the industry's diversity and equity challenges, and lessons learned from the past year. (You can also check out the answers of some non-healthcare CEOs at places like Dropbox, Ogilvy, and Hooters.) </p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whats-next-ceos-tell-insider-how-they-are-approaching-the-return-to-the-office-2021-04">Check out their answers here.</a></h3><p>And that wasn't Insider's only newsroom-wide CEO-based project to roll out this week. I profiled <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/albert-bourla-profile-pfizer-ceo-leadership-operations-vaccine-pandemic-2021-4">Pfizer's Bourla and the journey that has been the pharma giant's COVID-19 vaccine program</a> for Insider's inaugural list of most transformative CEOs. </p><p>Bourla is hoping to usher in a new era at <keyword id="44612" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Pfizer">Pfizer</keyword>, applying the R&amp;D learnings from its <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> vaccine work to other diseases and medicines.</p><p>"We saw what we can do if we put focus, if we cut bureaucracy, if we trust scientists," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/albert-bourla-profile-pfizer-ceo-leadership-operations-vaccine-pandemic-2021-4">Bourla told me</a>. "That's something that needs to be repeated not only in COVID."</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insider-most-transformative-ceos-barra-bourla-narayen-huang-2021-4">Here's the full project, including the CEOs of GM, Adobe, and Nvidia&gt;&gt;</a></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insider-most-transformative-ceos-barra-bourla-narayen-huang-2021-4">The most transformative CEOs of 2021</a></h3><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amy-klobuchar-pharma-industry-ma-scrutiny-senator-book-2021-4"><div type="image" title="Amy Klobuchar" height="999" width="1332" msid="82331650" hostid="261"></div></a></p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amy-klobuchar-pharma-industry-ma-scrutiny-senator-book-2021-4">Takeaways from Sen. Amy Klobuchar's new book on antitrust</a></h3><p>Insider Book Club, anyone? Senior healthcare reporter Allison DeAngelis synthesized Sen. Amy Klobuchar's 624-page book on antitrust into three digestible takeaways. </p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amy-klobuchar-pharma-industry-ma-scrutiny-senator-book-2021-4">One clear conclusion</a> is top lawmakers are looking closer and closer at the <keyword id="6469017" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pharmaceutical">pharmaceutical</keyword> industry's M&amp;A behavior.</p><p>Healthcare fellow Patricia Kelly Yeo also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gynecologist-jen-gunter-on-startups-tackling-menopause-2021-4">has a new book on her radar in Dr. Jen Gunter's "The Menopause Manifesto,"</a> set to come out next month. </p><p>Her advice on approaching menopause is the timeless, simple stuff: quit smoking, exercise, and eat healthy.</p><p>It's not a book club if everyone isn't reading.</p><p>If you missed it, I pulled out <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walter-isaacson-code-break-on-jennifer-doudna-crispr-review-takeaways-2021-4">a few key takeaways from Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography of Jennifer Doudna</a> and the burgeoning field of gene-editing. </p><p>What else should be on our nightstands? <a href="mailto:adunn@insider.com">Send me recommendations at adunn@insider.com</a> - healthcare-related or not.</p><p>I'm now finishing up <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lifes-Edge-Search-Means-Alive/dp/0593182715">New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer's new book</a> on a basic yet profound question: What is life? In touring labs making organoids and discussing viruses that invade bacteria, Zimmer shows how blurry the line can be. Hence the title: Life's Edge.</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amy-klobuchar-pharma-industry-ma-scrutiny-senator-book-2021-4">Check out Klobuchar's perspective on monopolies here&gt;&gt;</a></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amy-klobuchar-pharma-industry-ma-scrutiny-senator-book-2021-4">3 takeaways from a top Democratic senator's new book on monopolies that should have Big Pharma worried</a></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-hiv-vaccine-could-be-moderna-mrna-success-story-2021-4"><div type="image" title="Moderna vaccine" height="1333" width="1778" msid="82331652" hostid="261"></div></a></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-fully-vaccinated-americans-can-go-maskless-outside-some-situations-2021-4">The CDC eases mask-wearing guidance for the fully vaccinated</a></h3><p>The pandemic is headed in different directions in different parts of the world. </p><p>Here in the US, things are looking up, as they have for a few weeks. 55% of adults in the US have gotten at least one shot. And the CDC recently outlined the impact that getting immunized can have on everyone's lives, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-fully-vaccinated-americans-can-go-maskless-outside-some-situations-2021-4">including less mask-wearing outdoors</a>.</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-fully-vaccinated-americans-can-go-maskless-outside-some-situations-2021-4">CDC: Fully vaccinated people can go maskless outside to exercise, dine, or socialize</a></h3><p>In fact, things have gotten so cheery that there's a whole movement brewing around this summer in the US. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sextech-startup-summer-market-booming-2021-4">The "sextech" market has never been hotter</a>, according to startup founders and investors who spoke with Insider's Melia Russell and April Joyner.</p><p>It's the free market's natural reaction to calls for a "<a href="https://www.insider.com/hot-vaxx-summer-pandemic-horniness-is-coming-blissful-release-2021-3">Hot Vax Summer</a>," I suppose.</p><p>That's all great news, I guess, for America. But these domestic discussions - of shedding masks and awaiting the summer fun - are particularly jarring when considering the direness of the crisis in places like India and Brazil.</p><p>The US said it will help India out, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-to-help-india-with-covid-19-crisis-through-vaccine-production-supplies-2021-4">donating vaccines, drugs, and protective gear</a>. Still, the devastation is deeply underway, with records being routinely broken for new infections and deaths.</p><p>India's vulnerabilities also shed light <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-coronavirus-cases-deaths-lesson-stay-alert-2021-4">on other countries that could be at risk of COVID-19 spikes</a>, writes Aria Bendix, Insider's senior science reporter.  The story reads as the latest plea for all of us to keep a bit of humility and diligence in the face of this pandemic.</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-coronavirus-cases-deaths-lesson-stay-alert-2021-4">Read the full story&gt;&gt;</a></h3><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-coronavirus-cases-deaths-lesson-stay-alert-2021-4">The 4 factors that have fueled India's harrowing coronavirus surge</a></h3><p><strong>Finally, here's what else is happening in healthcare this week: </strong></p><ul><li>Shelby Livingston has the latest on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/healthcare-delivery-strategies-unitedhealth-humana-cigna-anthem-cvs-2021-4">how insurance giants like UnitedHealth, Humana, Cigna, and Anthem are doing much more than insurance now.</a></li><li>Megan Hernbroth and Dakin Campbell <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-public-health-company-seed-pitch-deck-venrock-verily-2021-4">share the pitch deck used by a new health startup, The Public Health Company, that's trying to better track viruses</a>.</li><li>Megan also has the inside story on Mirvie, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mirvie-wants-to-bring-liquid-biopsy-tech-to-womens-health-2021-4">a biotech developing a blood test that could predict pregnancy complications in expectant mothers.</a></li></ul><p>- Andrew</p>

Healthcare CEOs on how the pandemic is shaping the future of work

<p align="left">The editors of the journal <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> have chosen cancer immunotherapy - using the body's immune system to attack tumors instead of targeting the tumor itself - as the biggest breakthrough of <keyword id="133644" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="2013">2013</keyword>.</p>
<p align="left">"Cancer immunotherapy clinched the #1 spot because it's causing such a paradigm shift among researchers in how they tackle cancer," the journal's editorial team wrote in a statement.</p>
<p align="left">The technique involves training immune cells to recognize the characteristics of cancer cells, and then fight back. There's still a lot of work ahead since the treatment has only worked for a few patients and some types of cancers so far, but the results from clinical trials offer hope for a new weapon against cancer.</p>
<p align="left">Nine other groundbreaking achievements that were chosen from this year are detailed below.</p>
<h3>Scientists discover the first real reason we need sleep</h3>
<p>By studying a newfound pathway in mice, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-first-real-reason-we-need-to-sleep-2013-10">scientists identified the first major mechanical reason we need to sleep</a>: to clean the brain. When the brain is sleeping, channels between cells grow. This allows cerebrospinal fluid into the depths of the brain tissues to flush out toxic proteins that build up during the day, including the kind that are responsible for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.</p>
<h3><div class="image-container full"><div class="image"><p class="source">Xie, et. al, Science, 2013.</p><p class="caption">When mice sleep, ?uid-filled channels (pale blue) between neurons expand and flush out waste.</p></div></div>A gene-editing tool called <strong>CRISPR soars in popularity</strong></h3>
<p>CRISPR, which stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, was discovered in bacteria where it operates like an immune system against invading viruses. The structure is made up of a series of repeated stretches broken up by short "spacer" sequences. The short sequences come from viruses that infected the bacterial cell. Researchers use CRISPR as a gene-editing tool to "cut DNA at precise locations - and at several sites at once, if desired - so that they can test the effects of mutations inside a cell," <a href="http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligence/crispr-madness/77899947/" target="_blank">Patricia Fitzpatrick explains in Genetic Engineering &amp; Biotechnology News</a>. This year, dozens of teams of researchers have used the revolutionary technique to "manipulate the genomes of various plant, animal and human cells," the editors of Science write.</p>
<p class="full"><div class="image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source">K. SUTLIFF/ SCIENCE</p><p class="caption">To home in on the right DNA, the Cas9 protein links up with guide RNA that  has a target-speci?c sequence. Once attached, Cas9 has two active sites that cut the DNA in the  right place. </p></div></div></p>
<h3><strong>Scientists Succeed In Growing A Variety Of Mini-Organs</strong></h3>
<p><strong></strong>Mini organs grown in the lab, called "organoids," provide scientists with new ways to test drugs and examine diseases in a human context. This year, Austrian researchers grew <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-grew-mini-human-brains-from-stem-cells-2013-8">mini human brains</a>, three-dimensional blobs of tissue about the size of an apple seed. The tiny brains have no blood supply, but still provide a better biological model than, say, mice for researchers to understand how the brain develops and study disorders.</p>
<p class="full"><div class="image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source">Institute for Molecular Biotechnology</p><p class="caption">A cross-section of an entire organoid showing development of different brain regions.</p></div></div></p>
<h3>Researchers recognize the importance of microbes for our health</h3>
<p><strong></strong>Researchers are finally understanding that bacteria and other organisms that live in the human body can be good for us. The body hosts trillions of tiny organisms called microbes. Some microbes, or "germs," cause diseases, but the majority of them are harmless and others even benefit our immune and digestive systems, scientists have found. This year, gut microbes have been shown to influence anticancer therapies in humans and play a role in weight loss and protection again allergies and asthma in studies of mice.</p>
<h3><strong>Perovskite cells show promise for high-efficiency, inexpensive solar power</strong></h3>
<p>A <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/131112/ncomms3761/full/ncomms3761.html" target="_blank">new solar cell material called perovskite</a> showed great promise this year as a low-cost, more efficient alternative to traditional silicon-based cells. Within four years of development, perovskite cells reached efficiency levels that took more than a decade for technologies used today to reach. Researchers still have to find a way to make perovskite as durable as silicon and prove that it doesn't contain toxic elements that would make it unsafe for use.</p>
<p class="full"><div class="image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source">Boshu Zhang, Wong Choon Lim Glenn &amp; Mingzhen Liu</p><p class="caption">A thin-film solar cell made of perovskite could soon replace expensive silicon-based solar cells.</p></div></div></div></p>
<h3>Researchers use structural <keyword id="6502723" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="biology">biology</keyword> to make a new vaccine</h3>
<p><strong></strong>For the first time scientists developed a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a common childhood virus, using a technique called structural biology. Efforts to create a vaccine against RSV had stalled using traditional methods - exposing the body to dead virus or a weak strain and letting it make a random assortment of antibodies against it.</p>
<p>Instead, researchers used a different tactic - they aimed to get the body to make a special antibody that makes some people resistant to the virus. They did so by analyzing the structure of the RSV protein when it is bound to the antibody. They then made a mutated version of a RSV protein that was a slightly different shape than normal, but the change in shape made the part that binds this killer antibody more visible. That means that body makes more of these killer antibodies to fight off the virus.</p>
<h3>Scientists make human stem cells through cloning</h3>
<p><strong></strong>Researchers were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/human-clone-embryonic-stem-cell-lines-2013-5">able to make embryonic stem cells by cloning human</a> skin cells, a feat that has been in the works for more than a decade. Since stem cells can turn into any tissue in the body - and in this case are an exact genetic match to the cloned cell - the technique may one day be used to develop replacement tissues and organs to treat diseases. It also takes us one step closer to producing cloned babies. The cloning technique is essentially the same one used to clone animals, including Dolly the sheep 17 years ago. After years of failed attempts, scientists realized that adding a bit of caffeine enabled them to produce stems cells from cloned human embryos.</p>
<h3 class="full"><div class="image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source"><a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/56349.php?from=239436">Cell, Tachibana et al.</a></p><p class="caption"> The first step during SCNT is enucleation or removal of nuclear genetic material (chromosomal) from a human egg.</p></div></div></h3>
<h3>The CLARITY imaging technique makes it easier to see the brain</h3>
<p>CLARITY allows scientists to see through the entire intact brain without slicing it up, which was problematic because it severed connections between cells."Studying intact systems with this sort of molecular resolution and global scope - to be able to see the fine detail and the big picture at the same time - has been a major unmet goal in biology, and a goal that CLARITY begins to address," study leader Karl Deisseroth, a bioengineer and psychiatrist at Stanford University, <a href="http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2013/april/clarity.html">said in a statement</a>.</p>
<p class="full"><div class="image-container"><div class="image"><p class="source">Kwanghun Chung and Karl Deisseroth, Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Stanford University</p><p class="caption">A detailed glimpse of an intact mouse brain is seen using the CLARITY method.</p></div></div></p>
<h3>Scientists found the source of cosmic rays</h3>
<p><strong style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></strong>The origin of cosmic rays, high-energy particles that speed through space and smash into Earth's upper atmosphere, has eluded scientists since they were detected 100 years ago. But this year, scientists found evidence that at least some <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-have-solved-the-mystery-of-cosmic-rays-2013-2">cosmic rays come from exploding stars</a>, or supernovas. Supernova remnants act like an "expanding shell of matter," <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/high-energy-cosmic-rays/" target="_blank">explains ScienceNow</a>. Protons that interact with gas surrounding the supernova get accelerated to almost the speed of light until they shoot off into space in all directions as cosmic rays.</p>
<p><div class="image-container full"><div class="image"><p class="source"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:STScl-2005-15.png">Wikipedia</a></p><p class="caption">Scientists believe some cosmic rays come from supernova remnants, or exploding stars like this one.</p></div></div></p>

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