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Scientific American

Prof. Katharina Ribbeck speaks with Christopher Intagliata of Scientific American’s “Science Quickly” podcast about her research exploring how mucus can treat and prevent disease. “The basic building blocks of mucus that give mucus its gooey nature are these threadlike molecules—they look like tiny bottlebrushes—that display lots and lots of sugar molecules on their backbone,” explains Ribbeck. “And these sugar molecules—we call them glycans—interact with molecules from the immune system and microbes directly. And the exact configuration and density of these sugar molecules is really important for health.”

Salon

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have isolated a “protein in human sweat that protects against Lyme disease,” reports Matthew Rozsa for Salon. The researchers believe that if “properly harnessed the protein could form the basis of skin creams that either prevent the disease or treat especially persistent infections,” writes Rosza.

Boston Herald

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere are investigating the “pathways, risk factors, and molecules” involved in the development of colorectal cancer, reports Rick Sobey for The Boston Herald. “The research team has uncovered contributing causes to this rise in early-onset cases, including: overweight/obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet, and alterations in the gut microbiome,” writes Sobey.

New Scientist

MIT scientists have found that a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease involving flickering lights and low-pitched sound could also help prevent cognitive problems after cancer treatment, reports Clare Wilson for New Scientist. The treatment is aimed at stimulating 40 Hz brainwaves, which are linked to memory processing. The results suggest targeting such “brainwaves may result in broader benefits for the brain, including increasing the activity of immune cells and, most recently, boosting its drainage system, which could help clear a toxic protein called beta-amyloid.”
 

Forbes

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere are studying how T-cell receptors recognize antigens, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. The team “hopes to develop antigen-specific immunotherapies which could also have treatment implications for infectious diseases and allergies,” writes Nietzel.

WCVB

BioBot - a public health research, data and analytics firm co-founded by Mariana Matus PhD '18 and Newsha Ghaeli PhD '17 - is using wastewater testing to provide insights into growing infection rates and diseases across the country, reports Soledad O’Brien for WCVB-TV.

New York Times

Research scientist Beth Pollack speaks with the New York Times’ Pam Belluck about her work studying the mechanisms of long Covid-19 and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). “Experts said the study, which is the N.I.H’s first detailed look at ME/CFS, should be considered only one step in understanding the condition, its severity and potential remedies,” explains Belluck. “We must advance the field towards research on treatment,” says Pollack.

STAT

Prof. Jonathan Weissman and his colleagues have developed a new tool for monitoring changes in human blood cells, which could one day help researchers predict disease risk, reports Megan Molteni for STAT. “The technology paves the way for a day in the not too distant future where it is conceivable that from a simple blood draw, a doctor could get a sense of what’s going on in that patient’s bone marrow,” writes Molteni, “picking up perturbations there that could help predict a diverse range of diseases.”

Forbes

Cognito Therapeutics, founded by Prof. Ed Boyden and Prof. Li Huei Tsai, has developed a “specialized headset that delivers 40Hz auditory and visual stimulation” to the brain, which could potentially slow down the cognitive decline and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease, reports William A. Haseltine for Forbes. Prof. Li-Huei Tsai “and her team speculated that if gamma wave activity is reduced in Alzheimer’s disease, perhaps, artificially stimulating the brain may enhance synchronized firing and restore cognition,” writes Haseltine.

Fortune

Graduate student Sarah Gurev and her colleagues have developed a new AI system named EVEscape that can, “predict alterations likely to occur to viruses as they evolve,” reports Erin Prater for Fortune. Gurev says that with the amount of data the system has amassed, it “can make surprisingly accurate predications.”

Forbes

Cognito Therapeutics, founded by Prof. Ed Boyden and Prof. Li-Huei Tsai, is using a 40 Hzlight-flickering and auditory headset to help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and restore cognition, reports William A. Haseltine for Forbes. “A recent pilot clinical trial found that this technology is not only safe and tolerable for home use, but also has a positive impact on reducing symptoms associated with age-related neurodegeneration,” writes Haseltine.

The Boston Globe

Michal Caspi Tal, a principal research scientist in the department of biological engineering, speaks with Boston Globe reporter Kay Lazar about her research aimed at better understanding why some people develop chronic illness after infection with Lyme disease and Covid-19. “Long Covid and chronic Lyme share so many features that it’s uncanny,” said Tal. “This is a solvable problem. This is not rocket science. This just needs to be looked at with fresh eyes.”

The Washington Post

Writing for The Washington Post, research affiliate Bina Venkataraman emphasizes that “if biomedical breakthroughs are to benefit the millions of children afflicted with rare diseases, genetic testing of babies needs to expand.” Venkataraman adds: “By screening newborn genomes for currently known genetic diseases, patients and scientists could gain insights that lead to the treatment and prevention of thousands of illnesses that currently lack cures.”

Forbes

Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, writes for Forbes about Prof. Dina Katabi’s work using insights from wireless systems to help glean information about patient health. “Incorporating continuous time data collection in healthcare using ambient WiFi detectable by machine learning promises an era where early and accurate diagnosis becomes the norm rather than the exception,” writes Rus.

Forbes

In an article for Forbes, research affiliate John Werner spotlights Prof. Dina Katabi and her work showcasing how AI can boost the capabilities of clinical data. “We are going to collect data, clinical data from patients continuously in their homes, track the symptoms, the evolution of those symptoms, and process this data with machine learning so that we can get insights before problems occur,” says Katabi.