Tag Archives: innovation

Chemistry for Cancer: New Radioactive Tracers for Cancer Diagnosis

Posted on April 13, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Cutting-edge chemistry may be the key to fast and efficient cancer diagnoses. In early 2020, Antonio Wong and his research team at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, BC, developed a new way to synthesize radioactive tracers for positron emission tomography (PET) scan cancer diagnosis. Recently, I interviewed Antonio to discuss his research.

The Problem 

Imaging technologies like the CT scan, ultrasound, X-ray, MRI, and PET scans allow doctors to identify cancerous masses in patients. Although PET scans are a common way to diagnose cancer, researchers want to find ways to make tracers more efficiently. So, Antonio and his team aimed to develop a new kind of tracer and to make the synthetic process more efficient.

PET scan and technician, Source: http://www.bccancer.bc.ca

The Science 

Since cancer cells divide quickly and uncontrollably, they require many more cellular “building blocks” compared to regular cells. Taking advantage of this, researchers have previously developed “tagged” versions of  these building blocks, called tracers, which accumulate inside cancer cells. This allows doctors to see tumors in PET scan images. When I spoke to Antonio, he explained that the “golden standard” for PET imaging uses a sugar molecule called glucose tagged with a radioactive fluoride atom (called FDG) which is responsible for the glow on medical images. To see how tracers work, check out this video below.

Combining innovation and creativity, Antonio’s team developed a more efficient way to make these tiny building blocks by using a careful mixture of chemicals. They used a molecule called thymidine which is required for cell division, tagged it with a radioactive atom (18F), and injected into mice with cancer. The mice were then put into a PET scan to see if the building blocks were “building up” inside the tumors, which would glow on the PET scan images.

Tracer synthesis, Source: Antonio’s Paper

The Impact 

When Antonio ran this study, he was an undergraduate student at UBC. As a result, his story has caught the attention of students on campus. After my interview with Antonio, my colleague Parwaz, a UBC student who runs a podcast called “Thinkin’ a Latte”, chatted with two other UBC undergraduates about the interview. Check out their podcast below.

Although the study’s findings are promising, using thymidine-based tracers for PET tumor imaging requires much more research before it can be used in clinics. 

“I think the significance of this paper is not like ‘look this is the next blockbuster drug that we’re trying to use’, this is more like a proof of concept”

– Antonio Wong

Nonetheless, cancer is a prevalent disease that has touched the lives of almost everyone and research like Antonio’s is bringing much needed innovation and creativity to the field.

– Maya Bird 

Co-authors: Parwaz, Samin, and Teaya 

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Treating Congenital Heart Disease: Lab-created Heart Valves

Posted on April 5, 2021 by | Leave a comment

The world’s most common birth defect, congenital heart disease (CHD), affects around 1 in 100 Canadian children born each year. It is a condition where the heart does not develop or function properly. Some forms of CHD only require medical check-ups, while others, especially among children, are more complex and can require several surgeries. A 2021 research study led by Dr. Robert Tranquillo explains a promising approach using lab-created heart valves that can prevent the need for multiple surgeries when treating various forms of CHD in children.

Source: flickr.com

What is Congenital Heart Disease (CHD)?

Congenital heart disease includes all defects present at birth in one or more of the heart’s structures— valves, arteries, chambers, or wall tissue. Our hearts play an important role in maintaining blood flow throughout the body. Therefore, defects in the heart must be treated for the body to function properly.

Source: CNN | Youtube

THE PROBLEM: CURRENT AVAILABLE TREATMENTS

When it comes to treating heart valve defects, there is still no replacement heart valve that can grow and continue to function as a child grows. As a result, children must undergo multiple valve replacement surgeries. The current treatment uses valves made from chemically treated animal tissue. In addition to children outgrowing these valves, they are also known to become dysfunctional due to calcium build-up. As a result, children will have to endure around five or more open-heart surgeries. This can be exhausting, painful, and inconvenient for both children and their families.

PROMISING ALTERNATIVE: LAB-CREATED HEART VALVES

Dr. Tranquillo and his team have created heart valves that are capable of growing within a patient. In addition, they have almost no calcium build-up and can be stored for at least six months. Although this study was only done on lambs, it holds great potential when it comes to reducing the number of surgeries required for children with valve defects. As stated by Dr. Tranquillo,

“This is a huge step forward in pediatric heart research.”

Below is the echocardiogram showing this replacement valve opening and closing within a lamb’s heart. 

Source: College of Science and Engineering, UMN | Youtube

      How was this done?

The researchers created tubes from the donor sheep’s skin cells using tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. They combined the cells with a gelatin-like material and provided them with nutrients to grow. Following this, they washed away the sheep cells leaving behind tubes. Three tubes were sewn together to create a tri-tube that replicates a human heart valve. The tri-tubes were put into the hearts of three lambs and monitored. After 52 weeks, they saw a significant growth of the valves (19mm to about 25mm), strongly suggesting that the valves grew within the lambs.

THE FUTURE

The next steps are to test whether the lab-created heart valve can function in a child. Dr. Tranquillo’s research, if someday approved in children, could significantly improve the lives of children diagnosed with congenital heart disease, specifically heart valve defects. Overall, this would be a huge breakthrough in pediatric heart care.

– Samantha Nalliah

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The Space Junk Crisis

Posted on March 22, 2021 by | 3 comments

You likely don’t think about space junk very much every day, but what if I called it an orbital death sphere? Although this may sound hyperbolic, the current amount of orbital trash may become a serious crisis very soon. So what is space junk, and what are we doing about this death sphere?

Space Junk, Space Debris, Orbits, Space, Universe

Source: pixabay.com

Our Orbiting Landfill

Humanity has now been launching things into space since Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957. Since then, we have launched thousands of satellites into the earth’s orbit. Now, launching a rocket is an incredibly difficult task, so historically we have put all our efforts into getting them out of the atmosphere. A consequence of this mentality is that few launches have planned for what happens with the payload once it has served its use. This has resulted in a graveyard of satellites circling earth. But why should we care about a space graveyard?

Sputnik, Satellite, Astronautics, Nasa, Cosmonautics

Source: pixabay.com

The Death Sphere 

Orbiting space junk is moving at thousands of kilometers per hour. This means that some of our space junk is traveling more than 10 times faster than an average bullet.

The real problem comes from orbital collisions. If two satellites happen to run into each other in orbit, the collision could result in thousands of smaller “bullets”. In addition to this, this single collision could cause a cascade of collisions.

This process is known as Kessler Syndrome which is named after the rocket scientist Donald J. Kessler who first realized the possibility. The end result of this cascade is a proverbial “death sphere” which describes a field of small debris encircling our planet. This could trap us on this planet, as any attempt to launch something into space would be met by a stream of destructive debris. A more complete picture of how this happens is shown by the YouTube creator Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: 

YouTube Preview Image

So how do we prevent this from happening? Well thankfully people have started coming up with some solutions.

Saving the Satellites 

Attempting to clean up our space junk is a very difficult but necessary task. A recent study published by the International Academy of Astronautics found that the risk of a catastrophic impact with space debris is as high as 45% for  projects such as SpaceX’s new satellite. Furthermore, the study went on to say:

“…(Kessler Syndrome) could result in low Earth orbit (LEO) becoming unusable, and remaining in an unusable state for perhaps thousands of years…” (IAA)

Getting to space in the first place is incredibly difficult, and if you can get to space how do you get so much junk out of our orbit? Well, many very unique solutions have been proposed over the years including giant trash catching nets, shooting puffs of air at the junk, and even sending up little janitor robots. Most of these solutions have only been theoretical, until this morning.

File:Elsad.png

Source: Astroscale Holdings Inc.

Earlier today, a magnetic junk capturing satellite was launched by the Japanese company Astroscale. This fascinating piece of engineering uses powerful magnets to capture metallic debris, and safely remove it from orbit. Projects like this give us hope that we will not be restricted in our space fairing ability in the future. Hopefully we can be rid of our orbiting garbage before it grounds us for good. 

-Declan O’Driscoll

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Mice Grown In Vials: Are Humans Next?

Posted on March 22, 2021 by | 4 comments

For at least a hundred years, researchers have been struggling to answer one question: how does a single cell become a full grown human.

One major barrier to fully understanding this process, was that we could never see it happening before our own eyes. Luckily, a team of biologists led by Dr. Jacob Hanna at the Weizmann Institute of Science had a major breakthrough: mice grown in vials. 

The Problem

In an interview with the New York Times, biologist Dr. Paul Tesar said:

“The holy grail of developmental biology is to understand how a single cell, a fertilized egg, can make all of the specific cell types in the human body and grow into 40 trillion cells. Since the beginning of time, researchers have been trying to develop ways to answer this question.”

Each one of us started the same, as just one cell. In our mothers, one cell became two, then four, which eventually led to us. During these beginning stages of development, we were what researchers call an embryo, or an early-stage animal. Embryos are located in a mother’s uterus, which acts like a house that provides everything needed to grow. 

To see what is going on inside this house, researchers have tried many different tricks including taking pictures, or even removing the uterus fully from animals such as mice to get a better look. What researchers have not been able to do thus far, is watch the embryo grow continuously outside of the mother. This has not only made research in the field difficult, but has restricted the work being done.

The Solution

Although the researchers at Weizmann were not the first to come up with the idea, up until now, mice grown outside of a mother have either not been able to survive, or did not grow correctly. In fact, it took Dr. Hanna and his colleagues 7 years to perfect their technique. 

The entire process consists of two steps. First, the uterus of a recently pregnant mouse is removed. Second, the uterus is transferred to a vial filled with liquid containing all the food it will need. As seen in the video below, the embryo is slowly spun to make sure it does not attach itself to the wall of the vial as that could result in death. 

Mice embryos growing inside spinning vials (Video from MIT Technology Review)

The mice were under constant observation and images, as seen below, were taken and compared to mice developing inside a mother. The two were identical. 

Mice developing over a 5-day period (Image from The New York Times)

Implications

As a result of this breakthrough, researchers will be able to better understand events including birth defects and miscarriages. Additionally, researchers can now easily change the environment that the embryo grows in to see what conditions can affect development. Although it may still be some time until this research is transferred to humans, this breakthrough certainly marks a big step in the right direction.

-Jessica Petrochuk

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A ‘Viral’ Testing Kit: ID Now COVID-19

Posted on March 8, 2021 by | Leave a comment

THE PROBLEM 

Every single one of us can help control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether we’re humming “Happy Birthday” twice every time we wash our hands, or facetiming our friends instead of meeting up, we can all adopt changes that will help us get back to our normal lives sooner. Another thing we can do is to get tested, should we suspect COVID-19 infection.

When to get tested for COVID-19
Credit: BC Centre for Disease Control, www.bccdc.ca

Getting tested is easier said than done. It’s an inconvenient drive-in, followed by a period of self-isolation until results come back, which can take up to four days.

Besides just being tedious, this lengthy processing time has other concerns. A study found that patients infected with COVID-19 are most infectious within the first five days of initial symptoms. If results aren’t coming back soon after testing, they become less effective at stopping the virus right in its tracks. 

THE SOLUTION

This is where Abbott Laboratories steps up! Having already developed reliable testing tools for influenzas A&B, strep A, and respiratory syncytial virus, it was only a matter of time before COVID-19 testing apparatuses were developed. In early 2020, Abbott developed the ID Now COVID-19 Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, and launched for distribution in the US after receiving approval for emergency use from the FDA that year in March. Shortly after, Health Canada provided approval of use in October 2020.

NO IMAGEAbbott’s ID Now COVID-19 Test
Credit: abbot.com

This Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test takes nasal swabs from individuals, and amplifies the viral ribonucleic acid (essentially a COVID-19 nametag) hundreds of millions of times until it’s detectable by their system. What’s more, this impressive amplification process is done is a matter of minutes, and test results are returned within 13 minutes – hence the term rapid! The entire process is summarized in this short video from Abbott.

How ID Now COVID-19 Works
Credit: Abbott, www.youtube.com

It’s normal to have some doubt when the current gold standard testing protocol in Canada (RT-PCR) takes 6–8 hours.

Abbot’s clinical trial on 1003 subjects reported a similar accuracy using their ID Now machine compared to current lab PCR testing. This study was done in a controlled clinical setting, so these results are not representative of the real world.

Dr. Gary Procop, a director of virology at the Cleveland Clinic, found that ID Now missed up to 15% of COVID-19 cases in infected patients, that other tests were able to catch! He states that “just because we need something put out emergently, doesn’t mean we should put out something that doesn’t work appropriately.” In a response, the FDA stated that they will continue to track these tests and take action if necessary. Check out more of the interview below.

Questions About Accuracy of Coronavirus Tests
Credit: CNN, www.cnn.com

This is Abbott’s response to the ‘rapidly’ changing world. They have provided frontline workers with rapid testing, but whether or not they can combat COVID-19 as quickly as their tests do remains a question.

~William Lee

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Protein Folding: Solved

Posted on February 26, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Just as the turmoil of 2020 was coming to a wrap, a scientific breakthrough came about. On November 30th AlphaFold, coming out of Google’s DeepMind, claimed to have solved the protein folding problem using artificial intelligence.

The Problem

From making our DNA to getting rid of waste, proteins are like small machines that perform the majority of work done in cells. In fact, within our bodies there are an estimated 80,000 to 400,000 unique proteins each playing their own role. And, just like the way a building is built determines its use, a protein’s structure decides what tasks it performs. Yet, although it is easy to distinguish an apartment from an office, according to UCONN Health, it can take scientists between a few weeks to a few months to piece together what a protein looks like.

The Game Changer

This is where AlphaFold sneaks in. Although, as seen in the video above, the task was not easy, AlphaFold chose a different approach to this problem: artificial intelligence. 

Nowadays, the word artificial intelligence pops-up everywhere from self-driving cars to artificial voices, but what is most important is how it works and how it can be applied to the protein folding problem.

General scheme for developing an artificial intelligence model.

 

For the computer it all starts with data. As seen in the diagram above, once given data the computer looks for patterns between points. These patterns can then be used to make predictions on new data. Before in their final structure, proteins begin as a simple string of amino acids, or the building blocks of proteins. Given a dataset with the original string paired with the protein in its final form, the computer looks for patterns between the two. Using these patterns it can then predict what a protein might look like from just its string.

The Importance

Just one of the many protein folding predictions generated by AlphaFold’s model.

To the left you can see one prediction Alpha Fold’s model created. In comparison to the time it takes in the lab, this model is able to make a prediction in a mere half an hour with 90% accuracy according to their statement. In fact, it has already helped a biologist named Andrei Lupis with piecing together a protein his team has been stuck on for a decade. In an interview with Nature, Lupis even said: 

This is a game changer, this will change medicine. It will change research. It will change bioengineering. It will change everything.

With this new break-through, not only will scientists save time and money by not having to experimentally determine a protein’s structure, but research will accelerate at a pace never seen before. 

Beyond AlphaFold

While AlphaFold may be a hot-topic, beyond protein folding AI has also been used for a variety of tasks including interpreting MRI images or even predicting climate change. The applications seem to be limitless so make sure to keep an eye out, the next breakthrough could be coming up just around the corner!

Jessica Petrochuk

 

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Quote

A ‘Viral’ Testing Kit: ID Now COVID-19

THE PROBLEM

All around the world, new COVID-19 testing centres are constantly being opened in response to the growing number of victims. These testing centres provide information about one’s diagnosis, but often through a stressful and lengthy experience. Testing centers around Canada experience wait times of up to 2 hours, and usually requires a minimum of at least 48 hours before results become available. This is a problem.

COVID-19 Testing Centre in North Vancouver
Credit: Jane Seyd, www.nsnews.com

Besides just being tedious, this lengthy processing time has other concerns. The Director of Abbott, Norman Moore describes it:

“You’re the most infectious early on—and if we don’t have results in that timely fashion, what does it help if a molecular test comes back two weeks later?”

THE SOLUTION

This is where Moore and his team at Abbott steps in. Having already developed reliable testing tools for influenzas A&B, strep A, and respiratory syncytial virus, it was only a matter of time before COVID-19 testing apparatuses were developed. In early 2020, Abbott developed the ID Now COVID-19 Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, and launched for distribution in the US after receiving approval for emergency use from the FDA that year in March. Shortly after, Health Canada provided approval of use in October 2020.

NO IMAGEAbbott’s ID Now COVID-19 Test
Credit: abbot.com

This Rapid Nucleic Acid Amplification Test takes nasal swabs from individuals suspected with COVID-19, and exposes the viral RNA packed under the outer envelope of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an acidic solution at 56⁰ C. Just as it is written in the name, it then takes the viral RNA and amplifies it hundreds of millions of times until it is detectable by the system, and what’s more this impressive amplification process is done is a matter of minutes, and test results are returned within 13 minutes.

A Typical Nasal Swab
Credit: U.S. Pacific Fleet, www.flickr.com

It’s normal to have some doubt when the current gold standard testing protocol in Canada (RT-PCR) takes 6-8 hours on average. We can compare the accuracy of an ID Now diagnosis to PCR lab tests by considering sensitivity and specificity.

  • Sensitivity measures the proportion of people with COVID that are correctly identified
  • Specificity measures the proportion of people without COVID that are correctly identified

Abbot’s clinical trial on 1003 subjects reported an average sensitivity of 93.3% and specificity of 98.4%. This is comparable to a separate meta-analysis on lab PCR testing which determined an average sensitivity of 98%, and no reported specificity. Note that these numbers are dependent on many factors, and are often higher than what is seen in the real world. This shows that ID Now can be an effective solution to rapid testing, but that results should be taken as preliminary and confirmed with other molecular assessments if results are not consistent with one’s symptoms.

This is Abbott’s response to the ‘rapidly’ changing world. They have provided frontline workers across North America with rapid testing, but whether or not they can combat COVID-19 as quickly as their tests do remains a question.

~William Lee

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Posted on February 1, 2021 by in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

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Use of Nanotechnology in Cancer Therapy

Posted on January 25, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Would you believe someone if they told you that there is a type cancer therapy that is more effective and has less negative effects than chemotherapy, yet is less commonly used?

Cancer is characterized by the rapid division of cells anywhere in the body.  Every day, your body produces many potentially cancerous cells that are later destroyed. Moreover, every year, over 10 million people are diagnosed with cancer. With such a large amount of diagnoses, cancer remains one of leading causes of human death as it is generally incurable due to the metastasis of cancer cells.

Microtubules in breast cancer cells leading to rapid cell division.

Credit: National cancer institute. Downloaded from: Unsplash.com

An article by Ranjita Misra and her research team  describes a new yet promising technique in cancer treatment and early detection known as nanotechnology cancer therapy.  Today, treating cancer through radiation and chemotherapy is the most popular option. Chemotherapy has numerous negative effects like drug resistance and an insufficient amount of drug reaching tumour sites. This can lead to insufferable side effects as both cancerous cells and healthy cells are destroyed. 

The use of nanotechnology in cancer therapy involves the production of small particles called nanoparticles that are effective in transporting anticancer drugs to target cells while minimizing damage to healthy cells. Nanoparticles target cancer cells through active targeting and passive targeting. Examples of nanoparticles approved by the FDA include nanoparticle-liposome and albumin nanoparticles. Liposomes in particular are vital in nanotechnology cancer therapy as drugs transported through nanoparticle-liposomes have shown to have significantly longer half lives, upwards of 55 hours. This is important as the drug is able to stay in the body for a longer time meaning less drug is needed, which reduces damage to healthy cells. Another reason liposomes are favourable is because of their composition. Their hydrophobic composition allows appreciable amounts of anticancer drug  to reach the tumour site as the body cannot destroy the drug . This is important in cancer therapy as damaging healthy cells due to excess drug is the main reason why chemotherapy has numerous side effects.  The mechanisms and benefits of nanotechnology cancer therapy talked about above are explained in more detail by Joy Wolfram (2018) in the video below.

YouTube Preview Image

TEDtalk by Joy Wolfram in 2018 about nanotechnology in cancer therapy.

 

Liposomes and nanoparticles: nanosized vehicles for drug delivery in cancer - ScienceDirect

Liposome nanoparticle structure that is used for cancer therapy.

Credit: ScienceDirect. Downloaded from Unsplash.com

This breakthrough in cancer therapy shows that science is forever evolving and that in the future it is possible there will be a cure for cancer.  Although nanotechnology cancer therapy is a relatively new area of research it shows tremendous potential and over time it is expected that larger advancements in preventing and treating cancer will be seen. Lastly, it is believed by researchers that nanotechnology cancer therapy has the potential to be the main form of treating cancer in the future due to the fact that it has less side effects and is more effective than chemotherapy (Gharpure et al. 2015).

–Balkaran Dhaliwal

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Protein Folding: Solved

Posted on January 22, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Just as the turmoil of 2020 was coming to a wrap, a scientific breakthrough came about. On November 30th, AlphaFold, coming out of DeepMind, claimed to have solved the protein folding problem using artificial intelligence.

The Problem

Proteins perform the majority of work done in our cells from synthesizing DNA to getting rid of waste. Of course, the way a protein functions is largely dependent on its structure. This can include characterizations such as what parts of the protein are exposed versus tucked away. The proteomics field is dedicated to studying these, what is currently estimated to be, 80,000 to 400,000 proteins in our bodies and use two main strategies to determine their structure in the lab: X-ray crystallography and NMR. And yet, even in the midst of these complex protocols and high-tech machinery, a structure can take between a week to a few months to piece together according to UCONN Health.

The Game Changer

This is where AlphaFold sneaks into the picture. AlphaFold chose to take a different approach to this nominal problem: artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm and has improved the accuracy and efficiency of processes in almost every industry. From self-driving cars to artificial voices the possibilities are endless. 

General scheme for developing an artificial intelligence model.

Put very simply by the diagram above, artificial intelligence, more specifically machine learning, trains a computer to look for patterns within a given dataset. Once trained, this program can use the patterns it learned to make predictions of its own. In the case of AlphaFold, their model was trained off of amino acid sequences and their predetermined structures.

Just one of the many protein folding predictions generated by AlphaFold’s model.

In comparison to the time it takes in the lab, AlphaFold’s model was able to predict protein structure in a mere half an hour with an accuracy of 90% according to their statement. In fact, it has already helped an evolutionary biologist named Andrei Lupis with piecing together a protein his team has been stuck on for a decade. In an interview for nature, Lupis even said: 

“This is a game changer, this will change medicine. It will change research. It will change bioengineering. It will change everything”

Beyond AlphaFold

Of course, while AlphaFold may be a hot-topic, beyond protein folding, AI has also been used for a variety of tasks including interpreting MRI images, predicting climate change, or even sifting through astronomical data. The applications seem to be limitless so make sure to keep an eye out, the next breakthrough could be coming up just around the corner!

Jessica Petrochuk

 

 

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