‘Exploding’ pills could deliver insulin without a needle

Researchers have created a pill that could effectively deliver insulin and other injectable drugs, making medicines for chronic illnesses easier for patients to take, less invasive, and potentially less expensive.

Along with insulin, it also could be used for semaglutide—the popular GLP-1 medication sold as Ozempic and Wegovy—and a host of other top-selling protein-based medications like antibodies and growth hormone that are part of a $400 billion market.

These drugs usually have to be injected because they can’t overcome the protective barriers of the gastrointestinal tract. The new capsule uses a small pressurized “explosion” to shoot medicine past those barriers in the small intestine and into the bloodstream.

Unlike other designs, it has no complicated moving parts and requires no battery or stored energy.

“This study introduces a new way of drug delivery that is as easy as swallowing a pill and replaces the need for painful injections,” says Mark Prausnitz, who created the pill in his lab with former PhD student Joshua Palacios and other student researchers.

In animal lab tests, they showed their capsule lowered blood sugar levels just like traditional insulin injections.

The researchers reported their pill design and study results in the Journal of Controlled Release.

(Credit: Georgia Tech)

“It was important to us not to turn this capsule into a complex device or machine,” says Prausnitz, a professor and chair in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech.

“Others have made mechanical devices for protein delivery that you can stick in your mouth or swallow, but they are costly and complicated. We wanted to make a capsule that uses a simple pharmaceutical formulation that is inexpensive to manufacture, but has the power of a mechanical device to increase drug delivery.”

The pill relies on a tried-and-true bubbling reaction of water and sodium bicarbonate to build pressure inside the capsule after it is swallowed. Eventually the pressure overwhelms a small weak spot in the pill’s gelatin exterior, resulting in a jet of drug particles.

The high velocity of the “explosion” sweeps away the mucus that lines the intestine much like a burst of air might shove water aside. It puts the drug right next to the epithelial cells that can transfer it to the bloodstream. Because the drug particles are moving so fast, protein-eating enzymes don’t have a chance to break them down.

The capsule itself is made of the same gelatin material as pills already in your medicine cabinet. It’s been strengthened by exposure to ultraviolet light to help it stand up to the extreme environment in the stomach and small intestine. The capsule has a small internal compartment containing the drug and positioning it for efficient ejection.

“Right from the start, we set an objective to develop the capsule so it can plug right into conventional capsule manufacturing methods,” says Joshua Palacios, the study’s first author and a former PhD student in Prausnitz’s lab.

“Obviously, we’re doing a few things differently, but it’s critical to make these capsules at low cost and in large quantity. Leveraging existing manufacturing processes is key to making broad impact with this technology.”

So far, no oral delivery methods for insulin are available to patients. While there are a few other protein drugs taken by mouth, most aren’t absorbed well in the intestine. For example, the body takes up less than 1% of the oral form of semaglutide, called Rybelsus; the other 99% is wasted. The insulin-carrying capsule Prausnitz and his team have developed is designed to increase that absorption, requiring less drug and increasing its effectiveness.

Now the team is working to further increase the percentage of drug that’s absorbed and exploring other injected drugs beyond insulin that might work in their capsule, such as semaglutide.

Prausnitz is known for pioneering microneedles for drug delivery through the skin. His work on skin delivery inspired the self-pressurizing capsule.

“I was thinking about all the different ways that we deliver medications across the skin and how this could be applicable in the intestine,” he says.

“While there are mechanical, electrical, ultrasonic, laser, and other devices you can apply to the skin, they are too complicated to be swallowed. But jet injection, which has been widely used for needle-free vaccination, could work in the gut. It’s like a tiny bullet that shoots drug into tissue.

“In the end, there are some differences in the science and mechanism, but the thought process is the same: You shoot something at high pressure against your target.”

Source: Georgia Tech

The post ‘Exploding’ pills could deliver insulin without a needle appeared first on Futurity.

from Futurity https://ift.tt/u1PWzAn

Young athletes focused on 1 sport are more likely to get injured

Researchers say that young athletes who specialize in just one sport experience more injuries and injury-related surgeries.

Switching sports for one season a year, or roughly three months, can keep young athletes safer and provide a better outlook for their long-term health.

This information is important for parents, coaches, young athletes, and their health practitioners as they make decisions about upcoming sports seasons.

Some professional football players practice ballet. An NCAA champion runner also swims. An Olympic gold medal speed skater does six-hour biking sessions.

According to the researchers, these athletes are ahead of the game because cross-training can help prevent injury in youth athletes.

Nathan Fitton, associate professor of orthopedics in the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, chief medical information officer for MSU Health Care, and MSU Athletics team physician; Jared Lutsic, MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine alumni and orthopedic surgery resident at Henry Ford Warren; and others studied the effects of sport specialization on collegiate athletes.

Their findings in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine reveal a direct association between the intensity of sport specialization and incidence of injuries while as a college athlete.

“We expected to learn that highly specialized athletes would have higher injury rates,” Fitton says.

“What’s alarming is a statistically significant increase in surgical procedures after an injury. We found that the more specialized an athlete was, the more likely they were to need surgery to correct an injury. This was true for male and female athletes.”

“There are lifelong implications for youth sports injuries,” he adds. “Injured athletes don’t always return to their pre-injury state. In the short term, this may mean they don’t get back to the sport at a level where they want to be. Longer term, we see arthritis from trauma to joints at an earlier age than would be expected. And we see 30- and 35-year-olds who need additional surgeries or lifestyle modifications to recover from an injury they experienced as a youth athlete.”

In the survey, NCAA Division I, II, and III athletes were asked about their sports participation, specialization, injuries, recovery periods, and treatment methods. Findings showed that highly specialized athletes were more likely to report injuries and, of those who says they had been injured, more than half reported a re-injury.

“We asked college athletes about their specialization status and learned that those who had a history of being highly specialized in high school got injured more frequently in college and had more severe injuries,” Lutsic says.

“Parents, physicians, and coaches should consider this when advising student athletes.”

“Athletes can still be very committed to a single sport and reduce their risk of injury by playing just one other sport for three months,” Fitton explains.

“Cross-training is like rotating the tires on your car. You’ll get longer use and better performance when tires are regularly rotated. For our bodies, diversification of movement reduces the risk of injury and helps maintain healthy functioning.”

Fitton says that other activities, like dance class or participating in a school play, can offer the break young athletes need. Even taking a day or two a week to do something that uses different muscle groups would be beneficial, he adds.

Source: Michigan State University

The post Young athletes focused on 1 sport are more likely to get injured appeared first on Futurity.

from Futurity https://ift.tt/OwSYovA

How social media and news drive gun sales

As gun sales in the United States continue to soar, researchers have uncovered insights into what drives Americans to buy firearms.

A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Nexus journal reveals the complex interaction among media coverage, social media activity, and firearm purchases.

Led by Igor Belykh, a professor of applied mathematics at Georgia State University, the research team—including Kevin Slote, a PhD student in Georgia State’s mathematics and statistics doctoral program; Kevin Daley, a recent graduate; and coauthors from New York University (NYU) and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)—analyzed daily data from 2012 to 2020.

Their study explores how gun-rights organizations and regulation advocates influence short-term firearm purchases through social media activity and media coverage.

The study found that social media activity by both sides directly affects gun buying behavior, often triggering purchases within days of posts. Media coverage of violent crime also plays a role, as it spurs discussions among these organizations, further influencing public sentiment toward gun ownership.

While fear of mass shootings and new gun regulations are often cited as factors for impulsive gun purchases, the research indicates that social media lobbying by anti-regulation groups and targeted media coverage are more influential factors in driving firearm acquisitions. Personal safety concerns drive many gun buyers more than reactions to mass shootings or potential legislative changes.

The team used PCMCI+, a novel statistical technique, to capture real-time interactions among media, social media (specifically X, formerly known as Twitter) and FBI background checks. This method provided insights into how daily media coverage and social media posts shape decisions to purchase firearms in ways that previous, monthly data analyses had not revealed. Primarily, the team monitored results from X but plans to use other platforms in the future.

“We found this complex, interwoven web of media and social media variables and how it influences people’s decision to buy guns,” says Slote.

“It’s not as simple as people just reacting to news about mass shootings or gun laws.”

Belykh adds, “Our findings suggest that efforts to reduce gun purchases might be more effective if they focus on addressing fear of violent crime rather than mass shootings.”

Looking ahead, the research team plans to use similar research methods and apply them to TikTok to explore a younger generation’s views on mass shootings.

“We’re going to look at how a younger demographic’s opinions about mass shootings affect these same variables,” Slote says.

The study is part of WE-SAFE, a collaborative National Science Foundation-funded project involving NYU, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Georgia State University, and Northeastern University aimed at engineering a safer American “firearm ecosystem.”

For policymakers and public health officials, this research provides valuable insights into the complex factors driving gun sales in the United States. By understanding these dynamics, more effective strategies for gun violence prevention may be developed without infringing on Second Amendment rights.

Source: Georgia State University

The post How social media and news drive gun sales appeared first on Futurity.

from Futurity https://ift.tt/OWl2a6A

How do new genes get switched on?

After nearly a decade of charting new genes in fruit flies, researchers have discovered how these de novo genes are regulated.

Most genes are ancient and shared across species. But a small subset of genes are relative newcomers, spontaneously emerging from stretches of DNA that once encoded nothing at all.

In complementary studies, in Nature Ecology & Evolution and PNAS, the team showed how transcription factors and genomic neighbors switch these genes on and integrate them into cellular networks—the first studies to identify these master regulators.

Together, the findings shed light on how new genes become functional, with broad implications for understanding evolutionary biology and gene regulation—and diseases born from their dysfunction.

“The more we know about de novo regulation, the more information we have about gene expression and regulation itself,” says Li Zhao, head of the Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics at Rockefeller.

“That’s important not only for evolutionary biology but also for the study of diseases like cancer, which are associated with rapid genetic dysregulation.”

When Zhao started her lab eight years ago, the existence of de novo genes had only been recently discovered. As Zhao began identifying hundreds of these mysterious genes, Torsten Weisel, 1981 Nobel laureate and president emeritus of Rockefeller, took a personal interest in her work. Over lunch, Weisel asked her how the de novo genes that she was discovering were regulated.

“I was stunned,” Zhao recalls. “We knew nothing about this—it was a question, asked during a casual conversation, that I had not even thought about. I told him we could not answer that question yet, and that I did not know when we would be able to answer it.”

But the seed was planted. And as Zhao continued cataloguing de novo genes, she began exploring the possibility of figuring out how they are expressed. Technology improved, and new computational methods allowed her team to infer which transcription factors regulate specific genes.

Zhao’s lab also eventually figured out how to apply single-cell sequencing techniques to the testis of Drosophila, where many de novo genes are expressed.

“We finally had the genetic and the computational foundation to answer the question put to me years ago.”

In the Nature Ecology & Evolution paper, the team focused on how transcription factors regulate de novo genes, and discovered three factors that act as master regulators. After analyzing gene expression across hundreds of thousands of cells, they found that only about 10% of transcription factors were responsible for controlling the majority of de novo genes. Zhao and colleagues then engineered flies with different copy numbers of these factors, and performed RNA sequencing to observe the effects. Sure enough, the variations caused clear, often linear shifts in the expression of de novo genes, confirming their role as key regulators.

In their PNAS paper, the researchers turned their attention to the genomic neighborhoods of de novo genes. They investigated whether these young genes are co-regulated with nearby genes that are more evolutionarily well-established. By analyzing gene expression patterns and chromatin accessibility data, they found that de novo genes often share regulatory elements with adjacent genes, suggesting a mechanism of co-regulation.

“The papers are closely linked,” Zhao says. “One talks about how the cellular environment regulates new genes. The other asks how genes work together to regulate one another.”

Beyond explaining how de novo genes are regulated, the findings may shed light on how de novo genes are formed in the first place.

“We cannot say for sure that these transcription factors caused de novo genes to originate,” Zhao says.

“But we’ve now seen that tinkering with transcription factors can cause significant changes.”

As the lab continues studying the role that transcription factors play in de novo gene regulation, that link may become clearer.

As the lab continues studying de novo genes, Zhao also expects to uncover broader insights into how gene networks evolve—and what happens when they go awry. The study of cancer, among other diseases associated with relatively rapid dysregulation of genes, may benefit from work that explains how evolutionarily young genes arise and are regulated. And because of their shorter evolutionary history and more simple regulation, de novo genes may provide an accessible window into the trickier question of how the rest of the genome works.

“Expression and regulation is more complex than we think,” Zhao says.

“De novo genes may provide a simplistic model that helps us better understand gene expression and evolution.”

Source: Rockefeller University

The post How do new genes get switched on? appeared first on Futurity.

from Futurity https://ift.tt/nFIThDH

A bunch of exoplanets may be bigger than scientists’ thought

In new research, astronomers describe how more than 200 known exoplanets are likely much larger than previously thought.

It’s a finding that could change which distant worlds researchers consider potential harbors for extraterrestrial life.

“We found that hundreds of exoplanets are larger than they appear, and that shifts our understanding of exoplanets on a large scale,” says Te Han, a doctoral student at University of California, Irvine and lead author of the new Astrophysical Journal Letters study.

“This means we may have actually found fewer Earth-like planets so far than we thought.”

Astronomers can’t observe exoplanets directly. They have to wait for a planet to pass in front of its host star, and then they measure the very subtle drop in light emanating from a star.

“We’re basically measuring the shadow of the planet,” says Paul Robertson, UC Irvine professor of astronomy and study coauthor.

Han’s team studied observations of hundreds of exoplanets observed by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, and they found that light from neighboring stars can “contaminate” the light of a star an astronomer is studying. This can make any planet that’s passing in front of a star appear smaller than it truly is, because smaller planets block less light than bigger planets.

Han assembled hundreds of studies describing exoplanets discovered by the TESS mission, and he sorted the planets according to how various research teams measured the radii of exoplanets so he could estimate with the help of a computer model the degree to which those measurements were biased because of light contamination from neighboring stars. The team used observations from another satellite mission called Gaia to help them estimate just how much light contamination is affecting TESS’ observations.

“TESS data are contaminated, which Te’s custom model corrects better than anyone else in the field,” says Robertson.

“What we find in this study is that these planets may systematically be larger than we initially thought. It raises the question: Just how common are Earth-sized planets?”

The number of exoplanets thought to be similar in size to Earth was already small. “Of the single-planet systems discovered by TESS so far, only three were thought to be similar to Earth in their composition,” says Han. “With this new finding, all of them are actually bigger than we thought.”

That means that, rather than being rocky planets like Earth, the planets are more likely so-called “water worlds,” planets covered by one giant ocean that tend to be larger than Earth—or even larger, gaseous planets like Uranus or Neptune. This could affect the search for life on distant planets, because while water worlds may harbor life, they may also lack the same kinds of features that help life flourish on planets like Earth.

“This has important implications for our understanding of exoplanets, including among other things prioritization for follow-up observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, and the controversial existence of a galactic population of water worlds,” says Roberston.

Next, Han and his team plan to use the new data to start reexamining planets previously thought uninhabitable due to their size and to also let other researchers know to exercise caution when interpreting data from satellites like TESS.

This research was supported in part by funding from NASA.

Source: UC Irvine

The post A bunch of exoplanets may be bigger than scientists’ thought appeared first on Futurity.

from Futurity https://ift.tt/G0iyBRf

Dinosaur wrist discovery could shake up views of flight’s evolution

The identification of a carpal bone in the wrist of dinosaurs may alter scientists’ view of the evolution of flight.

An analysis of two theropod dinosaur fossils showed they had a type of carpal bone (pisiform) in their wrists—a bone considered important to flight in birds.

This discovery by a team of researchers led by James Napoli of Stony Brook University, counters previous research that concluded theropods did not have a bird-like pisiform.

Their finding in Nature opens the possibility that the evolution of flight in dinosaurs was “all in the wrist.”

For years the identity of one of the carpal bones in the wrist of birds was a scientific mystery, until researchers proved it was the pisiform.

This bone was originally a sesamoid bone like a kneecap and had moved from its original position in the wrist to replace the ulnare, another carpal bone. Its position in modern birds appears to establish linkages that allow birds to fold their wing automatically when the elbow flexes.

The bone’s shape—with a large V-shaped notch—also allows the pisiform of birds to clasp their hand bones to stop them from dislocating during flight. Therefore, this bone is an important part of bird forelimb and critical to flight.

The two types of dinosaur fossils analyzed were a troodontid, a bird-like raptor related to the Velociraptor; and an oviraptorid, an odd birdlike omnivore with a long neck and a toothless beak.

The team’s identification of the pisiform bone in theropods was possible because of exceptional preservation of the dinosaurs, in combination with the use of high-resolution CT scanning that enabled them to digitally isolate the bones of the wrist. The dinosaur specimens in the analysis were available under a collaborative agreement with the American Museum of Natural History and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

The 3D visualizations make it clear that tiny, bead-like carpals are migrated pisiforms—the first ever identified in non-bird dinosaurs—captured in a transitional stage of their evolution.

“We believe this is the first time a migrated pisiform in a non-bird meat-eating dinosaur has been identified,” says lead author Napoli, a vertebrate paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, and research instructor in the anatomical sciences department of in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

“While we currently do not know precisely how many times dinosaurs learned to fly, it is intriguing that experimentation with flight in these creatures appears only after the pisiform migrated into the wrist joint. Therefore, it is possible this established the automated mechanisms found in current living birds, though we would need to test this hypothesis with more research and analysis of dinosaur wrist bones,” he explains.

Putting their findings in evolutionary context, they determined that the pisiform moved into its bird-like position not within birds but by the origin of a group called Pennaraptora—a group of theropod dinosaurs that includes dromaeosaurids like the Velociraptor, troodontids, and oviraptorosaurs.

Overall, this is the group of dinosaurs in which bird-like traits such as feathered wings began to appear, and in which flight evolved at least twice, and possibly up to five times.

Napoli and coauthors write that their results “make clear that the topological and functional replacement of the ulnare by the pisiform occurred much deeper in theropod history than has been previously understood and was a stepwise process… Over the past few decades, our knowledge of theropod dinosaur anatomy and evolution has increased exponentially, much of it revealing that classically ‘avian’ traits such as thin-walled bones, an enlarged brain, and feathers, all characterize more inclusive groups of theropod dinosaurs.

“Our results suggest that the construction of the avian wrist is no exception and follows topological patterns laid down by the origin of Pennaraptora.”

Source: Stony Brook University

The post Dinosaur wrist discovery could shake up views of flight’s evolution appeared first on Futurity.

from Futurity https://ift.tt/bXjv7Rz

‘Magic mushroom’ ingredient may delay aging and extend lifespan

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, may have both anti-aging as well as mental health benefits.

As revenues from the anti-aging market—riddled with hope and thousands of supplements—surged past $500 million last year, Emory University researchers identified a compound that actively delays aging in cells and organisms.

A new study in Aging demonstrates that psilocin, a byproduct of consuming psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, extended the cellular lifespan of human skin and lung cells by more than 50%.

In parallel, researchers also conducted the first long-term in vivo study evaluating the systemic effects of psilocybin in aged mice of 19 months, or the equivalent of 60–65 human years. Results indicated that the mice that received an initial low dose of psilocybin of 5 mg, followed by a monthly high dose of 15 mg for 10 months, had a 30% increase in survival compared to mice who hadn’t received any.

These mice also displayed healthier physical features, such as improved fur quality, fewer white hairs, and hair regrowth.

While traditionally researched for its mental health benefits, this study suggests that psilocybin affects multiple hallmarks of aging by reducing oxidative stress, improving DNA repair responses, and preserving telomere length. Telomeres are the structured ends of a chromosome, protecting it from damage that could lead to the formation of age-related diseases, such as cancer, neurodegeneration, or cardiovascular disease. These foundational processes influence human aging and the onset of these chronic diseases.

The study concludes that psilocybin may have the potential to revolutionize anti-aging therapies and could be an effective intervention in an aging population.

“Most cells in the body express serotonin receptors, and this study opens a new frontier for how psilocybin could influence systemic aging processes, particularly when administered later in life,” says Louise Hecker, senior author on the study, and former associate professor at Emory, where the research was initiated and funded.

While much of what researchers know about psilocybin relates to the brain, few studies have examined its systemic impacts. Many people associate psilocybin with the hallucinogenic impacts, but the majority of the cells in the body express serotonin receptors.

“Our study opens new questions about what long-term treatments can do. Additionally, even when the intervention is initiated late in life in mice, it still leads to improved survival, which is clinically relevant in healthy aging,” adds Hecker, currently an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine.

This news comes on the heels of KFF’s recent report that US life expectancy is still below that of other countries similar in income and size, with an average lifespan of 78.4 years, compared to 82.5 years elsewhere. Not only was it the lowest, but as the lifespan in similar countries increased by 7.9 years from 1980-2022, the US life expectancy has only increased by 4.7 years.

“This study provides strong preclinical evidence that psilocybin may contribute to healthier aging—not just a longer lifespan, but a better quality of life in later years,” says Ali John Zarrabi, director of psychedelic research at Emory’s psychiatry department.

“As a palliative care physician-scientist, one of my biggest concerns is prolonging life at the cost of dignity and function. But these mice weren’t just surviving longer—they experienced better aging,” adds Zarrabi, co-investigator of the study.

Zarrabi emphasizes the importance of further research in older adults, as well as the well-documented overlap between physical and mental health.

“Emory is actively involved in Phase II and III clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression, and these results suggest we also need to understand psilocybin’s systemic effects in aging populations,” says Zarrabi.

“My hope is also that if psilocybin-assisted therapy is approved as an intervention for depression by the FDA in 2027, then having a better quality of life would also translate into a longer, healthier life.”

Funding for the study came from several awards, including the Imagine, Innovative, and Impact (I3) Award, Emory University School of Medicine; the Georgia CTSA NIH Award; and a grant from Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center for Health in Aging.

Source: Emory University

The post ‘Magic mushroom’ ingredient may delay aging and extend lifespan appeared first on Futurity.

from Futurity https://ift.tt/is1TDkZ