The world is an astrotrurf festival. If you don’t know what astroturf is, you’re probably one of its daily victims. It’s, basically, everything that followed in mainstream media after the Astroworld Festival tragedy.
Most of the credits for the video go to Hugo @ hugotalks.com As I was investigating this, I kept falling in his footsteps. As he did it first and voiced it well, I just did a enhanced remix of his reports. Watch his stuff too, he has more to bring to the table, I brought a little something too.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 11 – POLICE ABANDONS THE INJECTED SECURITY GUARD PLOT. STILL NO REAL SURGE OR STAMPEDE IN NEWLY FOUND VIDEOS
I haven’t seen this press conference covered by any major network, maybe I just missed it…
TO PICK it UP FROM WHERE THE VIDEOS LEFT IT:
By education and work records, I’m a journalist, but more people around the world know me as a music producer / DJ / label manager. I played many of these festivals. I also like science. So I immediately knew where to look:
“Graphene oxide (GO) is one of the most frequently-used graphene-family materials, but it must often be reduced in order to restore electrical conductivity for the target applications. We have demonstrated the use of non-contact fringing field RF applicators to rapidly heat and reduce GO, both in its neat form and inside a polymer matrix such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). For this study, GO and GO-PVA films were prepared by the vacuum filtration method. The results demonstrate quick non-contact heating of GO and GO-PVA composite films by application of RF fields. Heating rates as high as 10.9 °C/s and 1.5 °C/s have been observed for GO and GO-PVA, respectively. RF-reduced GO and GO-PVA samples have shown conductivities of 102 S/m and 10−1 S/m, respectively. In addition, C/O ratio has increased from 2.44 to 5.22 when GO is exposed to RF waves which confirm that GO samples are reduced by the RF treatment. Unlike time-consuming or hazardous conventional reduction methods, RF waves resistively heat GO with electric fields in seconds to form reduced GO.”
Or it could be other source of frequencies at the higher spectrum where graphene is sensible and where mobile phones and other communication networks operate, or the stage equipment.
ABSTRACTWe confirm graphene oxide, a two-dimensional carbon structure at the nanoscale level can be a strong candidate for high-efficient interconnector in radio-frequency range. In this paper, we investigate high frequency characteristics of graphene oxide in range of 0.5–40 GHz. Radio-frequency transmission properties were extracted as S-parameters to determine the intrinsic ac transmission of graphene sheets, such as the impedance variation dependence on frequency. The impedance and resistance of graphene sheets drastically decrease as frequency increases. This result confirms graphene oxide has high potential for transmitting signals at gigahertz ranges.
This work was partially supported by the Priority Research Centers Program (Grant No. 2009-0093823), the Pioneer Research Center Program (Grant No. 2010-0019313), and Basic Science Research Program (Grant No. 2010-8-0874) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) of the Korean government. We thank R. S. Ruoff and S. Stankovich for providing the GO used in this study.
Graphene Nanomaterials-Based Radio-Frequency/Microwave Biosensors for Biomaterials Detection
Recent Research Trends: RF/Microwave Biosensors Based on Graphene Nanomaterials for Wireless Biomedical Applications
Recent advances in integrated biosensing platforms associated with remote sensing via RF/microwave wireless systems have focused on design and architecture of point-of-care (POC) diagnosis, attracting considerable interest in the biomedical applications. In particular, POC has significant diagnosis possibilities for use in the continuous and real-time monitoring of human metabolites as well as cancer biomarkers [92]. In addition, flexible and stretchable-integrated biosensors can directly monitor metabolic changes on the human body and quantify the electrically fine signals generated by specific bodily fluids. As a result, from this biosensing scheme, the wearable biosensors that can be attached intimately in the skin or tissue offer new opportunities for medical diagnostics and therapy. In recent years, there has been enormous progress in graphene-integrated wireless RF/microwave systems for real-time monitoring of metabolic change [93]. For example, a wireless smart soft contact lens system composed of reconfigurable capacitive sensor interface circuitry and wirelessly powered RFID addressable system for sensor control and data communication [94,95] was developed. In particular, monitoring for glucose and other biomarkers may become more sophisticated if the sensor is coated with graphene in this system.
Conclusions and Prospective
Recent advances in graphene nanomaterials such as synthesis techniques, electrical, thermal and mechanical analysis, surface treatment and device design have accelerated the development and application of graphene nanomaterials-based nanoelectronics as well as bioelectronics. In this review, we have examined the emerging advances of graphene nanomaterials-integrated biosensors including structures and merits of graphene nanomaterials and their biological functionalization in RF/microwave biomedical applications. From the developed RF/microwave biosensors, these biosensing schemes could be classified with passive RF/microwave devices and RF/microwave systems with graphene nanomaterials. Firstly, it was used as a biosensing scheme utilizing simple RF/microwave devices such as resonators and capacitors, with graphene nanomaterials like GO or rGO. In the case of latter, it was used as a biosensing scheme utilizing RF/microwave systems with graphene nanomaterials, e.g., graphene. These RF/microwave biosensors could be detectable of biomolecules, e.g., glucose, DNA, as well as bacteria, e.g., S. aureus, E. coli and so on, via bifunctional peptide.
However, the research and development of these materials-based biosensing systems are in their infancy in the RF/microwave biomedical applications. This is because it is not only difficult to find the optimized frequency for biosensing, but devices and circuits also are dependent on the frequency. However, since there are great merits such as real-time, non-invasive, non-contact function, as a graphene nanomaterials-based RF/microwave biosensor, the biosensing scheme still needs to develop the robust biosensing platform integrated with wireless and flexible devices and circuits. In this case, there are also remains challenges how to find effective integration methods and how to secure stability for good performance of RF/microwave devices and systems with graphene nanomaterials. Before this challenge, the optimization of material fabrication and modification techniques to obtain large area, high quality, and uniform arrays will be essential for the highly sensitive and reproducible RF/microwave biosensors. Furthermore, the integration of graphene nanomaterials-based RF/microwave device needs to be optimized to minimize the entire device volume for portable, disposable and POC diagnosis and healthcare in the future.
If I’m allowed just one paragraph of semi-speculation: All living beings are natural antennas, the water molecule and the hydrogen one are antennas of sorts, this is how living beings know stuff before they consciously find out or even develop any sort of conscience. Looks like graphene oxide hyper=capacitates us.
Is this conclusive enough? I can’t give an 100% verdict on this right now, I need to revisit some physics textbooks, I need more inputs from my smartest readers, hurry up, I’m itching to make a follow up to that video! But if I were vaxxed right now, I’d stay away from powerful EMF sources and powerful anything-that-vibrates that you can hear and feel.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 14, 2021: ENTER GO-NUTS
Stacked layers of GO (clotted?) can have interesting properties. Have in mind the conversion effect described below can work both ways. It says right there “transmit and receive sound”.
Presented at IUS 2015, Taipei, Taiwan Title: Graphene Oxide Nanofabricated Ultrasonic Transducers (GO-NUTs) Abstract: Graphene Oxide Nanofabricated Ultrasonic Transducers (GO-NUTs) based on porous electrodes immersed in ionic liquid electrolyte, which use the vibration of the compressible electric double layer to transmit and receive ultrasound with signal level several order of magnitude higher than existing capacitive transducers are introduced. A simple, rapid and scalable method to reduce graphene oxide (GO) by Laser Lightscribe annealing was also demonstrated. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for scalable and rapid production was then fabricated to graphene-based ultrasonic transducers which exhibit supercapacitor characteristics. The vibration of ions at the electric double layer (EDL) on the interface of the multi-layer rGO electrode that immersed in liquid electrolyte can simulate the flexible vibrating membrane of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers to match the acoustic impedance of the soft tissue. The amplitude and frequency response to ultrasonic source were measured by oscilloscope and analyzed by MatLab. The capacitance, potential, and frequency response measurement of the GO-NUTs had shown the functionality of the device and suggested it can be used in the high frequency range. The testing result also showed that the reduced graphene oxide had advantages over the material used in traditional piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer. The GO-NUTs could also be further fabricated to interdigitated and array patterns simply by Laser Lightscribe CD/DVD drive and software. Authors: Ka Hing Cheng, Ching-Hsiang Cheng, Kwong Chun Lo
And, to close the circle in my hypothesis: this is how GO stacks up in water, what if something similar happens in the blood, maybe just in specific conditions that were met before or at the concert?
Graphene nanoparticles tend to form clusters in water, due to unfavorable interfacial energy. In simple words, a graphene nanoparticle ‘prefers’ to be in contact with graphene rather than with water. This is one of the reason why it is so difficult to process graphene at a large scale.
The simulation is made using LAMMPS, the rendering using VMD. The temperature 300 K. The structure of the hexabenzocoronene molecules has been downloaded from the ATB repository https://atb.uq.edu.au/.
A script with one single hexabenzocoronene molecule is available here, and easily be adapted to study the multiple particle case: https://github.com/simongravelle
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We need to speed up our little awakening because we’re still light-years behind the reality. This dwarfs Afghanistan and Covid is but a chapter in its playbook. This connects all the trigger-words: 5G, Covid, Vaccines, Graphene, The Great Reset, Blockchain, The Fourth Industrial Revolution and beyond.
A wide variety of internet-connected “smart” devices now promise consumers and businesses improved performance, convenience, efficiency, and fun. Within this broader Internet of Things (IoT) lies a growing industry of devices that monitor the human body, collect health and other personal information, and transmit that data over the internet. We refer to these emerging technologies and the data they collect as the Internet of Bodies (IoB) (see, for example, Neal, 2014; Lee, 2018), a term first applied to law and policy in 2016 by law and engineering professor Andrea M. Matwyshyn (Atlantic Council, 2017; Matwyshyn, 2016; Matwyshyn, 2018; Matawyshyn, 2019). IoB devices come in many forms. Some are already in wide use, such as wristwatch fitness monitors or pacemakers that transmit data about a patient’s heart directly to a cardiologist. Other products that are under development or newly on the market may be less familiar, such as ingestible products that collect and send information on a person’s gut, microchip implants, brain stimulation devices, and internet-connected toilets. These devices have intimate access to the body and collect vast quantities of personal biometric data. IoB device makers promise to deliver substantial health and other benefits but also pose serious risks, including risks of hacking, privacy infringements, or malfunction. Some devices, such as a reliable artificial pancreas for diabetics, could revolutionize the treatment of disease, while others could merely inflate health-care costs with little positive effect on outcomes. Access to huge torrents of live-streaming biometric data might trigger breakthroughs in medical knowledge or behavioral understanding. It might increase health outcome disparities, where only people with financial means have access to any of these benefits. Or it might enable a surveillance state of unprecedented intrusion and consequence. There is no universally accepted definition of the IoB.1 For the purposes of this report, we refer to the IoB, or the IoB ecosystem, as IoB devices (defined next, with further explanation in the passages that follow) together with the software they contain and the data they collect.
An IoB device is defined as a device that • contains software or computing capabilities • can communicate with an internet-connected device or network and satisfies one or both of the following: • collects person-generated health or biometric data • can alter the human body’s function. The software or computing capabilities in an IoB device may be as simple as a few lines of code used to configure a radio frequency identification (RFID) microchip implant, or as complex as a computer that processes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms. A connection to the internet through cellular or Wi-Fi networks is required but need not be a direct connection. For example, a device may be connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone or USB device that communicates with an internet-connected computer. Person-generated health data (PGHD) refers to health, clinical, or wellness data collected by technologies to be recorded or analyzed by the user or another person. Biometric or behavioral data refers to measurements of unique physical or behavioral properties about a person. Finally, an alteration to the body’s function refers to an augmentation or modification of how the user’s body performs, such as a change in cognitive enhancement and memory improvement provided by a brain-computer interface, or the ability to record whatever the user sees through an intraocular lens with a camera. IoB devices generally, but not always, require a physical connection to the body (e.g., they are worn, ingested, implanted, or otherwise attached to or embedded in the body, temporarily or permanently). Many IoB devices are medical devices regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).3 Figure 1 depicts examples of technologies in the IoB ecosystem that are either already available on the U.S. market or are under development. Devices that are not connected to the internet, such as ordinary heart monitors or medical ID bracelets, are not included in the definition of IoB. Nor are implanted magnets (a niche consumer product used by those in the so-called bodyhacker community described in the next section) that are not connected to smartphone applications (apps), because although they change the body’s functionality by allowing the user to sense electromagnetic vibrations, the devices do not contain software. Trends in IoB technologies and additional examples are further discussed in the next section. Some IoB devices may fall in and out of our definition at different times. For example, a Wi-Fi-connected smartphone on its own would not be part of the IoB; however, once a health app is installed that requires connection to the body to track user information, such as heart rate or number of steps taken, the phone would be considered IoB. Our definition is meant to capture rapidly evolving technologies that have the potential to bring about the various risks and benefits that are discussed in this report. We focused on analyzing existing and emerging IoB technologies that appear to have the potential to improve health and medical outcomes, efficiency, and human function or performance, but that could also endanger users’ legal, ethical, and privacy rights or present personal or national security risks. For this research, we conducted an extensive literature review and interviewed security experts, technology developers, and IoB advocates to understand anticipated risks and benefits. We had valuable discussions with experts at BDYHAX 2019, an annual convention for bodyhackers, in February 2019, and DEFCON 27, one of the world’s largest hacker conferences, in August 2019. In this report, we discuss trends in the technology landscape and outline the benefits and risks to the user and other stakeholders. We present the current state of governance that applies to IoB devices and the data they collect and conclude by offering recommendations for improved regulation to best balance those risks and rewards.
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Operation Warp Speed logo
Transhumanism, Bodyhacking, Biohacking, and More
The IoB is related to several movements outside of formal health care focused on integrating human bodies with technology. Next, we summarize some of these concepts, though there is much overlap and interchangeability among them. Transhumanism is a worldview and political movement advocating for the transcendence of humanity beyond current human capabilities. Transhumanists want to use technology, such as artificial organs and other techniques, to halt aging and achieve “radical life extension” (Vita-Moore, 2018). Transhumanists may also seek to resist disease, enhance their intelligence, or thwart fatigue through diet, exercise, supplements, relaxation techniques, or nootropics (substances that may improve cognitive function). Bodyhackers, biohackers, and cyborgs, who enjoy experimenting with body enhancement, often refer to themselves as grinders. They may or may not identify as transhumanists. These terms are often interchanged in common usage, but some do distinguish between them (Trammell, 2015). Bodyhacking generally refers to modifying the body to enhance one’s physical or cognitive abilities. Some bodyhacking is purely aesthetic. Hackers have implanted horns in their heads and LED lights under their skin. Other hacks, such as implanting RFID microchips in one’s hand, are meant to enhance function, allowing users to unlock doors, ride public transportation, store emergency contact information, or make purchases with the sweep of an arm (Baenen, 2017; Savage, 2018). One bodyhacker removed the RFID microchip from her car’s key fob and had it implanted in her arm (Linder, 2019). A few bodyhackers have implanted a device that is a combined wireless router and hard drive that can be used as a node in a wireless mesh network (Oberhaus, 2019). Some bodyhacking is medical in nature, including 3D-printed prosthetics and do-it-yourself artificial pancreases. Still others use the term for any method of improving health, including bodybuilding, diet, or exercise. Biohacking generally denotes techniques that modify the biological systems of humans or other living organisms. This ranges from bodybuilding and nootropics to developing cures for diseases via self-experimentation to human genetic manipulation through CRISPR-Cas9 techniques (Samuel, 2019; Griffin, 2018). Cyborgs, or cybernetic organisms, are people who have used machines to enhance intelligence or the senses. Neil Harbisson, a colorblind man who can “hear” color through an antenna implanted in his head that plays a tune for different colors or wavelengths of light, is acknowledged as the first person to be legally recognized by a government as a cyborg, by being allowed to have his passport picture include his implant (Donahue, 2017). Because IoB is a wide-ranging field that intersects with do-it-yourself body modification, consumer products, and medical care, understanding its benefits and risks is critical.
The Internet of Bodies is here. This is how it could change our lives
04 Jun 2020, Xiao Liu Fellow at the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum
We’re entering the era of the “Internet of Bodies”: collecting our physical data via a range of devices that can be implanted, swallowed or worn.
The result is a huge amount of health-related data that could improve human wellbeing around the world, and prove crucial in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
But a number of risks and challenges must be addressed to realize the potential of this technology, from privacy issues to practical hurdles.
In the special wards of Shanghai’s Public Health Clinical Center, nurses use smart thermometers to check the temperatures of COVID-19 patients. Each person’s temperature is recorded with a sensor, reducing the risk of infection through contact, and the data is sent to an observation dashboard. An abnormal result triggers an alert to medical staff, who can then intervene promptly. The gathered data also allows medics to analyse trends over time.
The smart thermometers are designed by VivaLNK, a Silicon-Valley based startup, and are a powerful example of the many digital products and services that are revolutionizing healthcare. After the Internet of Things, which transformed the way we live, travel and work by connecting everyday objects to the Internet, it’s now time for the Internet of Bodies. This means collecting our physical data via devices that can be implanted, swallowed or simply worn, generating huge amounts of health-related information.
Some of these solutions, such as fitness trackers, are an extension of the Internet of Things. But because the Internet of Bodies centres on the human body and health, it also raises its own specific set of opportunities and challenges, from privacy issues to legal and ethical questions.
Image: McKinsey & Company
Connecting our bodies
As futuristic as the Internet of Bodies may seem, many people are already connected to it through wearable devices. The smartwatch segment alone has grown into a $13 billion market by 2018, and is projected to increase another 32% to $18 billion by 2021. Smart toothbrushes and even hairbrushes can also let people track patterns in their personal care and behaviour.
For health professionals, the Internet of Bodies opens the gate to a new era of effective monitoring and treatment.
In 2017, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration approved the first use of digital pills in the United States. Digital pills contain tiny, ingestible sensors, as well as medicine. Once swallowed, the sensor is activated in the patient’s stomach and transmits data to their smartphone or other devices.
In 2018, Kaiser Permanente, a healthcare provider in California, started a virtual rehab program for patients recovering from heart attacks. The patients shared their data with their care providers through a smartwatch, allowing for better monitoring and a closer, more continuous relationship between patient and doctor. Thanks to this innovation, the completion rate of the rehab program rose from less than 50% to 87%, accompanied by a fall in the readmission rate and programme cost.
The deluge of data collected through such technologies is advancing our understanding of how human behaviour, lifestyle and environmental conditions affect our health. It has also expanded the notion of healthcare beyond the hospital or surgery and into everyday life. This could prove crucial in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Keeping track of symptoms could help us stop the spread of infection, and quickly detect new cases. Researchers are investigating whether data gathered from smartwatches and similar devices can be used as viral infection alerts by tracking the user’s heart rate and breathing.
At the same time, this complex and evolving technology raises new regulatory challenges.
What counts as health information?
In most countries, strict regulations exist around personal health information such as medical records and blood or tissue samples. However, these conventional regulations often fail to cover the new kind of health data generated through the Internet of Bodies, and the entities gathering and processing this data.
In the United States, the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), which is the major law for health data regulation, applies only to medical providers, health insurers, and their business associations. Its definition of “personal health information” covers only the data held by these entities. This definition is turning out to be inadequate for the era of the Internet of Bodies. Tech companies are now also offering health-related products and services, and gathering data. Margaret Riley, a professor of health law at the University of Virginia, pointed out to me in an interview that HIPPA does not cover the masses of data from consumer wearables, for example.
Another problem is that the current regulations only look at whether the data is sensitive in itself, not whether it can be used to generate sensitive information. For example, the result of a blood test in a hospital will generally be classified as sensitive data, because it reveals private information about your personal health. But today, all sorts of seemingly non-sensitive data can also be used to draw inferences about your health, through data analytics. Glenn Cohen, a professor at Harvard Law school, told me in an interview that even data that is not about health at all, such as grocery shopping lists, can be used for such inferences. As a result, conventional regulations may fail to cover data that is sensitive and private, simply because it did not look sensitive before it was processed.
Data risks
Identifying and protecting sensitive data matters, because it can directly affect how we are treated by institutions and other people. With big data analytics, countless day-to-day actions and decisions can ultimately feed into our health profile, which may be created and maintained not just by traditional healthcare providers, but also by tech companies or other entities. Without appropriate laws and regulations, it could also be sold. At the same time, data from the Internet of Bodies can be used to make predictions and inferences that could affect a person’s or group’s access to resources such as healthcare, insurance and employment.
James Dempsey, director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, told me in an interview that this could lead to unfair treatment. He warned of potential discrimination and bias when such data is used for decisions in insurance and employment. The affected people may not even be aware of this.
One solution would be to update the regulations. Sandra Wachter and Brent Mittelstadt, two scholars at the Oxford Internet Institute, suggest that data protection law should focus more on how and why data is processed, and not just on its raw state. They argue for a so-called “right to reasonable inferences”, meaning the right to have your data used only for reasonable, socially acceptable inferences. This would involve setting standards on whether and when inferring certain information from a person’s data, including the state of their present or future health, is socially acceptable or overly invasive.
Practical problems
Apart from the concerns over privacy and sensitivity, there are also a number of practical problems in dealing with the sheer volume of data generated by the Internet of Bodies. The lack of standards around security and data processing makes it difficult to combine data from diverse sources, and use it to advance research. Different countries and institutions are trying to jointly overcome this problem. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and its Standards Association have been working with the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health, as well as universities and businesses among other stakeholders since 2016, to address the security and interoperability issue of connected health.
As the Internet of Bodies spreads into every aspect of our existence, we are facing a range of new challenges. But we also have an unprecedented chance to improve our health and well-being, and save countless lives. During the COVID-19 crisis, using this opportunity and finding solutions to the challenges is a more urgent task than ever. This relies on government agencies and legislative bodies working with the private sector and civil society to create a robust governance framework, and to include inferences in the realm of data protection. Devising technological and regulatory standards for interoperability and security would also be crucial to unleashing the power of the newly available data. The key is to collaborate across borders and sectors to fully realize the enormous benefits of this rapidly advancing technology.
Governance of IoB devices is managed through a patchwork of state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and consumer advocacy groups
The primary entities responsible for governance of IoB devices are the FDA and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Although the FDA is making strides in cybersecurity of medical devices, many IoB devices, especially those available for consumer use, do not fall under FDA jurisdiction.
Federal and state officials have begun to address cybersecurity risks associated with IoB that are beyond FDA oversight, but there are few laws that mandate cybersecurity best practices.
As with IoB devices, there is no single entity that provides oversight to IoB data
Protection of medical information is regulated at the federal level, in part, by HIPAA.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) helps ensure data security and consumer privacy through legal actions brought by the Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Data brokers are largely unregulated, but some legal experts are calling for policies to protect consumers.
As the United States has no federal data privacy law, states have introduced a patchwork of laws and regulations that apply to residents’ personal data, some of which includes IoB-related information.
The lack of consistency in IoB laws among states and between the state and federal level potentially enables regulatory gaps and enforcement challenges.
Recommendations
The U.S. Commerce Department can put foreign IoB companies on its “Entity List,” preventing them from doing business with Americans, if those foreign companies are implicated in human rights violations.
As 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and satellite internet standards are rolled out, the federal government should be prepared for issues by funding studies and working with experts to develop security regulations.
It will be important to consider how to incentivize quicker phase-out of the legacy medical devices with poor cybersecurity that are already in wide use.
IoB developers must be more attentive to cybersecurity by integrating cybersecurity and privacy considerations from the beginning of product development.
Device makers should test software for vulnerabilities often and devise methods for users to patch software.
Congress should consider establishing federal data transparency and protection standards for data that are collected from the IoB.
The FTC could play a larger role to ensure that marketing claims about improved well-being or specific health treatment are backed by appropriate evidence.
JAMMU and Kashmir is almost always in the news for one reason or another. Apart from the obvious political headlines, J&K was also in the news because of covid-19. As the world struggled with covid-19 pandemic, J&K faced a peculiar situation due to its poor health infrastructure. Nonetheless, all sections of society did a commendable job in keeping covid under control and preventing the loss of life as much as possible. The doctors Association in Kashmir along with the administration did as much as possible through their efforts. For that we are all thankful to them. However, it is about time that we integrate our Healthcare System by upgrading it and introducing to it new technologies from the current world.
We’ve all heard of the Internet of Things, a network of products ranging from refrigerators to cars to industrial control systems that are connected to the internet. Internet of Bodies (IoB) the outcome of the Internet of Things (IoT) is broadly helping the healthcare system and every individual to live life with ease by managing the human body in terms of technology. The Internet of Bodies connects the human body to a network of internet run devices.
The use of IoB can be independent or by the health care heroes (doctors) to monitor, report and enhance the health system of the human body. The internet of Bodies (IoB) are broadly classified into three categories or in some cases we can say three generations – Body Internal, Body External and Body embedded. The Body Internal model of IoB is the category, in which the individual or patient is interacting with the technology environment or we can say internet or our healthcare system by having an installed device inside the human body. Body External model or generation of IoB signifies the model where the device is installed external to the body for certain usage viz. Apple watches and other smart bands from various OEM’s for tracking blood pressure, heart rate etc which can later be used for proper health tracking and monitoring purposes. Last one under this classifications are Body Embedded, in which the devices are embedded under the skin by health care professionals during a number of health situations.
The Internet of Bodies is a small part or even the offspring of the Internet of Things. Much like it, there remains the challenge of data and information breach as we have already witnessed many excessive distributed denial of service (DDos) attacks and other cyber-attacks on IoTs to exploit data and gather information. The effects are even more severe and vulnerable in the case of the Internet of Bodies as the human body is involved in this schema.
The risk of these threats has taken over the discussion about the IOBs. Thus, this has become a great concern in medical technology companies. Most of the existing IoB companies just rely on end-user license agreements and privacy policies to retain rights in software and to create rights to monitor, aggregate and share users’ body data. They just need to properly enhance the security model and implement high security measures to avoid any misfortune. For the same the Government of India is already examining the personal data protection bill 2019.
The Internet has not managed to change our lifestyles in the way the internet of things will!
Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer
The author is presently Manager IT & Ops In HK Group
Social media, sensor feeds, and scientific studies generate large amounts of valuable data. However, understanding the relationships among this data can be challenging. Graph analytics has emerged as an approach by which analysts can efficiently examine the structure of the large networks produced from these data sources and draw conclusions from the observed patterns. By understanding the complex relationships both within and between data sources, a more complete picture of the analysis problem can be understood. With lessons learned from innovations in the expanding realm of deep neural networks, the Hierarchical Identify Verify Exploit (HIVE) program seeks to advance the arena of graph analytics.
The HIVE program is looking to build a graph analytics processor that can process streaming graphs 1000X faster and at much lower power than current processing technology. If successful, the program will enable graph analytics techniques powerful enough to solve tough challenges in cyber security, infrastructure monitoring and other areas of national interest. Graph analytic processing that currently requires racks of servers could become practical in tactical situations to support front-line decision making. What ’s more, these advanced graph analytics servers could have the power to analyze the billion- and trillion-edge graphs that will be generated by the Internet of Things, ever-expanding social networks, and future sensor networks.
In parallel with the hardware development of a HIVE processor, DARPA is working with MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host the HIVE Graph Challenge with the goal of developing a trillion-edge dataset. This freely available dataset will spur innovative software and hardware solutions in the broader graph analysis community that will contribute to the HIVE program.
The overall objective is to accelerate innovation in graph analytics to open new pathways for meeting the challenge of understanding an ever-increasing torrent of data. The HIVE program features two primary challenges:
The first is a static graph problem focused on sub-graph Isomorphism. This task is to further the ability to search a large graph in order to identify a particular subsection of that graph.
The second is a dynamic graph problem focused on trying to find optimal clusters of data within the graph.
Both challenges will include a small graph problem in the billions of nodes and a large graph problem in the trillions of nodes.
Transhuman Code authors discuss digital ID’s and a centralized AI-controlled society. In 2018 More info
To be continued? Our work and existence, as media and people, is funded solely by our most generous supporters. But we’re not really covering our costs so far, and we’re in dire needs to upgrade our equipment, especially for video production. Help SILVIEW.media survive and grow, please donate here, anything helps. Thank you!
! Articles can always be subject of later editing as a way of perfecting them
As Klaus Schwab promised, The Great Reset / 4th Industrial Revolution is “a tsunami of digitalization”. Sorry I didn’t have time to make a story today, life’s hard and likely short now. However, the resources below follow a storyline.
Since 2014, the Smart Water Summit has been bringing Vendor Partners together with North American Water Utilities – in an intimate setting to begin updating technology and improving North American Water Utility Infrastructure. The Smart Water Summit is a quality, hands-on experience where high level Utility Executives interact with Industry Leading Vendors, analysts and federal agencies. Summit Attendees are able to stay current with the latest advances in technology by participating in Vendor Boardroom Presentations, The Summit Solution Showcase, and Executive Premier Presentations.
They’re simply spying on the waste-water and, if you pay attention they’re not just screening for viruses!
Researchers at The University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute (NGI) have achieved a long-sought-after objective of electrically controlling water flow through membranes, as reported in Nature.
This is the latest exciting membranes development benfitting from the unique properties of graphene. The new research opens up an avenue for developing smart membrane technologies and could revolutionise the field of artificial biological systems, tissue engineering and filtration.
Graphene is capable of forming a tuneable filter or even a perfect barrier when dealing with liquids and gases. New ‘smart’ membranes developed using an inexpensive form of graphene called graphene oxide, have been demonstrated to allow precise control of water flow by using an electrical current. The membranes can even be used to completely block water from passing through when required.
Is this what water does after attending classes at a liberal college? We need to find the location of these people to see if they got any ‘smart water’ projects going on there!
The team, led by Professor Rahul Nair, embedded conductive filaments within the electrically insulating graphene oxide membrane. An electric current passed through these nano-filaments created a large electric field which ionises the water molecules and thus controls the water transport through the graphene capillaries in the membrane.
Prof Nair said: “This new research allows us to precisely control water permeation, from ultrafast permeation to complete blocking. Our work opens up an avenue for further developing smart membrane technologies.
“Developing smart membranes that allow precise and reversible control of molecular permeation using external stimuli would be of intense interest for many areas of science; from physics and chemistry, to life-sciences.
The achievement of electrical control of water flow through membranes is a step change because of its similarity to several biological process where the main stimuli are electrical signals. Controlled water transport is a key for renal water conservation, regulation of body temperature and digestion. The reported electrical control of water transport through graphene membranes therefore opens a new dimension in developing artificial biological systems and advanced nanofluidic devices for various applications.
Previously, the research group have demonstrated that graphene oxide membranes can be used as a sieve to remove salt from seawater for desalination alternatives. Last year they also showed that the membranes could remove the colour pigment from whisky without affecting its other properties.
For the ground breaking research in graphene-based membranes, Professor Andre Geim and Professor Rahul Nair have won 8th Award of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW)
Scientists have long been trying to control water flow through membrane by using an external stimuli due to its importance for healthcare and related areas. Currently, such adjustable membranes are limited to the modulation of wetting of the membranes and controlled ion transport, but not the controlled mass flow of water.
Dr. Kai-Ge Zhou, lead author for the research paper said, “The reported graphene smart membrane technology is not just limited to controlling the water flow. The same membrane can be used as a smart adsorbent or sponge. Water adsorbed on the membrane can be preserved in the membrane even in desert conditions if a current is applied. We could release this water on demand by switching the current off.”
Dr. Vasu, second lead author commented, “Our work not only opens new applications for graphene membranes but it allows us to understand the effect of electrical field on the nanoscale properties of confined water. Despite many conflicting theoretical predictions ranging from freezing of water molecules to melting of ice under an electric field, the experimental evidence for electric field effects were missing. Our work shows that large electric field can ionise water in to its constituent ions.”
The work was done in collaboration with scientists from the University of York, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Iran, and the University of Antwerpen, Belgium.
Graphene and related two-dimensional materials have shown promise for developing new applications as well as enhancing currently used processes for areas as diverse as; electronics, composites, sensors and biomedical. Membranes have become as key research and development theme for desalination, gas separation and healthcare.
The Premier Forum for Water Leakage and Smart Water Technologies
Welcome to the Smart Water Utilities USA 2021 Exhibition and Conference where global water utilities and network services will meet with water leakage experts and smart water technology providers in California to explore efficient and cost-effective solutions for the water utilities industry.
Water is one of the most valuable resources across the globe and as rapid urbanisation has led to the rise in water demand, pressures across the water network caused by climate change and an ageing infrastructure have significantly impacted the availability of water. Non-revenue water (NRW) is water that is lost before it reaches end users, with water leakage being a key contributor of global water loss, currently valued at $40 billion per year, which is now driving the demand for smart technology solutions.
The face of water supply networks is fast changing as operators navigate through the ‘digital water age’ and introduce new technologies across their water networks with advances in IoT and AI for network automation and control to efficiently manage and reduce water leakage. As operators work to meet new regulations and leakage targets, new initiatives towards more efficient water networks have become essential in order to satisfy an ever-increasing demand for water.
With new developments in smart water technologies and technical know-how, recent advancements in leak detection offer new hope for water companies looking for operational efficiencies under challenging market conditions, and to better manage their water networks. The Smart Water Utilities USA 2021 event is set to become the region’s leading exhibition and conference exclusively for water companies and smart water technology experts, to present new solutions for water leakage and how to develop smarter systems across their water networks.
The key focus for this year’s conference will be to “efficiently manage and reduce water leakage”, and the objective will be to bring water utilities and network services together with leading industry experts to collaborate and examine new opportunities in smart water technologies, and to address the key challenges in water utilities from a global perspective.
Key topics on this year’s agenda include:
Making an economic assessment for water utilities development
Integrating smart water technologies into existing water infrastructure
Strategies for managing and reducing water leakage across the network
Looking at real-time data and cutting-edge communication technologies
New technologies and know-how in IoT and AI for network automation
End-user case studies and how to develop an optimal network
This exhibition and conference will provide a forum for all stakeholders from water utilities and network service providers to leading water leakage experts and smart technology companies, to network and build cross-market relationships, and to discuss the latest results in smart water networks for the benefit of the water utilities industry.
Milestone contract for graphene technology in water treatment
G2O is a fast-growing technology business with a portfolio of products that reduce the cost and environmental impact of water treatment. Our products harness the transformational potential of 2D materials, such as Graphene Oxide.
UK technology business G2O Water Technologies has landed its first commercial contract for the enhancement of water filtration membranes with graphene oxide. This is particularly significant for both the technology company as well as the water sector globally, as it is the first commercially successful application of the recently developed “wonder” material for water treatment.
The advantages of using graphene oxide lie in the enhancement of membrane performance, as it mitigates the effects of fouling – one of the biggest challenges operators of membrane-based water filtration systems face. With a coating of graphene oxide, successfully developed and piloted by the company in the northwest of England in collaboration with Hydrasyst Limited, operators can improve operational efficiency, reduce energy consumption and decrease chemical usage. It is anticipated that this will extend the lifetime of the membranes, as well as significantly reducing the cost and environmental impact of water treatment.
Hydrasyst, the earliest adopter of the technology, is a British turnkey solution provider of advanced membrane technology systems, particularly in industrial processes. Commenting on its work with G2O, Managing Director Kyle Wolff stated, “We’re thrilled to have been closely involved for some time now with the piloting and application of G2O Water Technology’s graphene oxide coatings. They have ultimately succeeded in proving their value for some of the most difficult water treatment challenges our customers face; for example in the industrial laundry sector. With the graphene oxide coating, our ceramic hollow-fibre membrane systems deliver significant operational advantages, enabling end-users to enhance the efficiency of their water usage, whilst delivering significant savings in energy costs .”
“This is a significant milestone for the company and the whole water sector. It’s the first commercially successful application of graphene oxide for water treatment”, said Chris Wyres, CEO of G2O Technologies. “The results of industrial trials with Hydrasyst validate the real-world advantages the solution delivers. We will be working closely with Hydrasyst to roll-out Nanopulse systems for a range of water treatment applications. We envisage that wide-scale deployment of this transformational solution can contribute to addressing the challenges of water scarcity and climate change.”
UK technology business completes equity funding boost
Investors back G2O to accelerate growth
Significant potential demonstrated in industrial, oil and gas, food & beverage and energy sectors
UK technology business G2O Water Technologies recently completed an equity funding round, with existing and new investors backing the business to accelerate growth.
G2O’s innovative graphene oxide coating products that reduce the cost and environmental impact of water treatment, have developed significant market traction, with a rapidly growing pipeline of opportunities across a broad range of sectors including industrial, oil & gas, food & beverage and domestic water filtration.
Chris Wyres, CEO of G2O stated “Strong market traction for our Graphene oxide coating products has enabled us to secure additional capital from investors to accelerate growth and delivery of the strong pipeline of opportunities we have generated. As part of this strategy, we will be expanding our facilities and team, ramping up marketing and business development and commercialising an exciting range of new products.”
The company will be focusing on converting a rapidly growing pipeline of opportunities, gearing the business to support partners and expedite progression through prototyping and industrial testing. G2O are currently applying their innovative technology to solve critical challenges in a broad range of water treatment processes, including desalination and the oil and gas, food and beverage and energy sectors. In each case, the proven solutions deliver enhanced operational efficiency, reducing energy costs, maintenance and chemical usage, as well as extending the lifetime of the membranes. This enables end-users to not only reduce costs, but also to minimise their environmental impact and contribute to addressing climate change.
“We’re delighted that all our current investors have recognised the excellent progress made by the company in the last 12 months and have continued to support us. It is also a pleasure to welcome our new industrial investors to G2O, which is a tremendous vote of confidence in the future of the company. The timing of this investment comes as the company has just achieved a key milestone with the signing of its first commercial licensing agreement and I look forward to an exciting future as we progress through to full scale commercialisation of the technology with our development partners.” commented Andrew Greenaway, Chairman of G2O
Smart water-based ferrofluid with stable state transition property: Preparation and its application in anionic dye removal
This article reports a smart water-based ferrofluid that can transform from stable state to unstable state for separating the contained magnetic nanoparticles after use.
The ferrofluid is synthesized by preparing polyethylenimine modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles via a one-pot method, and then improved by acidification treatment and ultracentrifugation-based washing. The resultant ferrofluid and intermediate products have been systematically characterized, verifying that the ferrofluid possesses superparamagnetism, high saturation magnetization as well as strong colloidal stability, and the magnetic nanoparticles contained in the ferrofluid have small aggregation size, strong electropositivity and high saturation magnetization.
It has been confirmed that the acidification treatment and ultracentrifugation-based washing greatly activate the positive charge and reduce the aggregation size of polyethylenimine modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles, which is the key to our successful synthesis of this new type of ferrofluid. Furthermore, the adsorption behavior of the ferrofluid on the anionic Ponceau S dye has been systematically investigated, demonstrating that the ferrofluid can adsorb anionic Ponceau S dye in a short time (<5 min) with a maximum adsorption capacity of 140.26 mg/g.
The experimental data show that the adsorption kinetics follows the pseudo-second-order mode and the Langmuir isotherm model is applicable to describe the adsorption processes.
Importantly, the magnetic nanoparticles in the ferrofluid can be easy to separate from solution after adsorbing anionic Ponceau S dye, preventing secondary pollution and showing great potential in wastewater treatment.
GRAPHIL: The Future of Innovative Portable Household Water Filters
GRAPHIL, the new Spearhead project, brings together Icon Lifesaver (UK), Medica SpA (Italy) and Polymem S.A (France) along with other academic partners, Chalmers Institute of Technology (Sweden), Manchester University (UK), and the National Research Council (Italy). The consortium is committed to the production of innovative filters for household water treatment.
According to WHO and UNICEF, 2.2 billion people lacked access to safe drinking water in 2019 (United Nations, n.d.). Each year, approximately 88% of the four billion worldwide annual cases of diarrhea have been attributed to a lack of safe drinking water (Schroth, Lanfair, & Ambulkar, n.d.).
The Graphil project responds to the urgency of producing an easy to use microfiltration membrane that can be connected directly onto a household sink or used as a portable device for water purification. The filter is expected to go into the market in 2023 and can remove contaminants, pesticides, heavy metals, and dangerous pathogens from drinking water (Graphene Flagship, 2019).
Water Purification
The undesired chemical compounds, organic and inorganic materials, and biological contaminants, such as suspended particles, parasites, bacteria, algae, viruses, and fungi are removed from water through multiple physical, chemical, or biological processes (Schroth, Lanfair, & Ambulkar, n.d.).
In the United States, the safety of drinking water quality is regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whereas the European Union is regulated by Article 10 of the EU Drinking Water Directive (Directive 98/83/EC) (European Drinking Water, n.d.). On 18 February 2020, the environment and public health committee updated the EU rules of drinking tap water, which is expected to update quality standards and sets out minimum hygiene requirements for materials in contact with drinking water (European Parliament, 2020).
In Europe, most countries use chlorine as a drinking water disinfectant since the discovery of water disinfectant abilities in 1905 by the London Metropolitan Water Board. The U.S quickly followed the use of Chlorine, reaching 64% of all community water systems by 1995 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). According to the WHO, the standard drinking water state is 2-3 mg/L chlorine to achieve satisfactory drinking water (Lenntech, n.d.).
Portable Water Filtration
The filter membrane performance depends on the amount of water passing through the membrane per unit of time and surface area, and the concentration ratio of a component between the filtered particles and the feed water solution.
Following the discovery of Graphair (Smith, 2020), a conventional one-step water filtration system by a team of scientists from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), graphene has successfully entered as a competitive next-generation solution for the portable water purification process. Graphair is a 4 cm2 graphene film filtration membrane with microscopic nano-channels that prevents larger contaminants such as salt enter the water (Bold Business, 2018). The filter was proved to be low-cost, removing 99% of impurities faster than other conventional filters without using chlorine.
Graphene as a Water Filter Membrane
Graphene’s large surface area, versatile surface chemistry, and exceptional mechanical properties allow it to bind ions and metals. This process reduces the number of inorganic contaminants in water. The graphene-based membrane also offers a simpler setup compared to other traditional membranes, such as reverse osmosis and microfiltration train systems, leading to lower operating pressure and maintenance costs for end-users.
Last year, the researchers from Russia’s National University of Science and Technology (MISiS), Derzhavin Tambov State University, and Saratov Chernyshevsky State University experimented with graphene oxide to purify water by injecting graphene oxide into E. coli containing saline solutions. The results demonstrated the bacterias forming flakes inside the solution along with the graphene oxide, which can be easily extracted, making water free of bacteria (Smart Water Magazine, 2019).
We are in an era where sustainability, energy savings, solar options, innovations, engineering and smart home tech knowledge are all extremely important to consumers, business leaders and employees trying to make a difference in the world. In 2018 alone, the U.S. spent $19.8 billion on smart home technology. I predict a new material called graphene will revolutionize the smart home industry and become a key factor in smart home technology advancements and innovations.
Although there have been attempts to study graphene since the mid-1800s, it wasn’t until 2004 when scientists discovered and isolated a single atomic layer of carbon for the first time. Since then, research has skyrocketed, and graphene is now considered to be the strongest substance known to science and might be one of the world’s most useful “wonder” materials.
Graphene forms a nearly transparent, flexible sheet about one atom thick (which, to put in perspective, is one million times smaller than the diameter of a single human hair). It is 200 times stronger than steel yet six times lighter. It is a conductor of electrical and thermal energy, and it is eco-friendly and sustainable, with unlimited possibilities to create the perfect smart home (and more).
Smart building
Concrete is the most common building material, along with steel, but greenhouse gas emissions from concrete and cement-making remain high. Cement-making accounts for 6 percent of global carbon emissions.
Use of graphene, when incorporated into concrete and cement, makes for a stronger, more water-resistant composite material that could reduce emissions. This material can be used directly on building sites, enabling the construction of strong and durable buildings using less concrete and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This process reduces roughly half the amount of materials used to make concrete, all at a lower cost.
Smart paint
Imagine being able to paint your house with a special coating that changes color when it senses that the underlying structure is in need of repairs. Researchers have created a smart graphene coating that indicates breaks and fractures by changing color. This could revolutionize the home inspection process.
Graphene also has been used to make eco-friendly paint. Because graphene is a superconductor, the addition of graphene to paint can improve the thermal regulation of buildings, requiring less heating and air conditioning. Graphene’s inclusion in paints, coatings and other building materials greatly enhances strength, durability and coverage.
Smart solar
Solar panels on a home are a great source of energy. Graphene can be made into transparent solar cells that can turn virtually any surface into a source of electric power. This technology could give homeowners the opportunity to turn something like a garage door, window or roof into a solar conductor, all while maintaining the desired look of the home.
Smart light
Glowing walls could soon replace the light bulb, allowing for the introduction of glowing “wallpaper.” This would provide a more pleasant, adjustable light across a room compared to lightbulbs, and it can also be made more energy-efficient.
It’s also a highly efficient conductor of both heat and electricity and conducts electricity better than copper.
Smart sound
To produce sound, regular speakers create a pressure wave in the air by physically moving back and forth. Graphene can create a non-moving solid-state audio device that would eliminate the need for a large sound system and speakers.
Researchers believe they can incorporate speakers into ultra-thin touch screen technologies, in which the screen is able to produce sound on its own and could probably be incorporated onto walls.
Smart battery
Graphene can make batteries that are light, durable and suitable for high capacity energy storage, as well as shorten charging times. It will extend the battery’s lifetime and will add conductivity without requiring the amounts of carbon that are used in conventional batteries. Graphene can also be used to create new batteries that recharge quickly.
Smart water
Water conservation is a high priority in our country. It is expected that by 2020, 25 million people (in seven states), including Arizona and Nevada, will be forced to cut back on water usage as Lake Mead and Lake Powell essentially run dry. Graphene membranes can be used as water filters, filtering 85 percent of salt out of seawater.
Although this percentage is not quite pure enough for drinking purposes, it is perfect for agricultural and landscaping use. This can help regions affected by the drought, that are located near large bodies of water and maintain modern, low-water landscaping using a better eco-friendy solution.
Combining all of graphene’s amazing properties could create a holistic impact on the world of smarter homes, and its participation as a change agent is not far away.
Household Water Filtering
The Water Resource Group notifies that the worldwide water supply-to-demand gap is likely to reach approximately 40% by 2030, which warns the issue of water scarcity to be a worldwide priority.
Although already-existing water filtration methods shown in the following table have controlled the market (European Commision, 2010), they are expensive, complicated or highly inaccurate, which prevents most parts of the world from getting access to clean drinking water. (Shull, 2012):
Filtration Method
Particle Capture Size
Contaminants Removed
Microfiltration
0.1-10 µm
suspended solids, bacteria, protozoa
Ultrafiltration
ca.0.003-0.1 µm
colloids, proteins, polysaccharides, most bacteria, viruses (partially)
Nanofiltration
ca.0.001 µm
viruses, natural organic matter, multivalent ions
Reverse Osmosis
ca.0.0001 µm
almost all impurities, including monovalent ions
The Graphil project has helped to develop affordable and easy to use portable or household water filters. According to Mrs. Letizia Bocchi, who is the leader of the project, their filters are made with hollow plastic fiber membranes blended with graphene to enhance the adsorption of chemical contaminants (Diamante, 2020). Once completed, the Graphil filters could be directly mounted on a household water filtration system or portable water purifier devices, which also means a reduction in bottled water consumption, contributing to positive environmental impacts.
Shull, A. (2012). The Design and Creation of a Portable Water Purification System. [Online] Andrews University: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/honors/39 (Accessed on 04 October, 2020)
Establishment fact-checkers are cognitively retarded and functionally illiterate copy-paste bots who still use Google, this is how you fact-check Stu Peters:
LATER UPDATES: A glimpse into the future or the present?
So the people who claim many vaccines are just saline and the people who claim they are just graphene oxide can be right at the same time.
If you are reading this, chances ae you already know of La Quinta Columna researchers and Stu Peters shows that revealed large presence of very toxic graphene in Covid injections. If you don’t, you need to research and catch up with the details, there’s no cheating on the homework anymore.
Onw of Stu’s latest deliveries featured a very documented expert and Pharma analyst who formerly worked for Pfizer and revealed the graphene is hiding in the so called PEGs, I’ll explain shortly what these are.
So I went to fact-check this, even though the whistle-blower sounded very compelling and having deep insights in the business.
My findings show that they only scratch the surface of a larger problem: As I’ve shown before, graphene has a large spectrum of applications today, most endangering our health. But graphene oxide (GO) is especially toxic and they will pump it in us with other treatments too.
GO-based PEGs have been the new rising star of drug delivery for quite a few years before Covid and they are usually graphene based, as a several studies and invention patents prove beyond doubt. I don’t think there’s any mRNA vaccine that doesn’t use them.
They are not featured in injections inserts as separate ingredient, which they are, but as a process. Yup, they are the PEG in PEGylation. It’s like saying Coca Cola was sweetened instead of listing several sweeteners!
Here you can download the safety Data Sheet for ALC-0135, it’s bad stuff, really corrosive!
Think of an oral drug capsule. The PEG is a high-nanotech version of the capsule fabric, which can do a series of cool tricks, but its mainly roles are to protect the content and help it penetrate tissue/cells and reach specific targets.
Now think the drug insert only lists the content ingredients. not the capsule.
“Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), also known as poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), is an amphiphilic polyether that is soluble both in water and most organic solvents. PEG and its derivatives are among the few polymers approved for medical uses by the FDA.
Functionalized PEG, also named activated PEG, is a family of PEG derivatives decorated with functional groups. Funtionalized PEGs are used broadly for drug PEGylation, polymer engineering, nantechnology, biotechnology, and biomedical engineering.” This is the description given by Sinopeg, Chinese company that delivers PEGs for most Covid injection manufacturers.
From their September 2020 blog post we extract more details confirming my earlier claims:
“The coupling of PEG to protein is also called protein polyglycolization, which is essentially a drug delivery technology. The coupling of activated peg with protein molecules can improve the three-dimensional space state of proteins, resulting in changes in various biochemical properties of proteins. For example, chemical stability increased, half-life prolonged, immunogenicity and toxicity decreased or disappeared, protein solubility increased. SINOPEG is a dynamic science company dedicated to drug delivery systems (DDS). SINOPEG are specialized in the R&D of long acting biopharmaceuticals, developing and manufacturing of block copolymers, lipids for drug delivery, medical devices, bio-engineering, and other broad uses.
Up to now, the FDA has approved 20 polyglycolic drugs. In addition to monoclonal antibodies, polyglycolic drugs have become the most powerful drug development technology. As a leading company in polyethylene glycol derivatives (PEGs)， SINOPEG is capable of supplying small to large quantities of rich selection of PEG derivative products with unique molecular designs (chemical structure, molecular weights (MW)) and exceptional product quality control to serve bio-technology and pharmaceutical companies and research organizations worldwide.”
At this point, you’re probably asking when is graphene coming in. I got you covered:
Graphene oxide (GO) is known to strongly bind single-stranded nucleic acids with fluorescence quenching near the GO surface. However, GO exhibits weak biocompatibility characteristics, such as low dispersibility in cell culture media and significant cytotoxicity. To improve dispersibility in cell culture media and cell viability of GO, we prepared nanosized GO (nGO) constructs and modified the nGO surface using polyethylene glycol (PEG-nGO). Single-stranded peptide nucleic acid (PNA) was adsorbed onto the PEG-nGO and was readily desorbed by adding complementary RNA or under low pH conditions. PNA adsorbed on the PEG-nGO was efficiently delivered into lung cancer cells via endocytosis without affecting cell viability. Furthermore, antisense PNA delivered using PEG-nGO effectively downregulated the expression of the target gene in cancer cells. Our results suggest that PEG-nGO is a biocompatible carrier useful for PNA delivery into cells and serves as a promising gene delivery tool.
HEY, KIDS, WANNA BUY SOME LETHAL INJECTIONS AMMO? HERE’S YOUR LINK!
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a versatile DNA amplification method, is a fundamental technology in modern life sciences and molecular diagnostics. After multiple rounds of PCR, however, nonspecific DNA fragments are often produced and the amplification efficiency and fidelity decrease. Here, we demonstrated that poly(ethylene glycol)-engrafted nanosized graphene oxide (PEG-nGO) can significantly improve the PCR specificity and efficiency. PEG-nGO allows the specificity to be maintained even after multiple rounds of PCR, allowing reliable amplification at low annealing temperatures. PEG-nGO decreases the nonspecific annealing of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), such as primer dimerization and false priming, by adsorbing excess primers. Moreover, PEG-nGO interrupts the reannealing of denatured template DNA by preferentially binding to ssDNA. Thus, PEG-nGO enhances the PCR specificity by preferentially binding to ssDNA without inhibiting DNA polymerase, which is analogous to the role of ssDNA binding proteins.
A method and process to make and use cotton-tipped electrochemical immunosensor for the detection of corona viruses is described. The immunosensor were fabricated by immobilizing the virus antigens on carbon nanofiber-modified screen printed electrodes which were functionalized by diazonium electrografting and activated by EDC/NHS chemistry. The detection of virus antigens were achieved via swabbing followed by competitive assay using fixed amount of antibody in the solution. Ferro/ferricyanide redox probe was used for the detection using square wave voltammetric technique. The limits of detection for our electrochemical biosensors were 0.8 and 0.09 pg/ml for SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV, respectively indicating very good sensitivity for the sensors. Both biosensors did not show significant cross reactivity with other virus antigens such as influenza A and HCoV, indicating the high selectivity of the method.
BACKGROUND
The newly identified severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the last discovered member of the corona viruses that cause serious human respiratory infections. Other types of corona viruses were previously known such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), SARS-CoV1, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-229E, HCoV HKU1 and HCoV NL63. Since its first identification in China in 2019 until present, SARS-CoV-2 has spread globally causing significant morbidity and mortality. COVID-19; the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2; was declared as pandemic by the world health organization on March 2020. Until now, there are no available vaccines or drugs proven to treat COVID 19. Therefore, the timely detection of SARS-CoV-2, is urgently needed to effectively control the rapid spread of the infection.
The testing of the virus can be achieved by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, detection of antigens, or by serological testing (the detection of the virus antibody). However, the serological tests are not reliable for the early diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection due to the relatively long delay between infection and seroconversion. Molecular diagnosis using RT-PCR is the primary used method for the detection of corona viruses. However, PCR takes relatively long time for analysis (minimum of 3 hours), and requires several steps including the collection of the specimens by swabbing, the transport of the sample into a solution and extraction of the viral RNA before amplification. Moreover, RT-PCR is relatively expensive which hindered its wide applicability for population scale diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, particularly in low and middle income countries. Thus, sensitive, rapid and accurate diagnostic methods based on the direct detection of the viral antigens without pretreatment is highly demanded to control the COVID 19 outbreak. There are four main structural antigens for corona viruses: nucleocapsid (N), spike (S), matrix (M), and envelope (E). Among them, the S and N proteins have the potential to be used as biomarkers because they can distinguish different types of corona viruses.
Several diagnostic methods are being developed for the detection of COVID 19. Biosensors have been widely used for many diagnostic applications showing fast, easy and reliable detection. Until now, only few biosensors have been developed for SARS-CoV-2 such as the graphene-based field-effect transistor (FET) biosensor reported by Seo. et al. The FET immunosensor was used for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 using spike 51 protein as biomarker. Plasmonic photothermal biosensors for SARS-CoV-2 through nucleic acid hybridization have been also developed. Half-strip lateral flow assays (LFA) for the detection of N protein was reported. However, LFA provide qualitative or semi-quantitative results and more work is still required to develop more accurate detection methods.
Electrochemical biosensors are one of the most popular types of biosensors which offer several advantages such as the low cost, capability of miniaturization, high sensitivity and selectivity. These advantages make them ideal for use as point-of-care devices for diagnostic applications. Electrochemical biosensors have been widely integrated with carbon nanostructures to fabricate highly sensitive devices. Carbon nanofiber (CNF) is one of the materials that showed excellent applications in biosensors because of its large surface area, stability and ease of functionalization.
Cotton swabs have been recently used in the fabrication of immunoassays for the detection of different pathogens. In these assays, the colorimetric detection was achieved based on visual discrimination of the color change. These assays are simple, fast and easy to perform. However, they only give qualitative or semi-quantitative results. Thus, more accurate methods are still required.
Want some graphene nano-flakes with your milk?
COMPOSITION FOR PCR CONTAINING A POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL-ENGRAFTED NANO-SIZED GRAPHENE OXIDE United States Patent Application 20180155765
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composition for PCR including polyethylene glycol-engrafted nano-sized graphene oxide (PEG-nGO), the composition for PCR being capable of increasing the efficiency and specificity of PCR and shortening PCR time, and a PCR method using the same.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method of artificially amplifying DNA and is an indispensable technology in modern biotechnology and molecular biology. PCR is widely used in diagnostics, gene manipulation, biosensors, and a variety of fields. However, the specificity and efficiency of PCR may be reduced due to unintended (re)annealing of single stranded DNA (e.g., primer dimerization, incorrect primer binding, and reannealing of PCR amplicons). Nonspecific primer binding in PCR steps may result in generation of a large number of nonspecific amplicons, which can be confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis. That is, smearing of a PCR band, which is observed in an electrophoresed agarose gel, indicates the presence of a large number of DNAs having similar sizes (i.e., nonspecific amplicons). When a DNA template is excessively amplified in PCR and the same primers are used in the second or subsequent PCR, nonspecific amplicons may be generated. To solve these problems, various PCR techniques such as nested PCR have been developed. In the first step of nested PCR, a primer set for amplifying a broad range including a target sequence on a DNA template is used, and in the second step, primer sequences for amplifying only the target sequence are generally used as an inner primer (nested primer) set.
In addition, studies have been conducted to increase the efficiency and specificity of PCR using various nanomaterials such as gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanopowder, graphene nanoflakes, cadmium telluride quantum dots, graphene quantum dots, dendrimers, and titanium dioxide. For example, graphene nanoflakes serve to improve PCR efficiency by increasing thermal conductivity of a PCR mixture, and gold nanoparticles are capable of being adsorbed to DNA and proteins to reduce amplification of nonspecific DNA products. However, these methods have a disadvantage that the specificity and efficiency of PCR may not be fundamentally solved when each nanoparticle is present. It is also controversial as to whether gold nanoparticles play a role in increasing the specificity of PCR.
Graphene oxide (GO) refers to a material having a honeycomb-like nanostructure in which carbons are arranged in a hexagonal lattice, and is prepared by oxidizing a single layer of graphite, i.e., graphene. The surface of GO may have various functional groups such as epoxy groups, hydroxyl groups, and carboxyl groups, which allow the GO to be dissolved in a water-soluble solvent. In addition, GO may bind to single-stranded nucleic acids via π stacking interaction and hydrogen bonding, but has low affinity to double-stranded nucleic acids. Based on the functions of GO, GO has been widely applied in various areas such as DNA detection, biosensors based on energy transfer through fluorescence resonance, and real-time monitoring of fluorescently labeled nucleic acids.
However, GO is not soluble in a buffer solution containing Mg2+ and a high salt concentration, such as a PCR buffer, and is adsorbed to proteins such as a DNA polymerase via non-covalent bonding. It is well known that divalent cations such as Mg2+ induce strong crosslinking between GO sheets, allowing the GO sheets to be aggregated. That is, when other salts are added to a PCR sample for buffering, GO sheets may be aggregated by divalent cations such as Mg2+. In addition, it has been reported that GO is bound to proteins to induce protein aggregation, which may distort the structures of proteins and cause the loss of function of proteins. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is known as a biocompatible polymer that reduces protein adsorption. Recently, to minimize nonspecific protein adsorption and increase the solubility of GO in a solution with a high salt concentration, nano-sized GO (nGO) was prepared, and the surface of the nGO was coated with PEG to prepare PEG-nGO (Non-Patent Document 1). In Non-Patent Document 1, it is disclosed that, when PEG-nGO interacts with a protein, a nano-bio interface may be formed due to PEGylation of the surface of GO, thereby significantly reducing adsorption of the PEG-nGO to the protein. Accordingly, PEG-nGO is attracting attention as a substance capable of interacting with proteins without impairing the structure and function of the proteins.
Therefore, the present inventors have tried to confirm the effect of PEG-nGO on the efficiency and specificity of PCR. During the denaturation step of PCR, polyethylene glycol-engrafted nano-sized graphene oxide (PEG-nGO) was capable of being adsorbed to single-stranded primers and a DNA template. Accordingly, when PEG-nGO was added to a PCR sample and PCR amplification was performed, in an initial PCR process in which an excessive amount of primers was included, primer dimerization was inhibited, and in a late PCR process in which amplified PCR products were accumulated, nonspecific reannealing between the amplified PCR products and other DNA strands was inhibited. Thus, it was confirmed that, when PCR was performed using a composition for PCR including the PEG-nGO of the present invention, the efficiency and specificity of PCR may be improved and PCR time may be shortened as compared with conventional PCR techniques. By confirming these results, the present invention was completed.
Or perhaps you want to find out about GO-based nano-biosensors:
More from the study quoted above: “Furthermore, it is equally important that the material properties are reported in full in papers dealing with (eco)toxicity assessment of GBMs. Can the information that has been collected on safety of GBMs be applied to other 2D materials? We believe that some aspects might be common to all 2D materials, or even to all nanomaterials, while some “postcarbon” 2D materials will likely present with their own specific concerns. For instance, the propensity to dissolve in a biological environment with the release of ionic species that are more biologically/chemically reactive than the parental 2D material is an issue that has not been described for GBMs.(346) Moreover, Guiney et al.(347) recently commented that “with a constantly expanding library of 2D materials, the ability to predict toxicological outcomes is of critical importance” and suggested that high-throughput screening approaches may prove useful in order to elucidate cellular interactions of 2D materials. However, the issue is not so much the low throughput of current approaches as much as the inconsistent design of commonly used toxicity assays and frequent lack of material characterization. Indeed, careful characterization of both the test material and the test system is required, and a proposal was recently put forward for minimum reporting requirements in publications dealing with nanobiointeractions. Though such reporting requirements have not yet been adopted, it is important to discuss these issues in the scientific community. To conclude, the hype that inevitably follows with technological advances should be tempered by sound, science-based assessment of the potential impact on human health and the environment to ensure safe and sustainable development of new products and applications.”
And we find out the cytoxicity is widely known inside the industry, from a very interesting invention patent that I dug out and provides excellent background information, it’s a lot, but it gives us great details as to the extent of GO usage and impact on health:
“The in vitro studies demonstrated concentration-dependent toxicity. The highest concentration (100 μg/mL) of non-PEGylated rGO had a lower toxic influence on cell viability in primary cultures of astrocytes and rat brain endothelial cells, while PEGylated rGO induced deleterious effects and cell death. We assessed hippocampal BBB integrity in vivo by evaluating astrocyte activation and the expression of the endothelial tight and adherens junctions proteins. From 1 h to 7 days post-rGO-PEG systemic injection, a notable and progressive down-regulation of protein markers of astrocytes (GFAP, connexin-43), the endothelial tight (occludin), and adherens (β-catenin) junctions and basal lamina (laminin) were observed. The formation of intracellular reactive oxygen species demonstrated by increases in the enzymatic antioxidant system in the PEGylated rGO samples was indicative of oxidative stress-mediated damage. Under the experimental conditions and design of the present study the PEGylation of rGO did not improve interaction with components of the blood-brain barrier. In contrast, the attachment of PEG to rGO induced deleterious effects in comparison with the effects caused by non-PEGylated rGO.”
Biocompatible graphene quantum dots for drug delivery and bioimaging applications – United States Patent 9642815
Abstract:
In this work we have targeted two aspects of GQDs, Size and ROS to reduce their cytotoxicity. Small size can damage cell organelles and production of ROS (reactive oxygen species) can hamper cell machinery in multiple ways. We have shown that cytotoxicity can be significantly reduced by embedding GQDs inside the PEG matrix rather than creating a thin shell around each GQD. Thin PEG shell around GQD can control ROS production but cannot circumvent the toxicity due to small size. Thus it was essential to solve both the issues. We have used a simple electrochemical method (12 h at room temperature) for synthesizing GQDs and embedded them in PEG matrix via a simple one step hydrothermal reaction (24 h at 160° C.) involving only GQDs, PEG, and deionized water. The P-GQDs formed after hydrothermal reaction show nanoparticles of diameter of ˜80-100 nm containing GQDs entrapped in PEG matrix. MTT assay showed significant 60% cells viability at a very high concentration of 5.5 mg/mL of P-GQDs compared to 10-15% viability for C-GQD and H-GQD. ROS production by P-GQDs was least compared to C-GQD and H-GQD in cell free and intracellular ROS assay suggesting involvement of ROS in cytotoxicity. In this work we have solved the issue of cytotoxicity due to ‘small size’ and ‘ROS generation’ without compromising with fluorescence properties of GQDs. P-GQDs was used for bioimaging and drug delivery in HeLa cells. In short we can obtain biocompatible P-GQDs in very short span of time with minimal use of hazardous chemicals and simple methodology.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART OF THE INVENTION
A quantum dot is a semiconductor nanostructure that confines the motion of conduction band electrons, valence band holes, or excitons in all three spatial directions. Quantum dots (QDs) are traditionally chalcogenides (selenides or sulfides) of metals like cadmium or zinc (CdSe or ZnS), which range from 2 to 10 nanometers in diameter.
QDs have unique optical and electronic properties such as size-tunable light emission, narrow and symmetric emission spectra, and broad absorption spectra that enable simultaneous excitation of multiple fluorescence. Moreover, QDs are resistant to photo bleaching than organic dyes and fluorescent proteins. These properties are well suited for dynamic imaging at the single-molecule level and for multiplexed biomedical diagnostics at ultrahigh sensitivity.
However, for in vivo and clinical imaging, the potential toxicity of QDs remains a major concern. The toxic nature of cadmium-containing QDs is no longer a factor for in vitro diagnostics, since emergent use of fluorescent QDs for molecular diagnostics and pathology is an important and clinically relevant application for semiconductor QDs. (Kairdolf. B. et al., Annual Rev. of Analytical Chem. Vol. 6: 143-162.)
In prevalent practice, the use of carbon nanoparticles in synthesis of quantum dots, have emerged as a new class of quantum dot-like fluorescent nanomaterials. Carbon nanoparticles are used since their particle size can be controlled between 3-20 nm. Carbon atoms linked in hexagonal shapes, wherein each carbon atom is covalently bonded to three other carbon atoms to form graphene sheets. Graphene has the same structure of carbon atoms linked in hexagonal shapes to form carbon nanotubes, but graphene is flat rather than cylindrical.
Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are used as fluorophores for bioimaging, owing to their physicochemical properties including tunable photoluminescence, excellent photostability, and biocompatibility. GQDs usually less than 50 nm in size have been reported to have excellent fluorescent properties. Due to luminescence stability, nanosecond lifetime, biocompatibility, low toxicity, and high water solubility, GQDs are demonstrated to be excellent probes for high contrast bioimaging and bio sensing applications.
It’s really good news that it’s become a meme topic!
References may be made to prior art documents for methods of synthesizing GQDs using electrochemical processes, hydrothermal methods and the modified Hummers process for graphene oxide synthesis and cytotoxicity assays to determine the cellular uptake of the resultant GQDs formed by these processes.
US patent publication, US 2013/0175182 provides a process for the transformation of single walled, double walled or multi walled carbon nanotubes to nanoribbons composed of few layers of graphene by a two-step electrochemical process. The process involves oxidizing dispersed carbon nanotubes (CNT) to obtain CNT oxide and further reducing it to form graphene layers.
In research publication, Chem. Commun, 2011, 6858-6860, Zhu et al, describe a method of GQD preparation wherein modified Hummers method is used for graphene oxide synthesis and hydrothermal method for GQD synthesis to obtain GQDs of particle size of 5.3 nm. At concentrations of 2.6 mg/ml, cell viability of 80% is observed.
Further Jianhua Shen et al. in New J. Chem., 2012, 36, 97-101 reported one-pot hydrothermal reaction for preparation of graphene quantum dots surface-passivated by polyethylene glycol (GQDs-PEG) and their photoelectric conversion under near-infrared light, using small graphene oxide (GO) sheets and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as starting materials.
Juan Peng et al. (Nano Lett., 2012, 12 (2), pp 844-49) describes the acid treatment and chemical exfoliation of carbon fibers, to provide GQDs in the size range of 1-4 nm. The publication provides that the GQDs derived have no toxicity at concentrations of 0.05 mg/ml. However, the cytotoxicity of GQDs at higher levels is unaccounted.
Chang Ming Li et al., (J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 8764-66) provide a method to develop graphene quantum dots (GQDs) from XC-72 carbon black by chemical oxidation, however toxicity assays confirm maximum cell viability at concentrations of 0.1 mg/ml.
The toxicity of GQDs is attributed to their size, since small sized GQDs interact with various proteins and organelles inside the cell and disrupt cellular processes. Another reason for the toxicity is their ability to generate more reactive oxygen species (ROS). Polymers, especially PEG coating has been used in the literature to decrease the toxicity of GQDs. However, even after polymer coating the cell viability at higher concentrations (>1 mg/ml) is low. Probably because even though the ROS production is lowered by the polymer shell coating, the size of the GQDs after coating still remains small (sub 50 nm) and are still in the size range that can interact with intracellular proteins and organelles.
In the following research publications, references may be made to PEGylation of carbon nanoparticles and the cell viability determined at concentrations of 1 mg/ml or lesser than that.
Bhunia et al., (Scientific Reports, 2013, 3:1473) describe carbon nanoparticles (FCN) which are polymer coated with PEG and the dosage dependent cellular toxicity of these fluorescent nanoparticles. At 1 mg/ml concentration of the FCN-PEG composition, 55-60% cell viability is observed.
Zhuang Liu et al., (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130 (33), pp 10876-10877) describe pegylated nano-graphene oxide (NGO-PEG) of size 5-50 nm for delivery of water insoluble cancer drugs produced by Hummers method.
Omid Akhavan et al., (J. Material. Chem., 2012, Vol. 22, 20626-33) describes nontoxic concentrations of pegylated graphene nanoribbons for selective cancer cell imaging and photothermal therapy. At concentrations of 1 mg/ml of the composition. 28% cell viability was obtained.
Further Lay C L et al. (Nanotechnology. 2010 Feb. 10; 21(6):065101) reports delivery of paclitaxel by physically loading onto poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG)-graft-carbon nanotubes for potent cancer therapeutics.
Toxicity assays of GQDs synthesized by methods of the above prior arts report minimum cell viability at GQDs concentrations of 1 mg/ml, and lesser than that, thus posing limitations in cellular imaging applications. However, to realize biomedical applications of GQDs, low toxicity of the GQDS at higher concentrations is desired for cellular imaging.
With a view to provide graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with decreased cytotoxicity levels at higher concentrations i.e. greater than 1 mg/ml, the present inventors have provided a biocompatible composition of one or more graphene quantum dots (GQDs) in a nanosized polymer matrix of polyethylene glycol which is larger compared to small sized GQDs as observed in the prior art. The PEG matrix aids in reducing the reactive oxygen radicals (ROS) generated by the GQD surface while keeping the small GQDs inside the matrix; thus, also reducing their undesirable interactions with cellular proteins and organelles.
Meanwhile, these nutjobs want to use it to treat bone cancer in kids!
Or how about:
Graphene quantum dots, their composites and preparation of the same
Procedures for the synthesis of zero dimension GQDs based on exfoliation/reduction of surface passivated functionalized graphite oxide (f-GO PEG) are described. The synthesis procedures can include exfoliation/reduction f-GO PEG in presence of hydrogen gas, using focused solar radiation and under vacuum.
BACKGROUND
…
Graphene nanoribbons address this drawback of single layer graphene, however, more recently, focus has been on another carbon nanostructure called graphene quantum dots (GQDs) or carbon quantum dots (CQD) (also known as graphene quantum discs). GQDs show very desirable photoluminescence properties, as the size and shape of the GQDs can be tuned to have desired band gap and emission properties. Moreover, GQDs have desirable characteristics, for example, high surface area, larger diameter, better surface grafting using the π-π conjugated network or surface groups and other special physical properties due to the structure of graphene. Since most of the carbon nanomaterials including GQDs are biocompatible and nontoxic, GQDs can advantageously be used in biological applications for example, image scanning and sensing, drug delivery and cancer treatment. The photoluminescence properties of GQDs are useful for photovoltaic applications too as it has been theoretically proved that the energy gap in GQDs can be tuned by using electrostatic potentials.
The band gap of a GQD depends on its size and shape. With existing technology it is possible to cut graphene in to desirable size and shape forms. As the number of atoms increases, the energy gap in almost all the energy spectra of GQDs decreases monotonously. In the case of GQDs, along with size and shape, the edge type plays an important role in electronic, magnetic and optical properties.
THANKS FOR STAYING ON COURSE, THIS GOES DEEPER
This part of the article isn’t fully substantiated with third part peer-reviewed evidence, but with some of my own logic and observations, feel free to arbiter for yourself:
The graphene nano-ribbons mentioned above, if you payed attention, are most likely what La Quinta Columna and others noticed on their microscopes. Either that or carbon nanotubes, which are about the same thing, but in 3D.
Sinopeg claims it works with US scientists and collaborates with Chinese Academy. Just like Bill Gates, who is one of the very few foreign members of the Academia there, as I revealed last year. It’s almost unconceivable that Gates didn’t know of these PEGs and didn’t want to protect the secret from the general public. Sharing the manufacturing and the patents with the whole world would’ve almost certainly lead to information leaks, and that is what worried Gates more than money leaks, which are his last concern right now, I suspect.
IN CONCLUSION:
Ah, and in case you want to go even deeper into the science:
To be continued? Our work and existence, as media and people, is funded solely by our most generous supporters. But we’re not really covering our costs so far, and we’re in dire needs to upgrade our equipment, especially for video production. Help SILVIEW.media survive and grow, please donate here, anything helps. Thank you!
! Articles can always be subject of later editing as a way of perfecting them
The latest piece of evidence to confirm many of the revelations we’ve published for the past year or so. You have to read back to get more of the picture we’re about to sketch here.
We can’t offer informed consent for these experiments conducted on us because we are not offered much information. Only rich people can access some of it at prices most of us can’t dream. Maybe you can, or maybe people start donating enough so we can afford surviving another month and buying this info for the purpose of making it freely available to everyone, as it should be.
What am I talking about is the book pictured in our cover illustration and detailed below, which costs well over 1000$!
More precisely $1185 just for a single license PDF, the hardcover print would cost you about 100 more.
Why is this thing so expensive, you may ask?
THESE INFORMATIONS ARE SO EXPENSIVE EXACTLY TO BE PROHIBITIVE TO THE PLEBS AND OFFER A LEVERAGE OVER THOSE WHO ARE KEPT OUT OF THE LOOP, IN THE DARK
Predictably so, but:
These informations also must to have the highest degree of accuracy in order to sell as expensively!
Superb quality book delivered in a timely fashion with full financial documentation received via email.
Testimonial by Dr Tom Kidd, Associate Professor, University of Nevada
Bonus for us, this book is from May 2020, so it must have been elaborated prior to April 2020. This means it might be outdated by now for investors, but witty investigators like us find an advantage in this:
THE BOOK HAS BEEN ELABORATED WITH BEHIND THE SCENES SCIENCE ON THE INDUSTRIES WHICH, IN TURN MUST HAVE HAD PRE-SCIENCE ON THE PLANDEMIC! There was no publicly available information in March to build such a book, and the industries they talk about must have been prescient, way ahead of the writers. Only the fact that this book existed in May 2020 is single-handedly proving there was a whole lot of awareness in some industries about the pandemic. Corroborated with all other evidence we’ve provided on this website, pandemic pre-planning, ergo pre-science, becomes a certitude.
Until plebs learn the GameStop lesson properly and start associating their financial power to break this classism and this information gatekeeping, we have to be happy with whatever meat we can chew from the bones they throw out. Luckily for you, I can show you how to suck a bone dry and use it to find more. It’s not going to be a full course, but it might become more than most people can load up.
Let’s start with the description (highlights are mine):
“Nanotechnology and nanomaterials can significantly address the many clinical and public healthcare challenges that have arisen from the coronavirus pandemic. This analysis examines in detail how nanotechnology and nanomaterials can help in the fight against this pandemic disease, and ongoing mitigation strategies. Nano-based products are currently being developed and deployed for the containment, diagnosis, and treatment of Covid-19.
Nanotechnology and nanomaterials promise:
Improved and virus disabling air filtration.
Low-cost, scalable detection methods for the detection of viral particles
Enhanced personal protection equipment (PPE) including facemasks.
New antiviral vaccine and drug delivery platforms.
New therapeutic solutions.
Report contents include:
Market analysis of nano-based diagnostic tests for COVID-19 including nanosensors incorporating gold nanoparticles, iron oxide nanoparticles, graphene, quantum dots, carbon quantum dots and carbon nanotubes. Market revenues adjusted to pandemic outcomes. In-depth company profiles. Companies profiled include Abbott Laboratories, Cardea, Ferrotec (USA) Corporation, E25Bio, Grolltex, Inc., Luminex Corporation etc.
Market analysis of antiviral and antimicrobial nanocoatings for surfaces including fabric (mask, gloves, doctor coats, curtains, bed sheet), metal (lifts, doors handle, nobs, railings, public transport), wood (furniture, floors and partition panels), concrete (hospitals, clinics and isolation wards) and plastics (switches, kitchen and home appliances).
Market revenues adjusted to pandemic outcomes. In-depth company profiles. Companies profiled include Advanced Materials-JTJ s.r.o., Bio-Fence, Bio-Gate AG, Covalon Technologies Ltd., EnvisionSQ, GrapheneCA, Integricote, Nano Came Co. Ltd., NanoTouch Materials, LLC, NitroPep and many more.
Market analysis of air-borne virus filtration including photocatalytic Nano-TiO2 filters, nanofiber filers, nanosilver, nanocellulose, graphene and carbon nanotube filtration. Market revenues adjusted to pandemic outcomes. In-depth company profiles. Companies profiled include G6 Materials, Daicel FineChem Ltd., NANOVIA s.r.o., Toray Industries, Inc., Tortech Nano Fibers etc.
Market analysis of nano-based facemask and other PPE products. Market revenues adjusted to pandemic outcomes. In-depth company profiles. Companies profiled include planarTECH LLC, RESPILON Group s. r. o., SITA, Sonovia Ltd. etc.
Nanotherapies and drug delivery vehicles currently being produced and clinical trials of vaccines for COVID-19. Market revenues adjusted to pandemic outcomes. In-depth company profiles. In-depth company profiles. Companies profiled include Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc., Arbutus Biopharma, BlueWillow Biologics, Elastrin Therapeutics Inc., EnGeneIC Ltd. etc.
Key scientific breakthroughs and developments that are underway right now.”
As you can see, the description alone offers enough evidence that embedding a whole range of nanotech in facemasks, tests, drugs and many other product.
You can bet your ass your new fridge connect to the internet and has some antimicrobial nanocoating that later will prove to be worse than DDT or asbestos, but at least it’s not gonna be Covid, right?
“You could put the computational power of the spaceship Voyager onto an object the size of a cell”. And that was back in 2018
Can we dig more clues though?
Sir, yes, sir!
I’m going to do something unusual and seemingly unpractical copying here the whole table of contents, just in case, because almost every chapter and figure title deserves to be a separate post on this website as well, besides the multitude of leads as to what to research.
1 RESEARCH SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 1.1 Report scope 1.2 Research methodology
2 INTRODUCTION
3 DIAGNOSTIC TESTING 3.1 Nanotechnology and nanomaterials solutions 3.1.1 Current Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19 3.1.2 Emerging Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19 3.1.3 Nanosensors/nanoparticles (silver nanoclusters, Gold nanoparticles, Iron oxide nanoparticles, Quantum dot barcoding, nanowires, silica nanoparticles) 3.1.4 Carbon nanomaterials for diagnostic testing 3.2 Market revenues 3.2.1 Market estimates adjusted to pandemic demand, forecast to 2025. 3.3 Companies 3.4 Academic research
4 ANTIVIRAL AND ANTIMICROBIAL COATINGS AND SURFACES 4.1 Nanotechnology and nanomaterials solutions 4.1.1 Nanocoatings. 4.1.2 Applications 4.1.3 Anti-viral nanoparticles and nanocoatings 4.1.3.1 Reusable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 4.1.3.2 Wipe on coatings 4.1.4 Graphene-based coatings 4.1.4.1 Properties 4.1.4.2 Graphene oxide. 4.1.4.3 Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) 4.1.4.4 Markets and applications 4.1.5 Silicon dioxide/silica nanoparticles (Nano-SiO2) -based coatings 4.1.5.1 Properties. 4.1.5.2 Antimicrobial and antiviral activity 4.1.5.3 Easy-clean and dirt repellent 4.1.6 Nanosilver-based coatings. 4.1.6.1 Properties 4.1.6.2 Antimicrobial and antiviral activity 4.1.6.3 Markets and applications. 4.1.6.4 Commercial activity 4.1.7 Titanium dioxide nanoparticle-based coatings 4.1.7.1 Properties 4.1.7.2 Exterior and construction glass coatings 4.1.7.3 Outdoor air pollution 4.1.7.4 Interior coatings 4.1.7.5 Medical facilities 4.1.7.6 Wastewater Treatment 4.1.7.7 Antimicrobial coating indoor light activation 4.1.8 Zinc oxide nanoparticle-based coatings 4.1.8.1 Properties. 4.1.8.2 Antimicrobial activity 4.1.9 Nanocellullose (cellulose nanofibers and cellulose nanocrystals)-based coatings. 4.1.9.1 Properties 4.1.9.2 Antimicrobial activity 4.1.10 Carbon nanotube-based coatings 4.1.10.1 Properties 4.1.10.2 Antimicrobial activity 4.1.11 Fullerene-based coatings 4.1.11.1 Properties 4.1.11.2 Antimicrobial activity 4.1.12 Chitosan nanoparticle-based coatings 4.1.12.1 Properties 4.1.12.2 Wound dressings 4.1.12.3 Packaging coatings and films 4.1.12.4 Food storage 4.1.13 Copper nanoparticle-based coatings 4.1.13.1 Properties 4.1.13.2 Application in antimicrobial nanocoatings 4.2 Market revenues 4.2.1 Market revenues adjusted to pandemic demand, forecast to 2030. 4.3 Companies 4.4 Academic research
5 AIR-BORNE VIRUS FILTRATION 5.1 Nanotechnology and nanomaterials solutions (nanoparticles titanium dioxide, Polymeric nanofibers, Nanosilver, Nanocellulose, Graphene, Carbon nanotubes) 5.2 Market revenues 5.2.1 Market estimates adjusted to pandemic demand, forecast to 2025 5.3 Companies 5.4 Academic research
6 FACEMASKS AND OTHER PPE 6.1 Nanotechnology and nanomaterials solutions (Polymer nanofibers, Nanocellulose, Nanosilver, Graphene) 6.2 Market revenues 6.2.1 Market estimates adjusted to pandemic demand, forecast to 2025 6.3 Companies 6.4 Academic research
7 DRUG DELIVERY AND THERAPEUTICS 7.1 Nanotechnology and nanomaterials solutions 7.1.1 Products 7.1.2 Nanocarriers 7.1.3 Nanovaccines 7.2 Market revenues 7.2.1 Market estimates adjusted to pandemic demand, forecast to 2025 7.3 Companies 7.4 Academic research
8 REFERENCES
List of Tables Table 1. Current Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19 Table 2. Development phases of diagnostic tests Table 3. Emerging Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19 Table 4. Nanoparticles for diagnostic testing-Types of nanoparticles, properties and application Table 5. Gold nanoparticle reagent suppliers list Table 6. Carbon nanomaterials for diagnostic testing-types, properties and applications Table 7. Global revenues for nanotech-based diagnostics and testing, 2019-2030, millions US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Table 8. Academic research in nano-based COVID-19 diagnostics and testing. Table 9: Anti-microbial and antiviral nanocoatings-Nanomaterials used, principles, properties and applications. Table 10. Nanomaterials utilized in antimicrobial and antiviral nanocoatings coatings-benefits and applications. Table 11: Properties of nanocoatings. Table 12: Antimicrobial and antiviral nanocoatings markets and applications Table 13: Nanomaterials used in nanocoatings and applications. Table 14: Graphene properties relevant to application in coatings Table 15. Bactericidal characters of graphene-based materials Table 16. Markets and applications for antimicrobial and antiviral nanocoatings graphene nanocoatings Table 17. Markets and applications for antimicrobial and antiviral nanosilver coatings. Table 18. Commercial activity in antimicrobial nanosilver nanocoatings Table 19. Antibacterial effects of ZnO NPs in different bacterial species. Table 20. Types of carbon-based nanoparticles as antimicrobial agent, their mechanisms of action and characteristics Table 21. Mechanism of chitosan antimicrobial action Table 22. Global revenues for antimicrobial and antiviral nanocoatings, 2019-2030, US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates. Table 23. Global revenues for Anti-fouling & easy clean nanocoatings, 2019-2030, US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates. Table 24. Global revenues for self-cleaning (bionic) nanocoatings, 2019-2030, US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Table 25. Global revenues for self-cleaning (photocatalytic) nanocoatings, 2019-2030, US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Table 26. Antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal nanocoatings research in academia Table 27. Cellulose nanofibers (CNF) membranes Table 28: Comparison of CNT membranes with other membrane technologies Table 29. Nanomaterials in air-borne virus filtration-properties and applications Table 30. Global revenues for nanotech-based air-borne virus filtration, 2019-2030, millions US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Table 31: Oji Holdings CNF products Table 32. Academic research in nano-based air-borne virus filtration Table 33. Nanomaterials in facemasks and other PPE-properties and applications Table 34. Global revenues for nanotech-based facemasks and PPE, 2019-2030, millions US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Table 35. Academic research in nano-based facemasks and other PPE Table 36. Applications in drug delivery and therapeutics, by nanomaterials type-properties and applications Table 37. Nanotechnology drug products Table 38. List of antigens delivered by using different nanocarriers Table 39. Nanoparticle-based vaccines Table 40. Global revenues for nano-based drug delivery and therapeutics, 2019-2030, billion US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Table 41. Academic research in nano-based drug delivery and therapeutics to address COVD-19
List of Figures Figure 1. Anatomy of COVID-19 Virus Figure 2. Graphene-based sensors for health monitoring Figure 3. Schematic of COVID-19 FET sensor incorporating graphene Figure 4. Global revenues for nanotech-based diagnostics and testing, 2019-2030, millions US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Figure 5. Printed graphene biosensors Figure 6. AGILE R100 system Figure 7. nano-screenMAG particles Figure 8. GFET sensors. Figure 9. DNA endonuclease-targeted CRISPR trans reporter (DETECTR) system Figure 10. SGTi-flex COVID-19 IgM/IgG Figure 11. Schematic of anti-viral coating using nano-actives for inactivation of any adhered virus on the surfaces Figure 12: Graphair membrane coating Figure 13: Antimicrobial activity of Graphene oxide (GO) Figure 14. Nano-coated self-cleaning touchscreen Figure 15: Hydrophobic easy-to-clean coating Figure 16 Anti-bacterial mechanism of silver nanoparticle coating. Figure 17: Mechanism of photocatalysis on a surface treated with TiO2 nanoparticles Figure 18: Schematic showing the self-cleaning phenomena on superhydrophilic surface. Figure 19: Titanium dioxide-coated glass (left) and ordinary glass (right). Figure 20: Self-Cleaning mechanism utilizing photooxidation. Figure 21: Schematic of photocatalytic air purifying pavement. Figure 22: Schematic of photocatalytic water purification Figure 23. Schematic of antibacterial activity of ZnO NPs Figure 24: Types of nanocellulose Figure 25. Mechanism of antimicrobial activity of carbon nanotubes Figure 26: Fullerene schematic Figure 27. TEM images of Burkholderia seminalis treated with (a, c) buffer (control) and (b, d) 2.0 mg/mL chitosan; (A: additional layer; B: membrane damage) Figure 28. Global revenues for antimicrobial and antiviral nanocoatings, 2019-2030, US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Figure 29. Global revenues for anti-fouling and easy-to-clean nanocoatings, 2019-2030, US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Figure 30. Global revenues for self-cleaning (bionic) nanocoatings, 2019-2030, US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Figure 31. Global revenues for self-cleaning (photocatalytic) nanocoatings, 2019-2030, US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Figure 32. Lab tests on DSP coatings Figure 33. GrapheneCA anti-bacterial and anti-viral coating Figure 34. Microlyte® Matrix bandage for surgical wounds Figure 35. Self-cleaning nanocoating applied to face masks. Figure 36. NanoSeptic surfaces. Figure 37. NascNanoTechnology personnel shown applying MEDICOAT to airport luggage carts Figure 38. Basic principle of photocatalyst TiO2 Figure 39. Schematic of photocatalytic indoor air purification filter. Figure 40. Global revenues for nanotech-based air-borne virus filtration, 2019-2030, millions US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates. Figure 41. Multi-layered cross section of CNF-nw Figure 42: Properties of Asahi Kasei cellulose nanofiber nonwoven fabric Figure 43: CNF nonwoven fabric Figure 44: CNF gel.. Figure 45. CNF clear sheets Figure 46. Graphene anti-smog mask Figure 47. Global revenues for nanotech-based facemasks and PPE, 2019-2030, millions US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates Figure 48. FNM’s nanofiber-based respiratory face mask.. Figure 49. ReSpimask® mask Figure 50. Schematic of different nanoparticles used for intranasal vaccination Figure 51. Global revenues for nano-based drug delivery and therapeutics, 2019-2030, billion US$, adjusted for COVID-19 related demand, conservative and high estimates.
So are you ready for your first “printed graphene bio-sensors”? Just picked a random item from the list above.
So what I’m going to do in the upcoming updates to this article is to follow every lead I got above, and I’m going to investigate every company they report on, as per their list below. You should do it too, independently, and compare your results with mine. It’s both science and investigative journalism, the juiciest combo.
Abbott Laboratories
Advanced Materials-JTJ s.r.o.
Arbutus Biopharma
Arcturus Therapeutics
Bio-Fence
Bio-Gate AG
BlueWillow Biologics
Cardea
Covalon Technologies Ltd.
Daicel FineChem Ltd.
E25Bio
Elastrin Therapeutics Inc.
EnGeneIC Ltd.
EnvisionSQ
Ferrotec (USA) Corporation
G6 Materials
GrapheneCA
Grolltex, Inc.
Integricote
Luminex Corporation
Nano Came Co. Ltd.
NanoTouch Materials, LLC
NANOVIA s.r.o.
NitroPep
RESPILON Group s. r. o.
SITA
Sonovia Ltd.
TECH LLC
Toray Industries
Tortech Nano Fibers
A taste of the future: Luminex, on of the companies listed above, makes PCR tests and stuff like magnetic micro-beads. They’ve just been bought for almost $2B by some Italians who can afford $1000+ books.
BESIDES THE DANGERS OF NANOBOTS, THIS INDUSTRY IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL CANCER AND A TOP CO2 PRODUCER
Ian Illuminato of Friends of the Earth says consumers deserve a say in nanotech regulation. JIM THOMAS/ETC GROUP
Nanotechnology was supposed to revolutionize the world, making us healthier and producing cleaner energy. But it’s starting to look more like a nightmare.
Nanomaterials—tiny particles as little as 1/100,000 the width of a human hair—have quietly been used since the 1990s in hundreds of everyday products, everything from food to baby bottles, pills, beer cans, computer keyboards, skin creams, shampoo, and clothes.
But after years of virtually unregulated use, scientists are now starting to say the most commonly used nanoproducts could be harming our health and the environment.
One of the most widespread nanoproducts is titanium dioxide. More than 5,000 tonnes of it are produced worldwide each year for use in food, toothpaste, cosmetics, paint, and paper (as a colouring agent), in medication and vitamin capsules (as a nonmedicinal filler), and in most sunscreens (for its anti-UV properties).
In food, titanium-dioxide nanoparticles are used as a whitener and brightener in confectionary products, cheeses, and sauces. Other nanoparticles are employed in flavourings and “nutritional” additives, and to reduce fat content in “health” foods.
In the journal Cancer Research in 2009, environmental-health professor Robert Schiestl coauthored the first comprehensive study of how titanium-dioxide nanoparticles affect the genes of live animals. Mice in his study suffered DNA and chromosomal damage after drinking water with the nanoparticles for five days.
“It should be removed from food and drugs, and there’s definitely no reason for it in cosmetic products,” said cancer specialist Schiestl, who is also a professor of pathology and radiation oncology at UCLA’s school of medicine.
“The study shows effects [from the nanoparticles] on all kinds of genetic endpoints,” Schiestl told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview from his office. “All those are precursor effects of cancer. It’s a wake-up call to do something.”
After Schiestl’s study came out, he said, he started getting calls from nervous people saying they had discovered titanium dioxide was listed as a nonmedicinal ingredient in their prescription medication. “They wanted to know how to get it out,” he said. “I said, ”˜I don’t know how to get it out.’ ”
Schiestl’s study is cited by groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth in their calls for a moratorium on nanomaterials in food and consumer products.
“They were thought to be safe. Our study shows a lot of harm,” Schiestl said.
Nanoparticles can be harmful because they are so tiny they can pass deep into the skin, lungs, and blood. They are made by burning or crushing regular substances like titanium, silver, or iron until they turn into an ultrafine dust, which is used as a coating on, or ingredient in, various products.
Schiestl is now studying two other common nanoparticles, zinc oxide and cadmium oxide, and he has found they also cause DNA and chromosomal damage in mice.
Yet two years after Schiestl’s first study, titanium dioxide and other nanoparticles remain virtually unregulated in Canada and the U.S. Products containing nanoparticles still don’t have to be labelled, and manufacturers don’t have to prove they are safe for health or the environment.
In fact, only a small fraction of the hundreds of nanomaterials on the market have been studied to see if they are safe.
“The public has had little or no say on this. It’s mostly industry guiding government to make sure this material isn’t regulated,” said Ian Illuminato, a nanotech expert with Friends of the Earth, speaking from his home office in Victoria.
“Consumers aren’t given the right to avoid this. We think it’s dangerous and shouldn’t be in contact with the public and the environment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the number of products using nanomaterials worldwide has shot up sixfold in just a couple of years, from 212 in 2006 to more than 1,300 in 2011, according to a report in March by the Washington, D.C.–based Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.
Those numbers are based on self-reporting by industry, and the real numbers are thought to be much higher. A Canadian government survey in 2009 found 1,600 nanoproducts available here, according to a report in December from the ETC Group, an Ottawa-based nonprofit that studies technology.
Nanotech is worth big money. More than $250 billion of nano-enabled products were produced globally in 2009, according to Lux Research, a Boston-based technology consultancy. That figure is expected to rise 10-fold, to $2.5 trillion, by 2015.
Lux Research estimated in 2006 that one-sixth of manufactured output would be based on nanotechnology by 2014.
Nanotech already appears to be affecting people’s health. In 2009, two Chinese factory workers died and another five were seriously injured in a plant that made paint containing nanoparticles.
The seven young female workers developed lung disease and rashes on their face and arms. Nanoparticles were found deep in the workers’ lungs.
“These cases arouse concern that long-term exposure to some nanoparticles without protective measures may be related to serious damage to human lungs,” wrote Chinese medical researchers in a 2009 study on the incident in the European Respiratory Journal.
When inhaled, some types of nanoparticles have been shown to act like asbestos, inflaming lung tissue and leading to cancer. In 2009, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Cancer Research declared titanium dioxide to be “possibly carcinogenic to humans” after studies found that inhaling it in nanoparticle form caused rats to develop lung cancer and mice to suffer organ damage.
Nanoparticles can also hurt the skin. All those nanoparticles in skin creams and sunscreens may be behind a rise in eczema rates in the developed world, according to a 2009 study in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine. The study found that titanium-dioxide nanoparticles caused mice to develop eczema. The nanoparticles “can play a significant role in the initiation and/or progression of skin diseases”, the study said.
Schiestl said nanoparticles could also be helping to fuel a rise in the rates of some cancers. He wouldn’t make a link with any specific kind of cancer, but data from the U.S. National Cancer Institute show that kidney and renal-pelvis cancer rates rose 24 percent between 2000 and 2007 in the U.S., while the rates for melanoma of the skin went up 29 percent and thyroid cancer rose 54 percent.
Schiestl said workers who deal with nanoparticles could be the most affected. That concern prompted the International Union of Food, Farm, and Hotel Workers to call in 2007 for a moratorium on commercial uses of nanotechnology in food and agriculture.
But despite all the health risks, we may already have run out of time to determine many of nanotech’s health impacts, Schiestl said.
“Nanomaterial is so ubiquitous that it would be very difficult to do an epidemiological study because there would be no control group of people who don’t use it.”
What happens when nanoparticles get out into the environment in wastewater or when products are thrown out?
Nanosilver is the most common nanomaterial on the market. Its extraordinary antimicrobial properties have earned it a place in a huge variety of products, including baby pacifiers, toothpaste, condoms, clothes, and cutting boards.
Virginia Walker, a biology professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, decided to study nanosilver one day after a grad student said her mother had bought a new washing machine that doused clothes with silver nanoparticles to clean them better.
It sounded intriguing, Walker recalled thinking, but what would happen if nanosilver in the laundry water wound up in the environment? “What would it do to the bacterial communities out there?” she wondered.
On a whim, Walker decided to study the question. She figured the nanosilver would probably have no impact on beneficial microbes in the environment because any toxicity would be diluted.
“I did the experiment almost as a lark, not expecting to find anything,” she said by phone. “I hoped I would not find anything.”
In fact, Walker found that nanosilver was “highly toxic” to soil bacteria. It was especially toxic to one kind of nitrogen-fixing bacterium that is important to plant growth.
“If you had anything that was sensitive to nanoparticles, the last thing you would want is to have this microbe affected,” Walker said in a phone interview from her office.
The study prompted Walker to do more studies on nanoparticles. In one study now being reviewed for publication, one of her students found that mice exposed to nanoparticles developed skeletal abnormalities.
“People should have their eyes open. There are so many different nanoparticles, and the consequences of their use could be grave. We know almost nothing about these things,” Walker said.
Other scientists have raised concerns about nanosilver too. Some clothes makers now put it in socks and shirts, promising it will help control body odour. In a 2008 study in the Washington, D.C.–based journal Environmental Science and Technology, researchers took nanosilver-laced socks and washed them in water. They found the socks released up to half of their nanosilver into the water.
“If you start releasing ionic silver, it is detrimental to all aquatic biota. Once the silver ions get into the gills of fish, it’s a pretty efficient killer,” said study coauthor Troy Benn, a graduate student at Arizona State University, in a ScienceDaily.com story in 2008.
“I’ve spoken with a lot of people who don’t necessarily know what nanotechnology is, but they are out there buying products with nanoparticles in them.”
And what about the promise that nanotech could produce cleaner energy? The idea was that nanoparticles could make solar panels more efficient, be used as fuel additives to improve gas mileage, and make lighter cars and planes.
Most of the promised efficiency gains haven’t materialized, according to a 2010 report from Friends of the Earth. And it turns out that making nanomaterial is itself a huge energy guzzler.
A kilogram of carbon nanotubes—a nanoparticle used in cancer treatment and to strengthen sports equipment—requires an estimated 167 barrels of oil to produce, the Friends of the Earth report said.
Carbon nanotubes are “one of the most energy intensive materials known to humankind”, said a 2010 report to a symposium of the U.S.–based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
That report said many nanoproducts may remain profitable despite their high energy cost only because of enormous government subsidies to the nanotech industry—$1.6 billion from the U.S. government last year.
But despite all this, regulation of nanotech remains glacially slow. The European Parliament voted nearly unanimously to recommend that nanoproducts be banned from food in 2009. But the European Commission rejected that recommendation last year, agreeing only that it may require labels on food containing nanomaterials. It will also require labels on cosmetics containing some nanoingredients starting in 2014.
Canada and the U.S. have yet to go even that far. At Health Canada, which regulates nanotechnology, a web page dealing with nanoproducts hasn’t been amended in four years and contains outdated information.
Health Canada spokesman Stéphane Shank did not return calls.
They used to say small is beautiful. But that was before small got scary. – Straight.com
NO MEANS NO, YES MEANS NO TOO
So yeah, that’s it for now, and if you think this is not enough to prove much, you can’t be more wrong, you’re probably bathing in dangerous or lethal nanotech as you read this, but feel free to return to this link in the coming days and weeks, I will be adding more evidence as I dig it out. I have about 100 leads there, it’s going to be a long process, friends!
To be continued? Our work and existence, as media and people, is funded solely by our most generous supporters. But we’re not really covering our costs so far, and we’re in dire needs to upgrade our equipment, especially for video production. Help SILVIEW.media survive and grow, please donate here, anything helps. Thank you!
! Articles can always be subject of later editing as a way of perfecting them
Graphene is the new asbestos. Plus injectable and mandatory. The rest Of the graphene oxide story is here, if you need more background, this post is a result of that investigation
NOTE: A needed clarification solicited by some readers: Yes, we knew of GRAPHENE COATING on masks in May, as seen below, which is horrible enough, even more so since not many followed Canada’s example in banning it. What this article brings new is a confirmation for GRAPHENE OXYDE, which is not very different in properties and health impact, but seems to be specific to these mRNA jabs, and so we complete the new revelations on graphene oxide and vaccines from La Quinta Columna.
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was first detected in Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged and characterized the condition as a pandemic owing to the rapid spread of the virus across the globe infecting millions of individuals. Scientists are fighting tirelessly to find out ways to curb the spread of the virus and eradicate it.
SARS-CoV-2 is regarded as highly contagious and spreads rapidly through person-to-person contact. When an infected person sneezes or coughs, their respiratory droplets can easily infect a healthy individual. Besides enforcing social distancing, common citizens are encouraged to wear face masks to prevent droplets from getting through the air and infecting others.
Despite the efficiency of N95, a respiratory protective device, to filter out 95% of particles (≥0.3 μm), surgical facemasks are single-use, expensive, and often ill-fitting, which significantly reduces their effectiveness. Nanoscience researchers have envisioned a new respirator facemask that would be highly efficient, recyclable, customizable, reusable, and have antimicrobial and antiviral properties.
Nanotechnology in the Production of Surgical Masks
Nanoparticles are extensively used for their novel properties in various fields of science and technology.
In the current pandemic situation, scientists have adopted this technology to produce the most efficient masks. Researchers have used a novel electrospinning technology in the production of nanofiber membranes. These nanofiber membranes are designed to have various regulating properties such as fiber diameter, porosity ratio, and many other microstructural factors that could be utilized to produce high-quality face masks. Researchers in Egypt have developed face masks using nanotechnology with the help of the following components:
Polylactic acid
This transparent polymeric material is derived from starch and carbohydrate. It has high elasticity and is biodegradable. Researchers found that electrospun polylactic acid membranes possess high prospects for the production of filters efficient in the isolation of environmental pollutants, such as atmospheric aerosol and submicron particulates dispersed in the air.
Despite its various biomedical applications (implant prostheses, catheters, tissue scaffolds, etc.), these polylactic membranes are brittle. Therefore, applying frequent pressure during their usage could produce cracks that would make them permeable to viral particles. However, this mechanical drawback can be fixed using other supportive nanoparticles that could impart mechanical strength, antimicrobial and antiviral properties, which are important in making face masks effective in the current pandemic situation.
Copper oxide nanoparticles
These nanoparticles have many biomedical applications, for example, infection control, as they can inhibit the growth of microorganisms (fungi, bacteria) and viruses. It has also been reported that SARS-CoV-2 has lower stability on the metallic copper surface than other materials, such as plastic or stainless steel. Therefore, the integration of copper oxide nanoparticles in a nanofibrous polymeric filtration system would significantly prevent microbial adherence onto the membrane.
Graphene oxide nanoparticles
These nanoparticles possess exceptional properties, such as high toughness, superior electrical conductivity, biocompatibility, and antiviral and antibacterial activity. Such nanoparticles could be utilized in the production of masks.
Cellulose acetate
This is a semi-synthetic polymer derived from cellulose. It is used in ultrafiltration because of its biocompatibility, high selectivity, and low cost. It is also used in protective clothing, tissue engineering, and nanocomposite applications.
With the help of the aforesaid components, researchers in Egypt have designed a novel respirator filter mask against SARS-CoV-2. This mask is based on a disposable filter piece composed of the unwoven nanofibers comprising multilayers of a) copper oxide nanoparticles, graphene oxide nanoparticles, and polylactic acid, or b) copper oxide nanoparticles, graphene oxide nanoparticles, and cellulose acetate, with the help of electrospun technology and high-power ultrasonication. These facemasks are reusable, i.e., washable in water and could be sterilized using an ultraviolet lamp (λ = 250 nm).
SOURCE WORKING TO GET CONFIRMATION FROM THESE GUYS TOOSOURCE
Graphene-coated face masks: COVID-19 miracle or another health risk?
As a COVID-19 and medical device researcher, I understand the importance of face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. So I am intrigued that some mask manufacturers have begun adding graphene coatings to their face masks to inactivate the virus. Many viruses, fungi and bacteria are incapacitated by graphene in laboratory studies, including feline coronavirus.
Because SARS CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, can survive on the outer surface of a face mask for days, people who touch the mask and then rub their eyes, nose, or mouth may risk getting COVID-19. So these manufacturers seem to be reasoning that graphene coatings on their reusable and disposable face masks will add some anti-virus protection. But in March, the Quebec provincial government removed these masks from schools and daycare centers after Health Canada, Canada’s national public health agency, warned that inhaling the graphene could lead to asbestos-like lung damage.
Is this move warranted by the facts, or an over-reaction? To answer that question, it can help to know more about what graphene is, how it kills microbes, including the SARS-COV-2 virus, and what scientists know so far about the potential health impacts of breathing in graphene.
How does graphene damage viruses, bacteria and human cells?
Graphene is a thin but strong and conductive two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms. There are three ways that it can help prevent the spread of microbes:
Microscopic graphene particles have sharp edges that mechanically damage viruses and cells as they pass by them.
Graphene is negatively charged with highly mobile electrons that electrostaticly trap and inactivate some viruses and cells.
Dr Joe Schwarcz explains why Canada banned graphene masks. Doesn’t say why other countries didn’t. When two governments have opposing views on a poison, one is criminally wrong and someone has to pay.
Why graphene may be linked to lung injury
Researchers have been studying the potential negative impacts of inhaling microscopic graphene on mammals. In one 2016 experiment, mice with graphene placed in their lungs experienced localized lung tissue damage, inflammation, formation of granulomas (where the body tries to wall off the graphene), and persistent lung injury, similar to what occurs when humans inhale asbestos. A different study from 2013 found that when human cells were bound to graphene, the cells were damaged.
In order to mimic human lungs, scientists have developed biological models designed to simulate the impact of high concentration aerosolized graphene—graphene in the form of a fine spray or suspension in air—on industrial workers. One such study published in March 2020 found that a lifetime of industrial exposure to graphene induced inflammation and weakened the simulated lungs’ protective barrier.
It’s important to note that these models are not perfect options for studying the dramatically lower levels of graphene inhaled from a face mask, but researchers have used them in the past to learn more about these sorts of exposures. A study from 2016 found that a small portion of aerosolized graphene nanoparticles could move down a simulated mouth and nose passages and penetrate into the lungs. A 2018 study found that brief exposure to a lower amount of aerosolized graphene did not notably damage lung cells in a model.
From my perspective as a researcher, this trio of findings suggest that a little bit of graphene in the lungs is likely OK, but a lot is dangerous.
Although it might seem obvious to compare inhaling graphene to the well-known harms of breathing in asbestos, the two substances behave differently in one key way. The body’s natural system for disposing of foreign particles cannot remove asbestos, which is why long-term exposure to asbestos can lead to the cancer mesothelioma. But in studies using mouse models to measure the impact of high dose lung exposure to graphene, the body’s natural disposal system does remove the graphene, although it occurs very slowly over 30 to 90 days.
The findings of these studies shed light on the possible health impacts of breathing in microscopic graphene in either small or large doses. However, these models don’t reflect the full complexity of human experiences. So the strength of the evidence about either the benefit of wearing a graphene mask, or the harm of inhaling microscopic graphene as a result of wearing it, is very weak.
No obvious benefit but theoretical risk
Graphene is an intriguing scientific advance that may speed up the demise of COVID-19 virus particles on a face mask. In exchange for this unknown level of added protection, there is a theoretical risk that breathing through a graphene-coated mask will liberate graphene particles that make it through the other filter layers on the mask and penetrate into the lung. If inhaled, the body may not remove these particles rapidly enough to prevent lung damage.
The health department in Quebec is erring on the side of caution. Children are at very low risk of COVID-19 mortality or hospitalization, although they may infect others, so the theoretical risk from graphene exposure is too great. However, adults at high immediate risk of harm from contracting COVID-19 may choose to accept a small theoretical risk of long-term lung damage from graphene in exchange for these potential benefits.
To be continued? Our work and existence, as media and people, is funded solely by our most generous supporters. But we’re not really covering our costs so far, and we’re in dire needs to upgrade our equipment, especially for video production. Help SILVIEW.media survive and grow, please donate here, anything helps. Thank you!
! Articles can always be subject of later editing as a way of perfecting them
Maybe you’ve been just like myself, too tired to be surprised or very concerned with the new wave of magneto-vaxxers. But we have to make the effort to take this as it most likely is: super-serious.
UPDATE JULY 2021: GRAPHENE OXYDE CONFIRMED AS MAIN INGREDIENT (99%) IN THE PFIZER VACCINE. AMONG OTHER DESASTRUOUS EFFECTS: BLOOD-CLOTTING and covid symptoms. HOW DID WE GET TO THIS REVELATION? READ THE FIRST INVESTIGATION INTO MAGNETOGENETICS EVER!
La Quinta Columna has recently made an urgent announcement that they hope will reach as many people as possible, especially those involved in health and legal services, as biostatistician Ricardo Delgado, Dr. José Luis Sevillano and the team of researchers and professors with whom they have been conducting their research have confirmed the presence of graphene oxide nanoparticles in vaccination vials.
In program nº63, the team showed some photos of the analyses carried out, specifically results obtained by optical and transmission electron microscopy observation, reserving the results of other techniques used for future programs. They also announced that the report based on all the techniques performed, which allowed determining the presence of graphene oxide, will be made official by the researchers who performed the analyses very soon….
There’s indications, if not full fledge proof, that masks being used and currently marketed contain graphene oxide. Not only the ones that were withdrawn at the time, as indicated by the media, the swabs used in both PCR and antigen tests also contain graphene oxide nanoparticles.
Graphene oxide can generates blood coagulation. Graphene oxide causes alteration of the immune system. By decompensating the oxidative balance in relation to the gulation reserves. If the dose of graphene oxide is increased by any route of administration, it causes the collapse of the immune system and subsequent cytokine storm.
Graphene oxide accumulated in the lungs generates bilateral pneumonias by uniform dissemination in the pulmonary alveolar tract. Graphene oxide causes a metallic taste. Perhaps this is starting to make sense to you now. Inhaled graphene oxide causes inflammation of the mucous membranes and thus loss of taste and partial or total loss of smell.
Graphene oxide acquires powerful magnetic propertiesinside the organism. This is the explanation for the magnetic phenomenon that billions of people around the world have already experienced after various routes of administration of graphene oxide. Among them the vaccine….
It is therefore absolutely essential and vital that you make this information available to your medical community.
So you have precisely 0 (zero) reasons for surprise if they find some type of graphene fibers in masks or swabs.
Older studies on graphene oxide below, now let’s see how we got here.
It all started with the courageous or desperate Pharma-dupes who got jabbed (yeah, vaxxers started it), and then had the guts to expose themselves on Internet with their weird magnetic symptoms. They got followed by courageous and persistent citizen-journalists like Tim Truth, who managed to capture attention from journalists like myself and a few others with bigger or smaller platforms, who, together, managed to push this as mainstream as Jimmy Kimmel.
They didn’t take it seriously either
BREAKING:
The scientific method to debunk an experiment is to repeat it. If they really were serious about debunking it, they would’ve given everyone free magnets to test it. Instead…
UPDATE: SOMETHING BIG IS HAPPENING! Youtube censorship entered overdrive, they’ve deleted us a second video on this in 24h, this time it was THE Ben Swann investigation on DARPA’S MAGNETIC MIND CONTROL PROGRAM. both my channels are hanging on a thread now. PLEASE SPREAD THIS INFO LIKE FIRE! i’M NOT SAYING “SPREAD MY LINK,” BUT SPREAD THE INFO THAT SOUNDS RIGHT TO YOU AND DO IT NOW!
Proof that this is serious: as I was wrapping this report up, YouTube has just deleted my COMEDY take on this, proving that we struck a chord.
update #2: more examples of “magnetovaxxers” found and compiled
More and more people are taking the magnet challenge Thanks Tim Truth for sparking my investigation and following up! HERE you can watch his latest compilation of vaxxers turning into fridge doors
If next minute all vaxxtards turn into transformer drones, I’m not going to be very surprised, rather amused. But i should be concerned. I am concerned with sticky vaxxers because most likely there’s some magnetogenetics involved. It’s almost impossible that this is not the explanation for the new Internet sensation.
Earliest academic mention of magnetogenetics I found comes from China, but in the meantime I’ve learned this goes back to 2010 and beyond, more updates soon:
UPDATE #3 in just hours, youtube admits my appeal and reinstates the Ben Swann Video!
Can hardly keep up with myself lol What did the appeal say that was unprecedently persuasive? I don’t have the exact words, but the main ideas were: 1. Everything you’ve just claim is a lie, it’s offensive and defaming, but that’s ok because your words have no value. 2. Thanks for pointing out you’re especially sensitive about this topic, we’ll put it on turbo-boost!
UPDATE #4 mAY 20 2021: WE’VE ALREADY WON THE INFORMATION WAR AGAINST BIG TECH, THE KNOWLEDGE IS MAINSTREAM NOW, ICKE AND THE LAST AMERICAN VAGABOND ALL OVER IT
NOW ENTER THE SCIENCE
Nikhil Hajirnis tells us how cells developed strategies to detect light and magnetism with evolution of a class of proteins called the crytochromes. And now we use this understanding to alter magnetic fields around cells to image cells as well as to attempt changing the way they work. Source: CSIR – Centre For Cellular And Molecular Biology
Magnetogenetics: remote non-invasive magnetic activation of neuronal activity with a magnetoreceptor
Viewing the body as a chemical system and treating maladies with pharmaceuticals is so 20th century. In 21st century medicine, doctors may consider the body as an electrical system instead, and prescribe therapies that alter the electrical pulses that run through the nerves.
That’s the premise of DARPA’s newest biomedical program, anyway. The ElectRx program aims to treat disease by modulating the activity of the peripheral nerves that carry commands to all the organs and muscles of the human body, and also convey sensory information back to the brain.
Yesterday, DARPA announced the first seven grants under the ElectRx program. The scientists chosen are doing fairly fundamental research, because we’re still in the early days of electric medicine; they’ll investigate mechanisms by which to stimulate the nerves, and map nerve pathways that respond to that stimulation. They’re working on treatments for disorders such as chronic pain, post-traumatic stress, and inflammatory bowel disease.
The proposed stimulation methods are fascinating in their diversity. Researchers will not only stimulate nerves with jolts of electricity, they’ll also use pulses of light, sound waves, and magnetic fields.
Three research teams using electrical stimulation will target the vagus nerve, which affects many different parts of the body. IEEE Spectrum explored the medical potential of vagus nerve hacking in a recent feature article, writing:
Look at an anatomy chart and the importance of the vagus nerve jumps out at you. Vagus means “wandering” in Latin, and true to its name, the nerve meanders around the chest and abdomen, connecting most of the key organs—heart and lungs included—to the brain stem. It’s like a back door built into the human physiology, allowing you to hack the body’s systems.
The light-based stimulation research comes from the startup Circuit Therapeutics. The company was cofounded by Stanford’s Karl Deisseroth, one of the inventors of optogenetics, the new technique that inserts light-sensitive proteins into neurons and then uses pulses of light to turn those neurons “on” and “off.” Under the DARPA grant, the researchers will try to use pulses of light to alter neural circuits involved in neuropathic pain.
To tweak the nervous system with sound waves, Columbia University’s Elisa Konofagou will use a somewhat mysterious ultrasound technique. In an e-mail, Konofagou explains that it’s already known that ultrasound can be used to stimulate neurons, but with the DARPA grant, she hopes to figure out how it works. Her hypothesis: As ultrasound propogates through biological tissue, it exerts mechanical pressure on that tissue, which stimulates specific mechanosensitive channels in neurons and causes them to “turn on.”
The final project will rely on magnetic fields to activate neurons, using a technique that could be called “magnetogenetics.” An MIT team led by Polina Anikeeva will insert heat-sensitive proteins into neurons, and will then deploy magnetic nanoparticles that bind to the surface of those neurons. When exposed to a magnetic field, these nanoparticles heat up and activate the neurons to which they’re attached.
Figuring out how to alter the activity of the nervous systems with these various tricks will be a pretty impressive accomplishment. But in the DARPA world, achieving that understanding is just step one. Next, the agency wants its grantees to develop “closed-loop” systems capable of detecting biomarkers that signal the onset of disease, and then respond automatically with neural stimulation. Spectrum covered the first such closed-loop neural stimulators in a recent feature article, stating:
The goal of all these closed-loop systems is to let doctors take their expert knowledge—their ability to evaluate a patient’s condition and adjust therapy accordingly—and embed it in an implanted device.
– Spectrum
I bet all that goes great served with some trans-cranial magnetic brainwashing.
Military magnetic field breakthrough could lead to mind reading computers and Harry Potter ‘wands’ to check for head injuries
DARPA’s new project aims to focus on detecting superweak magnetic fields
The research could let medics rapidly diagnose concussions on the battlefield
It could also lead to brain-machine interfaces for controlling prosthetic limbs and external machines through the magnetic signals associated with thought
PUBLISHED: 22:35 BST, 20 March 2017 | UPDATED: 22:35 BST, 20 March 2017
Our own body generates electric currents that create ripples in the surrounding magnetic field.
These magnetic field variations allow medical professionals to use certain diagnostic tools for brain and heart conditions.
But now new research led by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) aims to go beyond these diagnostic tests and develop magnetic field sensing for broader applications such as brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) for uses such as controlling prosthetic limbs and external machines through the magnetic signals associated with thought.
IF THEY CAN USE THIS TO TAG CELLS, THEY CAN USE IT TO TAG PEOPLE. SOURCE
If scientists could give living cells magnetic properties, they could perhaps manipulate cellular activities with external magnetic fields. But previous attempts to magnetize cells by producing iron-containing proteins inside them have resulted in only weak magnetic forces. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have engineered genetically encoded protein crystals that can generate magnetic forces many times stronger than those already reported.
The new area of magnetogenetics seeks to use genetically encoded proteins that are sensitive to magnetic fields to study and manipulate cells. Many previous approaches have featured a natural iron-storage protein called ferritin, which can self-assemble into a “cage” that holds as many as 4,500 iron atoms. But even with this large iron-storage capacity, ferritin cages in cells generate magnetic forces that are millions of times too small for practical applications. To drastically increase the amount of iron that a protein assembly can store, Bianxiao Cui and colleagues wanted to combine the iron-binding ability of ferritin with the self-assembly properties of another protein, called Inkabox-PAK4cat, that can form huge, spindle-shaped crystals inside cells. The researchers wondered if they could line the hollow interiors of the crystals with ferritin proteins to store larger amounts of iron that would generate substantial magnetic forces.
To make the new crystals, the researchers fused genes encoding ferritin and Inkabox-PAK4cat and expressed the new protein in human cells in a petri dish. The resulting crystals, which grew to about 45 microns in length (or about half the diameter of a human hair) after 3 days, did not affect cell survival. The researchers then broke open the cells, isolated the crystals and added iron, which enabled them to pull the crystals around with external magnets. Each crystal contained about five billion iron atoms and generated magnetic forces that were nine orders of magnitude stronger than single ferritin cages. By introducing crystals that were pre-loaded with iron to living cells, the researchers could move the cells around with a magnet. However, they were unable to magnetize the cells by adding iron to crystals already growing in cells, possibly because the iron levels in cells were too low. This is an area that requires further investigation, the researchers say.
Credit: American Chemical Society
Genetically engineered ‘Magneto’ protein remotely controls brain and behaviour
The toroidal magnetic chamber (Tokamak) of the Joint European Torus (JET) at the Culham Science Centre. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
“Badass” new method uses a magnetised protein to activate brain cells rapidly, reversibly, and non-invasively THE GUARDIAN, Thu 24 Mar 2016 14.30 GMT
Researchers in the United States have developed a new method for controlling the brain circuits associated with complex animal behaviours, using genetic engineering to create a magnetised protein that activates specific groups of nerve cells from a distance.
Understanding how the brain generates behaviour is one of the ultimate goals of neuroscience – and one of its most difficult questions. In recent years, researchers have developed a number of methods that enable them to remotely control specified groups of neurons and to probe the workings of neuronal circuits.
The most powerful of these is a method called optogenetics, which enables researchers to switch populations of related neurons on or off on a millisecond-by-millisecond timescale with pulses of laser light. Another recently developed method, called chemogenetics, uses engineered proteins that are activated by designer drugs and can be targeted to specific cell types.
Although powerful, both of these methods have drawbacks. Optogenetics is invasive, requiring insertion of optical fibres that deliver the light pulses into the brain and, furthermore, the extent to which the light penetrates the dense brain tissue is severely limited. Chemogenetic approaches overcome both of these limitations, but typically induce biochemical reactions that take several seconds to activate nerve cells.
The new technique, developed in Ali Güler’s lab at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and described in an advance online publication in the journal Nature Neuroscience, is not only non-invasive, but can also activate neurons rapidly and reversibly.
Several earlier studies have shown that nerve cell proteins which are activated by heat and mechanical pressure can be genetically engineered so that they become sensitive to radio waves and magnetic fields, by attaching them to an iron-storing protein called ferritin, or to inorganic paramagnetic particles. These methods represent an important advance – they have, for example, already been used to regulate blood glucose levels in mice – but involve multiple components which have to be introduced separately.
The new technique builds on this earlier work, and is based on a protein called TRPV4, which is sensitive to both temperature and stretching forces. These stimuli open its central pore, allowing electrical current to flow through the cell membrane; this evokes nervous impulses that travel into the spinal cord and then up to the brain.
Güler and his colleagues reasoned that magnetic torque (or rotating) forces might activate TRPV4 by tugging open its central pore, and so they used genetic engineering to fuse the protein to the paramagnetic region of ferritin, together with short DNA sequences that signal cells to transport proteins to the nerve cell membrane and insert them into it.
In vivo manipulation of zebrafish behavior using Magneto. Zebrafish larvae exhibit coiling behaviour in response to localized magnetic fields. From Wheeler et al (2016).
When they introduced this genetic construct into human embryonic kidney cells growing in Petri dishes, the cells synthesized the ‘Magneto’ protein and inserted it into their membrane. Application of a magnetic field activated the engineered TRPV1 protein, as evidenced by transient increases in calcium ion concentration within the cells, which were detected with a fluorescence microscope.
Next, the researchers inserted the Magneto DNA sequence into the genome of a virus, together with the gene encoding green fluorescent protein, and regulatory DNA sequences that cause the construct to be expressed only in specified types of neurons. They then injected the virus into the brains of mice, targeting the entorhinal cortex, and dissected the animals’ brains to identify the cells that emitted green fluorescence. Using microelectrodes, they then showed that applying a magnetic field to the brain slices activated Magneto so that the cells produce nervous impulses.
To determine whether Magneto can be used to manipulate neuronal activity in live animals, they injected Magneto into zebrafish larvae, targeting neurons in the trunk and tail that normally control an escape response. They then placed the zebrafish larvae into a specially-built magnetised aquarium, and found that exposure to a magnetic field induced coiling manouvres similar to those that occur during the escape response. (This experiment involved a total of nine zebrafish larvae, and subsequent analyses revealed that each larva contained about 5 neurons expressing Magneto.)
In one final experiment, the researchers injected Magneto into the striatum of freely behaving mice, a deep brain structure containing dopamine-producing neurons that are involved in reward and motivation, and then placed the animals into an apparatus split into magnetised a non-magnetised sections. Mice expressing Magneto spent far more time in the magnetised areas than mice that did not, because activation of the protein caused the striatal neurons expressing it to release dopamine, so that the mice found being in those areas rewarding. This shows that Magneto can remotely control the firing of neurons deep within the brain, and also control complex behaviours.
“Previous attempts [using magnets to control neuronal activity] needed multiple components for the system to work – injecting magnetic particles, injecting a virus that expresses a heat-sensitive channel, [or] head-fixing the animal so that a coil could induce changes in magnetism,” he explains. “The problem with having a multi-component system is that there’s so much room for each individual piece to break down.”
“This system is a single, elegant virus that can be injected anywhere in the brain, which makes it technically easier and less likely for moving bells and whistles to break down,” he adds, “and their behavioral equipment was cleverly designed to contain magnets where appropriate so that the animals could be freely moving around.”
‘Magnetogenetics’ is therefore an important addition to neuroscientists’ tool box, which will undoubtedly be developed further, and provide researchers with new ways of studying brain development and function.
Reference
Wheeler, M. A., et al. (2016). Genetically targeted magnetic control of the nervous system. Nat. Neurosci., DOI: 10.1038/nn.4265 [Abstract]
‘Magneto’ manipulates behavior of freely moving mice
Laws of attraction: Neurons expressing a magnetically sensitive protein (right) show a spike in calcium levels when exposed to a magnet.
A modified protein allows researchers to use a magnet to switch on neurons anywhere in the brain in freely moving mice and zebrafish. The tool, described in May in Nature Neuroscience, could shed light on neural circuits underlying autism-like behaviors in animal models of the condition1.
Scientists can already turn neurons on and off at will with a technique called optogenetics that renders the cells sensitive to light. But that method requires surgically implanting a light source near the cells they want to manipulate.
The researchers rendered an ion channel in neurons called TPRV4 magnetically sensitive by fusing it to ferritin, a protein rich in iron. TPRV4 is ordinarily heat- and pressure-sensitive, but the researchers reasoned that, when attached to ferritin, it would also open in the presence of a magnetic field. Opening the channel causes calcium to flow into the cell, prompting it to fire.
Placing a magnet near cultured kidney cells expressing the protein, dubbed ‘Magneto,’ causes a calcium-sensitive fluorescent probe inside them to light up within seconds. And placing a magnet next to brain slices from mice that had been ‘infected’ by a virus carrying the Magneto gene causes neurons in the slices to fire. This firing stops when the tissue is bathed in a drug that blocks TPRV4.
Coiling on cue: Zebrafish embryos injected with Magneto coil defensively in the presence of a magnetic field.
The team also inserted the protein into neurons in the mouse striatum, an interior brain region that processes rewards and is difficult to target using optogenetics. Placing the mice in a magnetized chamber triggered firing of these neurons. Mice injected with Magneto spent more time in the magnetized chamber than in an adjacent non-magnetized area, suggesting that they experience a ‘reward’ when the magnet activates the neurons.
Magneto is likely to be still sensitive to temperature and pressure, making it hard to precisely control. But the researchers say that flaw may be fixable. – Spectrum News
IN CASE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY TEMPERATURE IS SUCH AN ISSUE WHEN IT COMES TO THE MRNA INJECTIONS…
Like Magneto? Microcrystals give magnets superpower over living cells
These iron-rich protein crystals could be the future of how scientists study nerve cells
Labeled with a glowing protein that gives them an eerie green glow, these needle-like protein crystals are jammed full of iron. That lets scientists control the crystals — and the cells they’re inside of — with a magnet.BIANXIAO CUI
Imagine if you could control someone by using a magnet. It would be a bit like Magneto, the supervillain in X-Men. He can control anything magnetic. Even the iron inside someone’s body.
Controlling people with magnets sounds a little, well, wacky. But scientists have now done something close to that. They have engineered cells to make long, needle-like crystals rich in iron. Researchers can then use magnets to control cells containing these crystals.
Video recordings show these iron-rich crystals moving toward a strong magnet. The crystals pull the entire cell along with them.
Cui and her colleagues didn’t set out to give scientists superpowers like Magneto’s. Instead, their new protein crystals were designed to help scientists study which neurons control an animal’s movements and senses. The crystals provide something inside a cell that magnets can attract. This innovation fills a gap in the budding field of magnetogenetics (Mag-NEE-toh-jeh-NET-iks).
Scientists in this field genetically engineer cells so that they will respond to magnetic fields. Now researchers can remotely control specific neurons in the body using magnets. Those neurons could be ones that control how hungry an animal gets. Or they could be neurons that control leg muscles so a mouse starts running when a magnet is nearby.
Gaining magnetic control
A magnetic field can turn on neurons that contain proteins rich in iron. The field does this by heating or giving a mechanical push to those proteins.
Researchers had already been able to control neurons with light. That process is called optogenetics. To use it, scientists insert light-sensitive molecules into the neurons of living animals. The researchers can then turn the neurons on or off simply by shining a light on them. With this technique, neuroscientists have done some incredible things. They’ve made mice run in circles. They’ve even restored movement to an animal’s paralyzed leg.
But optogenetics has its downsides. Light, for example, can’t penetrate deeply into the body. There’s just too much bone, muscle and other tissue in the way. So researchers may implant optical fibers into the animal to deliver light to deep neurons. That makes the method cumbersome and even potentially dangerous.
The whole idea behind magnetogenetics is that you don’t have to implant anything, explains Jacob Robinson, who was not involved in the study. He’s a neuroengineer who works at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Cells deep inside the body could be switched on with just a magnetic field. No fibers or surgery would be needed.
But there’s a snag. The only protein found naturally inside animal cells that’s even remotely magnetic is ferritin (FAIR-ih-tin). Each molecule can have as many as 4,500 atoms of iron. That may sound like a lot, but it’s not. The force that a magnet acting on ferritin generated would be only a billionth as strong as would be needed to turn on a neuron. So Cui’s team developed protein crystals that could carry enough iron to make their cells responsive to magnets.
Giant crystals with an iron heart
The team first extracted the gene to make ferritin from a microbe. They then made a circular piece of DNA that contained two human genes. Those genes make long, hollow crystals called inka-PAK4 (short for Inkabox-PAK4cat). The team introduced these circular pieces of DNA into human kidney cells that were growing in a petri dish. A day later, the first crystals appeared.
“When I first saw those crystals assemble in the cells by themselves, it was just amazing,” Cui recalls.
Scientists engineeredspine-like crystals that are the longest iron-containing crystals ever made in the lab or in nature. Many, including those in this microscopic image, are larger than the cells in which they grew.BIANXIAO CUI
The crystals grew for three days until they were 45 millionths of a meter long. That’s about half the average thickness of a human hair. They’re the largest iron-containing protein crystals ever made in the lab — or in nature, Cui says. They were even longer than the cells they grew in. But the cells in which they formed never ripped. They just stretched to accommodate the crystals.
The researchers pried open the cells and removed the crystals. Then they loaded these with iron. The team estimates that it packed some 8 billion iron atoms into each crystal before inserting those crystals into human cells growing in a dish. Now they exposed the cells to a magnetic field and waited to see what would happen.
And the cells moved.
“The first time I actually saw [the cells] move toward the magnet, I was like, ‘Wow!’” Cui says.
Crystals started collecting close to the magnet. And the crystals pulled their cells with them. The team described this online September 25 in Nano Letters.
Robinson expressed excitement over this. “It’s an excellent step,” he said, “toward engineering cells to create their own magnetic nanoparticles.”
Scientists aren’t sure what will happen to the crystals afterward. But the cells have the genes for the crystals. So every cell reproduced from the original cells should be able to make the crystals, Cui says.
Iron not included
As promising as the results are, both Cui and Robinson emphasized that this isn’t the end.
“We still haven’t reached the goal,” Cui says.
Ideally, researchers would not need to first remove newly grown crystals to pack them full of the metal atoms. Instead, cells would enrich the crystals with iron as it built them. In fact, Cui’s group tried three different ways to get iron into its cells. They even drenched the cells in an iron-rich solution. Nothing worked.
Cells typically keep their iron levels low, Cui’s team notes. It’s estimated that cells naturally contain only 3 percent as much iron as the crystals would need to be effective.
We probably need to alter the cell’s outer membranes, Cui suspects. Then, she says, they might be able to transport more iron into a cell. Still, these magnetic crystals are a major leap forward in the young field of magnetogenetics. And the researchers are confident additional studies will overcome this iron-enrichment obstacle.
Graphene has unique mechanical, electronic, and optical properties, which researchers have used to develop novel electronic materials including transparent conductors and ultrafast transistors. Recently, the understanding of various chemical properties of graphene has facilitated its application in high-performance devices that generate and store energy. Graphene is now expanding its territory beyond electronic and chemical applications toward biomedical areas such as precise biosensing through graphene-quenched fluorescence, graphene-enhanced cell differentiation and growth, and graphene-assisted laser desorption/ionization for mass spectrometry. In this Account, we review recent efforts to apply graphene and graphene oxides (GO) to biomedical research and a few different approaches to prepare graphene materials designed for biomedical applications. Because of its excellent aqueous processability, amphiphilicity, surface functionalizability, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), and fluorescence quenching ability, GO chemically exfoliated from oxidized graphite is considered a promising material for biological applications. In addition, the hydrophobicity and flexibility of large-area graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) allow this material to play an important role in cell growth and differentiation. The lack of acceptable classification standards of graphene derivatives based on chemical and physical properties has hindered the biological application of graphene derivatives. The development of an efficient graphene-based biosensor requires stable biofunctionalization of graphene derivatives under physiological conditions with minimal loss of their unique properties. For the development graphene-based therapeutics, researchers will need to build on the standardization of graphene derivatives and study the biofunctionalization of graphene to clearly understand how cells respond to exposure to graphene derivatives. Although several challenging issues remain, initial promising results in these areas point toward significant potential for graphene derivatives in biomedical research.
Neural stimulation provides a means for scientists to investigate brain functions and neurological diseases. There is also mounting interest in using remote stimulation of neuronal circuits for brain-machine interfaces. In this review, we highlight recently developed technologies utilizing magnetic nanoparticles to generate heat or exert mechanical forces for remote control of brain circuits and compare these with conventional (electrical stimulation and drugs) and second-generation (ultrasound and light) techniques. We also present some of the challenges and progress in areas like genetics, nanoparticle synthesis and energy delivery devices to translate the use of these innovative nanoparticle-based platforms in research and clinical settings.
Magnetic fields pass through tissue undiminished and without producing harmful effects, motivating their use as a wireless, minimally invasive means to control neural activity. Here, we review mechanisms and techniques coupling magnetic fields to changes in electrochemical potentials across neuronal membranes. Biological magnetoreception, although incompletely understood, is discussed as a potential source of inspiration. The emergence of magnetic properties in materials is reviewed to clarify the distinction between biomolecules containing transition metals and ferrite nanoparticles that exhibit significant net moments. We describe recent developments in the use of magnetic nanomaterials as transducers converting magnetic stimuli to forms readily perceived by neurons and discuss opportunities for multiplexed and bidirectional control as well as the challenges posed by delivery to the brain. The variety of magnetic field conditions and mechanisms by which they can be coupled to neuronal signaling cascades highlights the desirability of continued interchange between magnetism physics and neurobiology.
Magnetic-Nanosensor-Based Virus and Pathogen Detection Strategies before and during COVID-19
Abstract
This review covers the literature of magnetic nanosensors for virus and pathogen detection before COVID-19. We review popular magnetic nanosensing techniques including magnetoresistance, magnetic particle spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance. Magnetic point-of-care diagnostic kits are also reviewed aiming at developing plug-and-play diagnostics to manage the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as well as preventing future epidemics. In addition, other platforms that use magnetic nanomaterials as auxiliary tools for enhanced pathogen and virus detection are also covered. The goal of this review is to inform the researchers of diagnostic and surveillance platforms for SARS-CoV-2 and their performances.
A critical presentation from University of Illinois, 2019
NOVEMBER 30, 2020
Molecule that promotes muscle health when magnetised
Associate Professor Alfredo Franco-Obregón and his team from the NUS Institute for Health Innovation and Technology examined how low amplitude magnetic fields may be used to enhance muscle metabolism. The images on the screen show the cells of two types of muscles—the blue fibres (left) are rapidly fatiguing muscles, the green fibres (right) are slowly fatiguing muscle, and the red fibres are considered transitional fibres. Credit: National University of Singapore
As people age, they progressively lose muscle mass and strength, and this can lead to frailty and other age-related diseases. As the causes for the decline remain largely unknown, promoting muscle health is an area of great research interest. A recent study led by the researchers from NUS has shown how a molecule found in muscles responds to weak magnetic fields to promote muscle health.
Led by Associate Professor Alfredo Franco-Obregón from the NUS Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech), the team found that a protein known as TRPC1 responds to weak oscillating magnetic fields. Such a response is normally activated when the body exercises. This responsiveness to magnets could be used to stimulate muscle recovery, which could improve the life quality for patients with impaired mobility, in an increasingly aging society.
“The use of pulsed magnetic fields to simulate some of the effects of exercise will greatly benefit patients with muscle injury, stroke, and frailty as a result of advanced age,” said lead researcher Assoc Prof Franco-Obregón, who is also from the NUS Department of Surgery.
The NUS research team collaborated with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) on this study, and their results were first published online in Advanced Biosystems on 2 September 2020. The work was also featured on the cover of the journal’s print edition on 27 November 2020.
Magnets and muscle health
The magnetic fields that the research team used to stimulate the muscle health were only 10 to 15 times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field, yet still much weaker than a common bar magnet, raising the intriguing possibility that weak magnetism is a stimulus that muscles naturally interact with.
To test this theory, the research team first used a special experimental setup to cancel the effect of all surrounding magnetic fields. The researchers found that the muscle cells indeed grew more slowly when shielded from all environmental magnetic fields. These observations strongly supported the notion that the Earth’s magnetic field naturally interacts with muscles to elicit biological responses.
To show the involvement of TRPC1 as an antenna for natural magnetism to promote muscle health, the researchers genetically engineered mutant muscle cells that were unresponsive to any magnetic field by deleting TRPC1 from their genomes. The researchers were then able to reinstate magnetic sensitivity by selectively delivering TRPC1 to these mutant muscle cells in small vesicles that fused with the mutant cells.
In their previous studies, the researchers have shown that responses to such magnetic fields were strongly correlated to the presence of TRPC1, and it included the rejuvenation of cartilage by indirectly regulating the gut microbiome, fat burning and insulin-sensitivity via positive actions on muscle. The present study provided conclusive evidence that TRPC1 serves as a ubiquitous biological antenna to surrounding magnetic fields to modulate human physiology, particularly when targeted for muscle health.
Metabolic changes similar to those achieved with exercise have been observed in previous clinical trials and studies led by Assoc Prof Franco-Obregón. Encouraging benefits of using the magnetic fields to stimulate muscle cells have been found, with as little as 10 minutes of exposure per week. This tantalizing possibility, to improve muscle health without exercising, could facilitate recovering and rehabilitation of patients with muscle dysfunction.
Assoc Prof Franco-Obregón shared, “About 40 percent of an average person’s body is muscle. Our results demonstrate a metabolic interaction between muscle and magnetism which hopefully can be exploited to improve human health and longevity.”
This study represents a milestone in the understanding of how a key protein may developmentally react to magnetic fields.
Metabolic health such as weight, blood sugar levels, insulin, and cholesterol are strongly influenced by muscle health. As exercise is a strong modulator of metabolic diseases through the working of the muscles, and magnetic fields exert similar benefits of exercise, such magnetism may help patients who are unable to undertake exercise because of injury, disease, or frailty. As such, the NUS iHealthtech research team is now working to extend their study to reduce drug dependence for the treatment of diseases such as diabetes.
“We hope that our research can help alleviate side effects by reducing the use of drugs for disease treatment, and to improve the quality of life of the patients,” said Assoc Prof Franco-Obregón.
JANUARY 2021
A Single Immunization with Spike-Functionalized Ferritin Vaccines Elicits Neutralizing Antibody Responses against SARS-CoV-2 in Mice
“The development of a safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is a public health priority. We designed subunit vaccine candidates using self-assembling ferritin nanoparticles displaying one of two multimerized SARS-CoV-2 spikes: full-length ectodomain (S-Fer) or a C-terminal 70 amino-acid deletion (SΔC-Fer). Ferritin is an attractive nanoparticle platform for production of vaccines, and ferritin-based vaccines have been investigated in humans in two separate clinical trials. We confirmed proper folding and antigenicity of spike on the surface of ferritin by cryo-EM and binding to conformation-specific monoclonal antibodies. After a single immunization of mice with either of the two spike ferritin particles, a lentiviral SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus assay revealed mean neutralizing antibody titers at least 2-fold greater than those in convalescent plasma from COVID-19 patients. Additionally, a single dose of SΔC-Fer elicited significantly higher neutralizing responses as compared to immunization with the spike receptor binding domain (RBD) monomer or spike ectodomain trimer alone. After a second dose, mice immunized with SΔC-Fer exhibited higher neutralizing titers than all other groups. Taken together, these results demonstrate that multivalent presentation of SARS-CoV-2 spike on ferritin can notably enhance elicitation of neutralizing antibodies, thus constituting a viable strategy for single-dose vaccination against COVID-19.”
THE STUDY IS FINANCED BY MARK AND PRISCILLA ZUCKERBERG THROUGH BIOHUB!
Corresponding Author
Peter S. Kim – Department of Biochemistry & Stanford ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California 94158, United States; http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6503-4541; Email: kimpeter@stanford.edu
Authors
Abigail E. Powell – Department of Biochemistry & Stanford ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States; http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6408-9495
Kaiming Zhang – Department of Bioengineering & James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States; http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0414-4776
Mrinmoy Sanyal – Department of Biochemistry & Stanford ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
Shaogeng Tang – Department of Biochemistry & Stanford ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
Payton A. Weidenbacher – Department of Biochemistry & Stanford ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States; Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
Shanshan Li – Department of Bioengineering & James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States
Tho D. Pham – Department of Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States; Stanford Blood Center, Palo Alto, California 94304, United States
John E. Pak – Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
Wah Chiu – Department of Bioengineering & James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, United States; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California 94158, United States; Division of CryoEM and Bioimaging, SSRL, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, United States; http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8910-3078
Notes
The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): A.E.P., P.A.W., and P.S.K. are named as inventors on a provisional patent application applied for by Stanford University and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub on immunogenic coronavirus fusion proteins and related methods.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, & the State of California Partner to Track COVID-19 Spread Statewide
California COVID Tracker is the First Statewide SARS-CoV-2 Tracking Program of Its Kind in the United States — Will Help Local Health Officials Better Map the VirusTags: COVID-19, CZ Biohub, Science
Whole genome sequencing allows scientists to track mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which typically happens every 2-3 transmissions. These mutations are key to helping public health officials trace transmission sources.
Today, the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (CZ Biohub), in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), announced that it will provide free whole genome sequencing and analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to all California Departments of Public Health (DPH) and California local health jurisdictions through a newly-launched effort called the California COVID Tracker. By rapidly tracing how and where the virus is changing and spreading across the state, the California COVID Tracker aims to provide actionable viral genomic data to local public health jurisdictions and help ensure transmission remains low while we await a vaccine.
Under this new partnership, any California DPH may ship positive COVID-19 samples to the CZ Biohub, which will provide sequencing, analysis, and interpretation support, with an emphasis on making data actionable for public health surveillance and response. By tracing the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 virus mutations, genomic epidemiology can offer insights such as estimating the number of undetected cases in a community, identifying clusters of linked transmission events, and detecting new introductions of SARS-CoV-2 into a given area or community.
Connected in this way to local public health labs and county public health departments, this type of actionable genomic epidemiology program is not currently available anywhere else in the United States. The CZ Biohub will also offer training in bioinformatics and data interpretation to public health partners throughout the state, including those interested in building or augmenting sequencing and analytic capacity within their own departments. The groups will also work closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s newly-launched SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance (SPHERES) consortium.
“Public health officials need accurate, timely information about how COVID-19 is spreading to make decisions that will help protect people,” said CZI co-founders and co-CEOs Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg. “Using genome sequencing, researchers can create viral family trees to track how the virus is spreading to help inform policy decisions. We hope that broader sequencing coverage across California will empower local health jurisdictions to better understand transmission dynamics and the corresponding action needed in their communities.”
As part of this effort, the CZ Biohub will deposit SARS-CoV-2 sequences into public repositories for COVID-19 genomics, including GISAID and NCBI. CZ Biohub and CZI will provide tools and analysis support to help California DPHs overlay epidemiological and demographic information onto this genomic data to better understand local SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
“Through the California COVID Tracker, researchers, epidemiologists, software engineers, and data scientists from CZI and CZ Biohub are working to provide critical SARS-CoV-2 genomic data to California public health officials and the broader scientific community so they can make smart decisions about public health actions like contact tracing and intervention strategies,” said Joe DeRisi, PhD, Co-President of the CZ Biohub, who contributed to the identification of the SARS coronavirus in 2003. “These data become increasingly more powerful with broader participation. We invite interested public health officials and universities to partner with us in the fight against this unprecedented pandemic — these efforts will go a long way to protect our state from future spikes as we continue to fight this pandemic.”
The California COVID Tracker expands upon the ongoing partnership between CZI, the CZ Biohub, and UCSF, which has provided free COVID-19 testing to all 58 California Departments of Public Health. For more information on how to become involved in the California COVID Tracker, please visit covidtracker.czbiohub.org or email covidtracker@czbiohub.org.
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About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Founded by Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg in 2015, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is a new kind of philanthropy that’s leveraging technology to help solve some of the world’s toughest challenges — from eradicating disease, to improving education, to reforming the criminal justice system. Across three core Initiative focus areas of Science, Education, and Justice & Opportunity, we’re pairing engineering with grant-making, impact investing, and policy and advocacy work to help build an inclusive, just and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit www.chanzuckerberg.com.
About the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub is a nonprofit research organization setting the standard for collaborative science, where leaders in science and technology come together to drive discovery and support the bold vision to cure, prevent or manage disease in our children’s lifetime. The CZ Biohub seeks to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying disease and to develop new technologies that will lead to actionable diagnostics and effective therapies. The CZ Biohub is a regional research endeavor with international reach, where the Bay Area’s leading institutions — the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco — join forces with the CZ Biohub’s innovative internal team to catalyze impact, benefitting people and partnerships around the world. To learn more, visit CZBiohub.org.
a) Images showing the shape transformation of a Transformer. b) The shape transformation process of a soft hydrogel Transformer under the coupling of magnetic field and NIR. c)The SEM images of HG‐Fe3O4 hydrogel. d) The schematic illustration of the transition of gelatin between coil and triple‐helix structure. e) The soft Transformer can cross the narrow notches after shape morphing. f) The soft Transformer first deforms into a folded shape, then passes through the narrow passages of the special maze, and finally recovers to the original shape in a wide area. Credit: Advanced Intelligent Systems, doi: 10.1002/aisy.202000208
While the film “Transformers” introduced intelligent robots that morphed between shapes with multiple functionalities, researchers are developing intelligent soft transformers to significantly accelerate research applications in the lab. In a recent report now published in Advanced Intelligent Systems, Dachuan Zhang and a research team in materials science and chemical sciences in China, proposed a remotely controlled soft transformer based on a shape memory hydrogel system. The team obtained the hydrogel by embedding magnetite (Fe3O4) magnetic nanoparticles into a double network polymer structure of poly (N-(2-hydroxyethyl) acrylamide) containing gelatin.
The reversible coil-triple-helix transformation of the gelatin constituent imbued the hydrogel with shape memory and self-healing properties, while the magnetite nanoparticles gave photothermal heating and magnetic manipulation functions to deform the hydrogel for navigation in a magnetic field. The team could then restore the deformed shape via shape recovery using light irradiation. Zhang et al. remotely controlled the shape-memory processes through magnetically driven actuation and light-assisted shape memory. As proof of concept, they created a series of robots, including a hydrogel athlete that could do sit-ups, hydrogel transformers, a lotus in full bloom, and a hydrogel spacecraft that can be docked in air. The work will inspire the design and fabrication of new smart polymer systems with synchronized multiple functionalities.
Shape memory hydrogels
While the fictional transformers allowed hard robots to morph into any form including vehicles, soft transformers are of greater interest in fundamental research and applications in life sciences. In this work, Zhang et al. described a photothermally and magnetically controlled shape memory hydrogel. They combined a chemically crosslinked polymer and a reversibly crosslinked gelatin network embedded with magnetite nanoparticles to create a photothermal and flexible, self-healing construct that could be magnetically manipulated. Shape memory hydrogels (SMHs) have received increased attention as intelligent polymeric materials and researchers aim to remotely control such materials to establish diverse actuating behaviors.
The blooming process of a hydrogel Lotus. Credit: Advanced Intelligent Systems, doi: 10.1002/aisy.202000208
For example, shape-memory polymers can fix temporary shapes and recover their architecture under external stimuli, with increasing interest across biomedical, textile, flexible electronics and data encryption disciplines. Magnetic nanoparticles are effective additives to introduce remotely controlled non-contact actuation. When hydrogels are illuminated with near-infrared (NIR) light, these magnetic nanoparticles will continuously convert light into heat, causing the hydrogel to be heated. This will cause reversible deformation of the hydrogel for applications as freely moving soft robots. This strategy will help promote the development of new shape memory hydrogel systems for applications as untethered robots.
Properties of shape memory hydrogels
Since shape memory hydrogels can stably and temporarily memorize their shape and recover the original shape perfectly under specific stimuli, the team conducted bending tests with the material, which they abbreviated as HG for its constituent polymers. They then immersed a sample in hot water (60 degrees Celsius) for 30 seconds to induce disaggregation to soften the hydrogel, removed it from the medium and recovered the shapes after re-immersing hydrogels in hot water (60 degrees Celsius). Zhang et al. conducted a series of controlled experiments to verify the factors affecting the shape memory performance of the hydrogel. As proof of concept, the team designed and developed a hydrogel flower to perfectly mimic the bloom of a lotus.
The connection of a hydrogel spacecraft and a hydrogel space station in air. Credit: Advanced Intelligent Systems, doi: 10.1002/aisy.202000208
When the researchers introduced magnetite nanoparticles to form the HG-Fe3O4 hydrogel, the constituents could absorb and convert light to heat with light irradiation, causing the temperature of the hydrogel to increase. During light-to-heat conversion, the material achieved photo-activated self-healing. To demonstrate this phenomenon, the team created a HG-Fe3O4 hydrogel space station under a magnetic field and applied NIR to irradiate the connectors and dock the spacecraft-like construct with a space station-like connector to realize self-healing and reconnection in air.
Recovering shapes through photothermal effects and remotely controlling shape memory processes
The team could only achieve shape recovery for the HG-hydrogel by regulating the temperature to a specific value, in the absence of magnetite nanoparticles. The addition of magnetite conferred magnetic properties to the HG-Fe3O4 hydrogel to allow remotely controlled shape memory recovery cycles. As proof of concept, the team developed a shape-transition robot in the form of a hydrogel athlete to deform from 2-D to 3-D. In the absence of NIR and the presence of a magnet, the hydrogel athlete could ‘push up’ quickly, then recover its shape to the flat conformation on removal of the magnet. In the second setup, they turned-on NIR and lifted the hydrogel athlete with a magnet, then kept the magnet on for two minutes while switching off the NIR to allow the athlete to cool down. The team froze this gesture for a timeframe after which they allowed the robot to return to its original position by turning-on the NIR again. This technique can be used to develop soft grippers that are advantageous for applications as surgical robots in translational research.
A hydrogel athlete doing sit-ups with the assistance of magnetic field and NIR. Cr
Remote control of cells and single molecules by magnetic nanoparticles in nonheating external magnetic fields is a perspective approach for many applications such as cancer treatment and enzyme activity regulation. However, the possibility and mechanisms of direct effects of small individual magnetic nanoparticles on such processes in magneto-mechanical experiments still remain unclear. In this work, we have shown remote-controlled mechanical dissociation of short DNA duplexes (18–60 bp) under the influence of nonheating low-frequency alternating magnetic fields using individual 11 nm magnetic nanoparticles.
The developed technique allows (1) simultaneous manipulation of millions of individual DNA molecules and (2) evaluation of energies of intermolecular interactions in short DNA duplexes or in other molecules.
Finally, we have shown that DNA duplexes dissociation is mediated by mechanical stress and produced by the movement of magnetic nanoparticles in magnetic fields, but not by local overheating.
The presented technique opens a new avenue for high-precision manipulation of DNA and generation of biosensors for quantification of energies of intermolecular interaction.
MAY 18, 2021
New Material Could Create ‘Neurons’ and ‘Synapses’ for Computers
via University of Groningen
Classic computers use binary values (0/1) to perform. By contrast, our brain cells can use more values to operate, making them more energy-efficient than computers. This is why scientists are interested in neuromorphic (brain-like) computing. Physicists from the University of Groningen have used a complex oxide to create elements comparable to the neurons and synapses in the brain using spins, a magnetic property of electrons. Their results were published on 18 May in the journal Frontiers in Nanotechnology.
Thin films
The operation of our brains can be simulated in computers, but the basic architecture still relies on a binary system. That is why scientist look for ways to expand this, creating hardware that is more brain-like, but will also interface with normal computers. ‘One idea is to create magnetic bits that can have intermediate states’, says Tamalika Banerjee, Professor of Spintronics of Functional Materials at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen. She works on spintronics, which uses a magnetic property of electrons called ‘spin’ to transport, manipulate and store information.
In this study, her PhD student Anouk Goossens, first author of the paper, created thin films of a ferromagnetic metal (strontium-ruthenate oxide, SRO) grown on a substrate of strontium titanate oxide. The resulting thin film contained magnetic domains that were perpendicular to the plane of the film. ‘These can be switched more efficiently than in-plane magnetic domains’, explains Goossens. By adapting the growth conditions, it is possible to control the crystal orientation in the SRO. Previously, out-of-plane magnetic domains have been made using other techniques, but these typically require complex layer structures.
Magnetic anisotropy
Schematic of the proposed device structure for neuromorphic spintronic memristors. The write path is between the terminals through the top layer (black dotted line), the read path goes through the device stack (red dotted line). The right side of the figure indicates how the choice of substrate dictates whether the device will show deterministic or probabilistic behavior. | Illustration Banerjee group
The magnetic domains can be switched using a current through a platinum electrode on top of the SRO. Goossens: ‘When the magnetic domains are oriented perfectly perpendicular to the film, this switching is deterministic: the entire domain will switch.’ However, when the magnetic domains are slightly tilted, the response is probabilistic: not all the domains are the same, and intermediate values occur when only part of the crystals in the domain have switched.
By choosing variants of the substrate on which the SRO is grown, the scientists can control its magnetic anisotropy. This allows them to produce two different spintronic devices. ‘This magnetic anisotropy is exactly what we wanted’, says Goossens. ‘Probabilistic switching compares to how neurons function, while the deterministic switching is more like a synapse.’
The scientists expect that in the future, brain-like computer hardware can be created by combining these different domains in a spintronic device that can be connected to standard silicon-based circuits. Furthermore, probabilistic switching would also allow for stochastic computing, a promising technology which represents continuous values by streams of random bits. Banerjee: ‘We have found a way to control intermediate states, not just for memory but also for computing.’
Above: Video abstract of an original research “Magnetically controlled protein nanocontainers as a drug depot for the hemostatic agent” published in the open access journal Nanotechnology, Science and Applications by Prilepskii, Schekina and Vinogradov.
Purpose: Currently, there is a number of successfully implemented local hemostatic agents for external bleedings in forms of wound dressings and other topical materials. However, little has been done in the field of intravenous hemostatic agents. Here, we propose a new procedure to fabricate biocompatible protein nanocontainers (NCs) for intravenous injection allowing magneto-controllable delivery and short-term release of the hemostatic agent ϵ-aminocaproic acid (EACA). Methods: The nanocontainers were synthesized by the desolvation method from bovine serum albumin (BSA) using methanol without any further crosslinking. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used both as a stabilization agent and for size control. Characterization of nanocontainers was performed by the transmission and scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction, and FTIR spectroscopy. Cytotoxicity was estimated using MTT assay. The dopant release from nanocontainers was measured spectrophotometrically using rhodamine B as a model molecule. The specific hemostatic activity was assessed by analyzing clot lysis and formation curve (CloFAL). Moreover, the ability for magneto targeting was estimated using the original flow setup made of a syringe pump and silicon contours. Results: Fabricated nanocontainers had an average size of 186±24 nm and were constructed from building blocks–nanoparticles with average size ranged from 10 to 20 nm. PEG shell was also observed around nanocontainers with thickness 5–10 nm. NCs were proved to be completely non-cytotoxic even at concentrations up to 8 mg BSA/mL. Uptake capacity was near 36% while release within the first day was 17%. The analysis of the CloFAL curve showed the ability of NCs to inhibit the clot lysis successfully, and the ability of magneto targeting was confirmed under flow conditions. Conclusion: The ability of synthesized NCs to deliver and release the therapeutic drug, as well as to accumulate at the desired site under the action of the magnetic field was proved experimentally. Read the full paper HERE
Magnetofection as a novel in vivo approach for gene delivery – Singh et al 2017
The problem with magnetofection is that it keeps killing lab animals and it’s not recommended or forbidden on humans. Or it used to be, for almost 10 years before Covidiocracy.
sheeple waking up, see the ratio and the comments!
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! Articles can always be subject of later editing as a way of perfecting them
Sometimes my memes are 3D. And you can own them. Or send them to someone. You can even eat some of them. CLICK HERE
I don’t know if they do it, because no independent researchers examine those swabs, but I have always pointed out that our overlords seem more concerned with testing than with vaccinating. Almost like the vaccines were the bait and tests were the switch. And now we also know they totally CAN do that. Just follow the science below.
The respectable Mr. David Knight makes a summary of our article
UPDATE: LMAO, THIS WENT SO VIRAL VICE WAS SENT TO DEBUNK IT, SEE FOR YOURSELF, IT’S HILARIOUS!
Our comment has already been deleted, apparently, or I can’t find it anymore 😀
Attn: Gates-paid fact-checkers – Injectable computers with RFID antennas produced in 2016
UPDATE: DR. LORRAINE DAY QUOTES AND FURTHER EXPLAINS THIS VERY ARTICLE!
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November 3, 2020
Researchers engineer tiny machines that deliver medicine efficiently
A theragripper is about the size of a speck of dust. This swab contains dozens of the tiny devices. Credit: Johns Hopkins University.
Inspired by a parasitic worm that digs its sharp teeth into its host’s intestines, Johns Hopkins researchers have designed tiny, star-shaped microdevices that can latch onto intestinal mucosa and release drugs into the body.
David Gracias, Ph.D., a professor in the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, and Johns Hopkins gastroenterologist Florin M. Selaru, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, led a team of researchers and biomedical engineers that designed and tested shape-changing microdevices that mimic the way the parasitic hookworm affixes itself to an organism’s intestines.
Made of metal and thin, shape-changing film and coated in a heat-sensitive paraffin wax, “theragrippers,” each roughly the size of a dust speck, potentially can carry any drug and release it gradually into the body.
The team published results of an animal study this week as the cover article in the journal Science Advances.
Gradual or extended release of a drug is a long-sought goal in medicine. Selaru explains that a problem with extended-release drugs is they often make their way entirely through the gastrointestinal tract before they’ve finished dispensing their medication.
“Normal constriction and relaxation of GI tract muscles make it impossible for extended-release drugs to stay in the intestine long enough for the patient to receive the full dose,” says Selaru, who has collaborated with Gracias for more than 10 years. “We’ve been working to solve this problem by designing these small drug carriers that can autonomously latch onto the intestinal mucosa and keep the drug load inside the GI tract for a desired duration of time.”
When an open theragripper, left, is exposed to internal body temperatures, it closes on the instestinal wall. In the gripper’s center is a space for a small dose of a drug. Credit: Johns Hopkins University
Thousands of theragrippers can be deployed in the GI tract. When the paraffin wax coating on the grippers reaches the temperature inside the body, the devices close autonomously and clamp onto the colonic wall. The closing action causes the tiny, six-pointed devices to dig into the mucosa and remain attached to the colon, where they are retained and release their medicine payloads gradually into the body. Eventually, the theragrippers lose their hold on the tissue and are cleared from the intestine via normal gastrointestinal muscular function.
Taken from the original research annexes
Gracias notes advances in the field of biomedical engineering in recent years.
“We have seen the introduction of dynamic, microfabricated smart devices that can be controlled by electrical or chemical signals,” he says. “But these grippers are so small that batteries, antennas and other components will not fit on them.”
Theragrippers, says Gracias, don’t rely on electricity, wireless signals or external controls. “Instead, they operate like small, compressed springs with a temperature-triggered coating on the devices that releases the stored energy autonomously at body temperature.”
The Johns Hopkins researchers fabricated the devices with about 6,000 theragrippers per 3-inch silicon wafer. In their animal experiments, they loaded a pain-relieving drug onto the grippers. The researchers’ studies found that the animals into which theragrippers were administered had higher concentrates of the pain reliever in their bloodstreams than did the control group. The drug stayed in the test subjects’ systems for nearly 12 hours versus two hours in the control group.
“You could put the computational power of the spaceship Voyager onto an object the size of a cell”. In 2018.
“Swarms of microscopic robots that can be injected” Tell Melinda Gates we can inject robots and computers these days.
HERE’S A VERY SIMPLE WAY TO ATTACK THE BRAIN THROUGH THE TEST SWABS
I’ve seen a report on someone who had to undergo tests almost daily and he developed brain cancer over the course of about three months. But I can’t verify it, so that’s all it’s worth.
“Key to our findings is the demonstration that S1 promotes loss of barrier integrity in an advanced 3D microfluidic model of the human BBB, a platform that more closely resembles the physiological conditions at this CNS interface. Evidence provided suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins trigger a pro-inflammatory response on brain endothelial cells that may contribute to an altered state of BBB function. Together, these results are the first to show the direct impact that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein could have on brain endothelial cells; thereby offering a plausible explanation for the neurological consequences seen in COVID-19 patients.”
Report contents include:
Market analysis of nano-based diagnostic tests for COVID-19 including nanosensors incorporating gold nanoparticles, iron oxide nanoparticles, graphene, quantum dots, carbon quantum dots and carbon nanotubes. Market revenues adjusted to pandemic outcomes. In-depth company profiles. Companies profiled include Abbott Laboratories, Cardea, Ferrotec (USA) Corporation, E25Bio, Grolltex, Inc., Luminex Corporation etc.
Currently, many studies are being conducted on developing a method for delivering nanoparticles into the nasal cavity as a safe and more effective countermeasure against viral infection and treatment.180 Since SARS-CoV-2 initiates infection on the mucosal surface of the eye or nasal cavity, mucosal therapy is the most important strategy for treating such infectious diseases. Delivery through the nasal cavity is not only simple and inexpensive but also non-invasive, and the NP is rapidly absorbed due to the cavity’s abundant capillary plexus and large surface area.181 The properties of the NPs, such as the surface charge, size, and shape, are important factors to be considered while optimizing the method of delivery to the nasal cavity and play a critical role in effective and safe treatment.182 Studies have been conducted using small animals to evaluate the system that is delivered to the lungs by administering NPs to the nasal cavity. Therefore, findings of these animal studies cannot be easily generalized to humans. To date, three types of NPs (organic, inorganic, and virus-like NPs) have been designed with delivery capabilities that are suitable for therapeutic purposes, which can also be administered intranasally for effective delivery.
Nasal-nanotechnology: revolution for efficient therapeutics delivery
Context: In recent years, nanotechnology-based delivery systems have gained interest to overcome the problems of restricted absorption of therapeutic agents from the nasal cavity, depending upon the physicochemical properties of the drug and physiological properties of the human nose.
Objective: The well-tolerated and non-invasive nasal drug delivery when combined with the nanotechnology-based novel formulations and carriers, opens the way for the effective systemic and brain targeting delivery of various therapeutic agents. To accomplish competent drug delivery, it is imperative to recognize the interactions among the nanomaterials and the nasal biological environment, targeting cell-surface receptors, drug release, multiple drug administration, stability of therapeutic agents and molecular mechanisms of cell signaling involved in patho-biology of the disease under consideration.
Methods: Quite a few systems have been successfully formulated using nanomaterials for intranasal (IN) delivery. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), chitosan, polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) and PLGA-based nanosystems have also been studied in vitro and in vivo for the delivery of several therapeutic agents which shown promising concentrations in the brain after nasal administration.
Results and conclusion: The use of nanomaterials including peptide-based nanotubes and nanogels (NGs) for vaccine delivery via nasal route is a new approach to control the disease progression. In this review, the recent developments in nanotechnology utilized for nasal drug delivery have been discussed.
International Journal of Pharmaceutics 2008 May 22;
Abstract
The field of nanotechnology may hold the promise of significant improvements in the health and well being of patients, as well as in manufacturing technologies. The knowledge of this impact of nanomaterials on public health is limited so far. This paper briefly reviews the unique size-controlled properties of nanomaterials, their disposition in the body after inhalation, and the factors influencing the fate of inhaled nanomaterials. The physiology of the lung makes it an ideal target organ for non-invasive local and systemic drug delivery, especially for protein and poorly water-soluble drugs that have low oral bioavailability via oral administration. The potential application of pulmonary drug delivery of nanoparticles to the lungs, specifically in context of published results reported on nanomaterials in environmental epidemiology and toxicology is reviewed in this paper.
Advanced Drug Delivery Review. 2009 Feb 27; doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2008.09.005. Epub 2008 Dec 13.
Abstract
The great interest in mucosal vaccine delivery arises from the fact that mucosal surfaces represent the major site of entry for many pathogens. Among other mucosal sites, nasal delivery is especially attractive for immunization, as the nasal epithelium is characterized by relatively high permeability, low enzymatic activity and by the presence of an important number of immunocompetent cells. In addition to these advantageous characteristics, the nasal route could offer simplified and more cost-effective protocols for vaccination with improved patient compliance. The use of nanocarriers provides a suitable way for the nasal delivery of antigenic molecules. Besides improved protection and facilitated transport of the antigen, nanoparticulate delivery systems could also provide more effective antigen recognition by immune cells. These represent key factors in the optimal processing and presentation of the antigen, and therefore in the subsequent development of a suitable immune response. In this sense, the design of optimized vaccine nanocarriers offers a promising way for nasal mucosal vaccination.
The great interest in mucosal vaccine delivery arises from the fact that mucosal surfaces represent the major site of entry for many pathogens. Among other mucosal sites, nasal delivery is especially attractive for immunization, as the nasal epithelium is characterized by relatively high permeability, low enzymatic activity and by the presence of an important number of immunocompetent cells. In addition to these advantageous characteristics, the nasal route could offer simplified and more cost-effective protocols for vaccination with improved patient compliance. The use of nanocarriers provides a suitable way for the nasal delivery of antigenic molecules. Besides improved protection and facilitated transport of the antigen, nanoparticulate delivery systems could also provide more effective antigen recognition by immune cells. These represent key factors in the optimal processing and presentation of the antigen, and therefore in the subsequent development of a suitable immune response. In this sense, the design of optimized vaccine nanocarriers offers a promising way for nasal mucosal vaccination.
Context: Brain disorders remain the world’s leading cause of disability, and account for more hospitalizations and prolonged care than almost all other diseases combined. The majority of drugs, proteins and peptides do not readily permeate into brain due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), thus impeding treatment of these conditions.
Objective: Attention has turned to developing novel and effective delivery systems to provide good bioavailability in the brain.
Methods: Intranasal administration is a non-invasive method of drug delivery that may bypass the BBB, allowing therapeutic substances direct access to the brain. However, intranasal administration produces quite low drug concentrations in the brain due limited nasal mucosal permeability and the harsh nasal cavity environment. Pre-clinical studies using encapsulation of drugs in nanoparticulate systems improved the nose to brain targeting and bioavailability in brain. However, the toxic effects of nanoparticles on brain function are unknown.
Result and conclusion: This review highlights the understanding of several brain diseases and the important pathophysiological mechanisms involved. The review discusses the role of nanotherapeutics in treating brain disorders via nose to brain delivery, the mechanisms of drug absorption across nasal mucosa to the brain, strategies to overcome the blood brain barrier, nanoformulation strategies for enhanced brain targeting via nasal route and neurotoxicity issues of nanoparticles.
The central nervous system (CNS) is an immunological privileged sanctuary site-providing reservoir for HIV-1 virus. Current anti-HIV drugs, although effective in reducing plasma viral levels, cannot eradicate the virus completely from the body. The low permeability of anti-HIV drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) leads to insufficient delivery. Therefore, developing a novel approaches enhancing the CNS delivery of anti-HIV drugs are required for the treatment of neuro-AIDS. The aim of this study was to develop intranasal nanoemulsion (NE) for enhanced bioavailability and CNS targeting of saquinavir mesylate (SQVM). SQVM is a protease inhibitor which is a poorly soluble drug widely used as antiretroviral drug, with oral bioavailability is about 4%. The spontaneous emulsification method was used to prepare drug-loaded o/w nanoemulsion, which was characterized by droplet size, zeta potential, pH, drug content. Moreover, ex-vivo permeation studies were performed using sheep nasal mucosa. The optimized NE showed a significant increase in drug permeation rate compared to the plain drug suspension (PDS). Cilia toxicity study on sheep nasal mucosa showed no significant adverse effect of SQVM-loaded NE. Results of in vivo biodistribution studies show higher drug concentration in brain after intranasal administration of NE than intravenous delivered PDS. The higher percentage of drug targeting efficiency (% DTE) and nose-to-brain drug direct transport percentage (% DTP) for optimized NE indicated effective CNS targeting of SQVM via intranasal route. Gamma scintigraphy imaging of the rat brain conclusively demonstrated transport of drug in the CNS at larger extent after intranasal administration as NE.
Over the past few years, nasal drug delivery has attracted more and more attentions, and been recognized as the most promising alternative route for the systemic medication of drugs limited to intravenous administration. Many experiments in animal models have shown that nanoscale carriers have the ability to enhance the nasal delivery of peptide/protein drugs and vaccines compared to the conventional drug solution formulations. However, the rapid mucociliary clearance of the drug-loaded nanoparticles can cause a reduction in bioavailability percentage after intranasal administration. Thus, research efforts have considerably been directed towards the development of hydrogel nanosystems which have mucoadhesive properties in order to maximize the residence time, and hence increase the period of contact with the nasal mucosa and enhance the drug absorption. It is most certain that the high viscosity of hydrogel-based nanosystems can efficiently offer this mucoadhesive property. This update review discusses the possible benefits of using hydrogel polymer-based nanoparticles and hydrogel nanocomposites for drug/vaccine delivery through the intranasal administration.
Nanoparticles for nasal vaccination. Csaba N, Garcia-Fuentes M, Alonso MJ.Csaba N, et al.Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2009 Feb 27;61(2):140-57. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2008.09.005. Epub 2008 Dec 13.Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2009.PMID: 19121350 Review.
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Laws of attraction: Neurons expressing a magnetically sensitive protein (right) show a spike in calcium levels when exposed to a magnet.
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