Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a novel minimally invasive method for detecting disorders related to calcium discharge from intracellular stores.

High-frequency photoacoustic tomography (> 20 MHz) is becoming increasingly important in biomedical applications. However, it requires data acquisition (DAQ) to have commensurately high sampling rate, which imposes challenges to hardwires and increases the cost of building a PA imaging system. For example, the sampling rate should be higher than 80 MHz to cover 100% bandwidth of a 26-MHz transducer (Nuquist limit). A commercial PA imaging system such as Vevo LAZR X (Fujifilm VISUALSONICS Inc. ON, Canada) with 80-MHz sampling rate can cost more than 990,000$ in the United States.Many PA groups use clinical ultrasound DAQs, which are low cost but also have a low sampling rate, e.g., the iu22 system’s sampling rate is 32 MHz.

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Barcodes are identifiable nucleic acid sequences that can be coupled to a target nucleic acid, either directly or indirectly. Doing so assists in analyzing the nucleic acids of interest. There are currently methods for introducing barcodes to long DNA molecules. However, long DNA molecules can be difficult to isolate. For example, long DNA molecules cannot be recovered from formalin-fixed-paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples, but such samples are the major source of patient tumor DNA. There is a need for more efficient methods of using barcodes in haplotype phasing and other applications.   Barcoded nucleic acids on solid supports are used in a number of applications such as genome scaffolding, haplotype phasing, and single cell transcriptomics. Current methods involve the use of DNA amplification or chemical synthesis. These techniques are error prone and cost prohibitive. 

Researchers at UC Irvine have developed a novel, machine learning-assisted biochip for rapid, affordable, and practical analysis of single cell tumor heterogeneity. The technology’s low cost and ease of manufacture makes it an optimal point-of-care diagnostic in developing countries, where early cancer detection is severely lacking.

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Neuronal injury is the major pathology caused by CNS injuries like stroke or spinal cord injury. However, currently available biomarkers for CNS injuries are either not expressed in neurons at all, or are expressed constitutively in all neurons, regardless of whether the neurons are injured or not. ATF3 as a CNS injury biomarker is revolutionary because its baseline expression in CNS is very low, and it is rapidly induced only in CNS neurons shortly after CNS injuries like stroke or spinal cord injury.  Of note, human serum ATF3 level can be easily measured by a commercially available ELISA kit.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a method of biofluid assessment capable of real-time monitoring as well as compatible with machine learning and neural network processing.

Scientists at UCSF and the Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy have developed methods for characterizing dendritic cells as well as methods for identifying a dendritic cell as either an inflammatory or a tolerogenic dendritic cell. Their results provide important insights into previously obscured metabolic heterogeneity impacting immune profiles of immunogenic and tolerogenic dendritic cells (DC).

Researchers at UCI have developed a family of recombinant protein therapeutics against Clostridium difficile designed to provide broad-spectrum protection and neutralization against all isoforms of its main toxin, TcdB. These antitoxin molecules feature fragments of TcdB’s human receptors (CSPG4 and FZD) which compete for TcdB binding, significantly improving upon existing antibody therapeutics for Clostridium difficile infections.

Prof. Mona Eskandari, whose research is known for seminal strides in experimental characterization and computational modeling of lung structural mechanics using novel techniques developed in her lab, has discovered a new method for measuring pulmonary function. It works by analyzing the change in temporal pressure while a patient is holding their breath. The measurement device is simple, comfortable and error-free for the patient to self-administer. Algorithms are used to transform the detailed lung data collection into actionable metrics for early detection capabilities for medical intervention and prevention. The discovery could provide more accessible, detailed, timely, and actionable data on lung function compared to conventional and currently used methods. Fig 1: The medical device prototype being tested in the laboratory  Fig 2: Preliminary data exhibiting detectable differences between several healthy and diseased mice lungs when utilizing the proposed new pulmonary function method

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Researchers at UCSF have developed methods of treating Rheumatoid arthritis and for predicting the response of patients to methotrexate. 

Researchers at UCSF and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub have identified multiple common autoantibody targets in APS1 patients through proteome-wide programmable phage-display.

Researchers at UCSF and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub have developed methods to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Researchers at UCSF and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub have developed a serological detection assay for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. 

Type III CRISPR-Cas systems recognize and degrade RNA molecules using an RNA-guided mechanism that occurs widely in microbes for adaptive immunity against viruses. The inventors have demonstrated that this multi-protein system can be leveraged for programmable RNA knockdown of both nuclear and cytoplasmic transcripts in mammalian cells. Using single-vector delivery of the S. thermophilus Csm complex, RNA knockdown was achieved with high efficiency (90-99%) and minimal off-targets, outperforming existing technologies of shRNA- and Cas13-mediated knockdown. Furthermore, unlike Cas13, Csm is devoid of trans-cleavage activity and thus does not induce non-specific transcriptome-wide degradation and cytotoxicity. Catalytically inactivated Csm can also be used for programmable RNA-binding, which the inventors exploit for live-cell RNA imaging. This work demonstrates the feasibility and efficacy of multi-subunit CRISPR-Cas effector complexes as RNA-targeting tools in eukaryotes.

The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 and associated declaration of a global pandemic in 2020 underscore the importance of rapid and accurate infectious disease testing. Serological tests,  which facilitate vaccine development and identification of population spread, are commonly used as countermeasures to infection. Existing serological testing methods, like lateral flow immunoassays, are not quantitative and reliably sensitive though. Other immunoassays have better sensitivity and specificity but require long incubation times and are labor-intensive.  

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A key advantage of radial MRI is that it enables imaging in the presence of motion. Radial trajectories suitable for motion-tolerant imaging must order spoke directions to achieve uniform angular sampling quickly and to maintain consistent angular coverage for the full scan duration. Current motion-tolerant radial sampling strategies realize these characteristics by designing large angles between adjacent spokes. In certain MRI pulse sequences however, large spoke direction changes can exaggerate image artifacts due to eddy-current effects, introduce unintended contrast changes and artifacts due to incomplete magnetization spoiling, and/or increase acoustic noise.

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The following technologies encompass a portfolio of microbiome-centric inventions intended to address unmet diagnostic and treatment needs in the areas of inflammatory disease and respiratory system infections, including prevention in infants. 

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a novel approach of identifying sepsis by employing custom machine learning models within a combination of known laboratory data.

Depression is a multifaceted illness with genetic, behavioral, lifestyle, and interpersonal risk factors that may express as overlapping symptoms, which in turn leads to huge interindividual variability in clinical response to the same treatments or behavioral recommendations.In the era of digital medicine and precision therapeutics, new personalized treatment approaches are warranted for depression.