Life Sciences

In this premium article, IDTechEx examines various approaches that have been made in developing non-invasive glucose sensors for diabetes management.

While technologies are emerging for cities to be independent in food, water and energy, safe and pleasant, progress is mostly poor and global warming threatens migrants overwhelming cities. By all means, let us see the smart city advances take place that are in the IDTechEx report, "Smart Cities Market 2021-2041: Energy, Food, Water, Materials, Transportation Forecasts", but it would be prudent to try to reverse the move to cities that the UN and others see resulting in 70-80% of us in them by 2050.

Existing brain interfaces are based on metals such as platinum and iridium, which impose significant restrictions in terms of miniaturisation and signal resolution, and therefore cause considerable side effects. For this reason, there is a 50% rejection rate in candidate patients. Graphene Flagship spin-off INBRAIN Neuroelectronics uses a disruptive technology based on graphene which will overcome the current limitations of metal-based neural interfaces.

In a discovery that will revolutionize research into the causes of early miscarriage, infertility and the study of early human development - an international team of scientists has generated a model of a human embryo from skin cells.

Living tissue can heal itself from many injuries, but giving similar abilities to artificial systems, such as robots, has been extremely challenging. Now, researchers have developed small, swimming robots that can magnetically heal themselves on-the-fly after breaking into two or three pieces. The strategy could someday be used to make hardier devices for environmental or industrial clean up, the researchers say.

Researchers used organoid technology to grow miniature human tear glands that actually cry. The organoids serve as a model to study how certain cells in the human tear gland produce tears or fail to do so. Scientists everywhere can use the model to identify new treatment options for patients with tear gland disorders, such as dry eye disease.

Meatable, the cultivated meat startup, has closed $47 million USD in its Series A funding round, bringing the company's total funding to $60 million. Meatable finalized its first showcase product in 2020 and aims to use the new funds to advance small-scale production at the Biotech Campus Delft and to diversify its product portfolio.

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Electricity may slow - and in some cases, stop - the speed at which breast cancer cells spread through the body, a new study indicates.

Researchers have designed a new bioink which allows small human-sized airways to be 3D-bioprinted with the help of patient cells for the first time. The 3D-printed constructs are biocompatible and support new blood vessel growth into the transplanted material. This is an important first step towards 3D-printing organs.