Adult

Blood from a lamb, into a human – this sounds like a horror movie, but it’s actually the first recorded blood transfusion… four hundred years ago. In this video we look at how far we’ve come, and the century-long quest for the Holy Grail of transfusion medicine: synthetic blood. 

Watch as Paul Shipley teaches us how modern medicine has drawn from Traditional Medicine and shows us how chemistry is involved.   

Dr. Michael Levitt talks about protein folding, structure prediction, and biomedicine, three seemingly unrelated subjects that are actually very connected in this current world. Starting from the secret of life, he reviews the historical development of computational biology, followed by the three cases of close integration of artificial intelligence and biomedicine. 

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a growing and deadly problem. A company called Vomaris is developing a new way to beat these bugs. Introduced a decade ago, the bandage technology has recently been shown to destroy hardy, antibiotic-resistant biofilm in pigs. Soon, the maker hopes to prove the bandage’s efficacy in human clinical trials and also has its eye on other commercial applications, including nonsmelly sportswear. 

Viruses can be really nasty things, but you might be surprised by how much damage a simple bit of SOAP can do! We've all been told to wash our hands during the Coronavirus outbreak, but have you wondered just how much good it's doing? 

Nobody likes needles, but they’re necessary for delivering many vaccines and biologics into the body. But what if those could be puffed through the skin instead, with just a little pressure, like being hit in the arm with a foam toy? Today, scientists report steps toward making that a reality. Using powdered vaccines that don’t require refrigeration and a system driven by compressed gas, their “MOF-Jet” could easily deliver therapeutics against cancer and other diseases in a relatively painless way. 

Millions of Americans suffer from peripheral nerve damage, or neuropathy. It happens from bad posture, poor ergonomics, chronic injuries, diabetes, and chemotherapy. It also happens to people suffering from auto-immune diseases, certain viruses, and nutrition problems. Sometimes you develop it just because you’re aging. The symptoms are frightening. Your skin may go numb and you can’t tell hot from cold, or you can’t feel your feet and it’s hard to even walk. 

With immunomodulation covered, it's time to dive into pharmacology of pulmonary activity. First up is bronchodilators. These address resistance in the bronchus and bronchioles that impede respiration, such as with asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis. This can be achieved through beta-2 adrenocepter agonism and muscarinic receptor antagonism. What are these receptors, what are their endogenous agonists, and how do bronchodilators interact with these receptors?