🦠Researchers identify a COVID-19 antibody, gene therapy boosts vision 10,000 times, and space bubbles capture cancer

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With COVID numbers on the rise in the US this summer, University of Texas Austin researchers discovered an antibody that neutralized the SARS-CoV-2 virus and other related strands.

Using technology developed over several years, they identified an antibody’s molecular sequence, opening the possibility of manufacturing it on a large scale for future treatments. Dive deeper into this Must-Read.

🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com:

> Software Engineer II (MuleSoft) 
> Software Developer (Contract)

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MUST-READ

🦠 SC27: Researchers discover new antibody effective against all COVID-19 strains

As COVID enters the body using proteins called “spikes,” UT researchers were the first to decode the spike protein's structure, bringing them closer to developing a vaccine.

After several years of antibody research, they developed technology that isolated the antibody SC27. This antibody binds to the spike protein, thereby stopping the virus from anchoring itself to infect cells.

A universal vaccine might be within reach, offering broad protection against a rapidly mutating virus.

👀 New gene therapy boosts vision up to 10,000 times in rare eye disease patients 

Breakthrough: Researchers have taken a major step forward in treating retinal diseases by identifying and correcting the genetic mutation that causes vision loss.

Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA1) might be a rare genetic condition affecting less than 100,000 people globally, but its impact on this population is major.

With eyesight improvements beginning within a month and lasting at least a year, this gene therapy holds broader importance as eye diseases are classically difficult to treat.

🫧 Space bubbles may help detect cancer biomarkers earlier with greater precision

What if, University of Notre Dame researchers wondered, a sensor could be developed that detected cancer before symptoms present themselves? Their question sent them to space.

The absence of gravity in space causes bubbles to rise in the blood, which captures substances such as cancer, making it easier to identify early on. 

Working with the International Space Station (ISS), experiments are bringing this team of researchers closer to leveraging this phenomenon to make a highly sensitive biosensor that will pick up cancer from a single blood sample.

HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

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ENERGY

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INNOVATION

> MIT has developed a new material that can filter pollutants in water naturally. (More)

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VIDEO

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IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

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The answer is: 30

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FROM THE WEB

> A recent study reveals starchy foods like wheat and grain significantly impacted the human genome.

> MIT demonstrates that weaker oceanic circulation accelerates climate warming in a new study.

> First-ever 3D metal part printed on the International Space Station (ISS).

> This self-sensing cantilever will enable the development of new miniature bio-sensing technologies.

> The moon had active volcanoes during the dinosaur age.

> In a couple’s garden, a Norfolk Snout moth was found, thought to be extinct for more than 50 years.