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Research conducted by a team of scientists from Kaunas universities, Lithuania, revealed that low-frequency ultrasound influences blood parameters. The findings suggest that ultrasound’s effect on haemoglobin can improve oxygen’s transfer from the lungs to bodily tissues.
The research was undertaken on 300 blood samples collected from 42 pulmonary patients. The samples were exposed to six different low-frequency ultrasound modes at the Institute of Mechatronics of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU).
The changes in 20 blood parameters were registered using the blood analysing equipment at the laboratories of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU). For the prediction of ultrasound exposure, artificial intelligence, i.e. analysis of variance (ANOVA), non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis method and machine learning algorithms were applied. The calculations were made at the KTU Artificial Intelligence Centre.
The use of non-pharmaceutical treatment improves oxygen circulation and reduces blood pressure
KTU professors Vytautas Ostasevicius and Vytautas Jurenas say that the ongoing research papers are related to blood platelet aggregation. The research of the KTU team revealed that the ultrasound’s impact on blood parameters is not limited to the platelet count — it also affects red blood cells (RBC), which can result in better oxygen circulation and lowered blood pressure.
“During exposure to low-frequency ultrasound, aggregated RBCs are dissociated into single RBCs, whose haemoglobin molecules interact with oxygen over the entire surface area of RBCs, which is larger than that of aggregated RBCs and improves oxygen saturation in blood. The number of dissociated single RBCs per unit volume of blood decreases due to the spaces between them, compared to aggregates, which reduces blood viscosity and affects blood pressure,” explains Prof Ostasevicius, the Head of KTU Institute of Mechatronics.
The scientists claim that the effect of ultrasound on the haemoglobin in RBCs was higher than its impact on platelet aggregation, which is responsible for blood clotting. Their findings have been supported by an additional analysis made at the LSMU Laboratory of Molecular Cardiology.

“This means that low-frequency ultrasound can be potentially used for improving oxygen saturation in lungs for pulmonary hypertension patients. Keeping in mind the recent COVID-19 pandemic, we see a huge potential in exploring the possibilities of our technology further,” says Prof Ostasevicius.
Partnership between medical and engineering scientists
In medicine, high-frequency ultrasound from 2 to 12 MHz is used for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
“Acoustic waves emitted by high-frequency ultrasound have a limited penetration depth into the body, so external tissues are more affected by high-frequency ultrasound than internal organs. Low-frequency ultrasound acoustic waves, penetrate deeper into the internal organs with a more uniform sound pressure distribution,” explains Prof Jurenas.
There are numerous applications for ultrasound in medical settings.
“For example, focused ultrasonic waves are used to break kidney stones, and to kill cancer cells. Maybe ultrasound can be used to activate certain medications. Or, to alleviate the delivery of antibiotics to the inflamed areas?” says Prof J?r?nas.
The technology used in the above-described study is only one illustration of many successful working partnerships between engineers and physicians. For example, just recently, the researchers of KTU Institute of Mechatronics have created the frame for immobilising the Gamma Knife radiosurgery patients at the Clinics of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.
“We believe, that using the know-how of different areas one can achieve greater results,” say KTU researchers about interinstitutional and interdisciplinary cooperation.

A ribbon of brain tissue called cortical gray matter grows thinner in people who go on to develop dementia, and this appears to be an accurate biomarker of the disease five to 10 years before symptoms appear, researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (also called UT Health San Antonio) reported.
The researchers, working with colleagues from The University of California, Davis, and Boston University, conducted an MRI brain imaging study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. They studied 1,000 Massachusetts participants in the Framingham Heart Study and 500 people from a California cohort. The California volunteers included 44% representation of Black and Hispanic participants, whereas the Massachusetts cohort was predominantly non-Hispanic white. Both cohorts were 70 to 74 years of age on average at the time of MRI studies.
“The big interest in this paper is that, if we can replicate it in additional samples, cortical gray matter thickness will be a marker we can use to identify people at high risk of dementia,” said study lead author Claudia Satizabal, PhD, of UT Health San Antonio’s Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases. “By detecting the disease early, we are in a better time window for therapeutic interventions and lifestyle modifications, and to do better tracking of brain health to decrease individuals’ progression to dementia.”
Repeating the Framingham findings in the more-diverse California cohort “gives us confidence that our results are robust,” Satizabal said.
Sifting MRIs for a pattern
While dementias can affect different brain regions, Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia impact the cortex, and Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia.
The study compared participants with and without dementia at the time of MRI. “We went back and examined the brain MRIs done 10 years earlier, and then we mixed them up to see if we could discern a pattern that reliably distinguished those who later developed dementia from those who did not,” said co-author Sudha Seshadri, MD, director of the Glenn Biggs Institute at UT Health San Antonio and senior investigator with the Framingham Heart Study.

“This kind of study is only possible when you have longitudinal follow-up over many years as we did at Framingham and as we are building in San Antonio,” Seshadri said. “The people who had the research MRI scans while they were well and kept coming back to be studied are the selfless heroes who make such valuable discoveries, such prediction tools possible.”
The results were consistent across populations. Thicker ribbons correlated with better outcomes and thinner ribbons with worse, in general. “Although more studies are needed to validate this biomarker, we’re off to a good start,” Satizabal said. “The relationship between thinning and dementia risk behaved the same way in different races and ethnic groups.”
Applications
Clinical trial researchers could use the thinning biomarker to minimize cost by selecting participants who haven’t yet developed any disease but are on track for it, Seshadri said. They would be at greatest need to try investigational medications, she said.
The biomarker would also be useful to develop and evaluate therapeutics, Seshadri noted.
Future directions
Satizabal said the team plans to explore risk factors that may be related to the thinning. These include cardiovascular risk factors, diet, genetics and exposure to environmental pollutants, she said.

“We looked at APOE4, which is a main genetic factor related to dementia, and it was not related to gray matter thickness at all,” Satizabal said. “We think this is good, because if thickness is not genetically determined, then there are modifiable factors such as diet and exercise that can influence it.”
Derived in clinical MRIs
Could the MRI gray matter biomarker be used widely someday?
“A high proportion of people going to the neurologist get their MRI done, so this thickness value might be something that a neuroradiologist derives,” Seshadri said. “A person’s gray matter thickness might be analyzed as a percentile of the thickness of healthy people for that age.”

Published57 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Philippa RoxbyHealth reporterMillions of parents in England are being contacted by the NHS and urged to make an appointment to have their children vaccinated against measles, as cases rise across the country. More than 3.4 million children aged under 16 are unprotected and at risk of becoming ill, NHS England says.Areas with low uptake of the MMR vaccine, such as the West Midlands and London, are being targeted first.A similar campaign last winter pushed up vaccinations by 10%.UK health officials said last week that an outbreak of highly contagious measles in the West Midlands could spread rapidly in other towns and cities with low vaccination rates.Dame Jenny Harries called for “a call to action right across the country” after hospitals in Birmingham reported a sharp rise in cases in children.Why are measles cases rising and what is the MMR vaccine?The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is given in two doses – the first around the age of one and the second when a child is about three years and four months old.It is very effective at protecting against measles, but only 85% of children starting primary school in the UK have had both jabs – well below the target of 95% needed to stop it spreading.Image source, Getty ImagesIn some cities, such as Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham, only 75% of five-year-olds are fully vaccinated, NHS figures show.The current campaign will contact more than four million parents, carers and young adults by text, email or letter to tell them they or their children have missed out on one or both doses.This includes more than one million children aged six to 11 across England, plus 330,000 11 to 16-year-olds and nearly one million 16 to 26-year-olds in London and the West Midlands.Many young adults who were young children when a study falsely linked the vaccine and autism 25 years ago, are still unvaccinated.Steve Russell, NHS England’s director of vaccinations and screening, said the NHS was acting quickly to tackle the spread of measles.”People who are unvaccinated can get catch-up jabs at MMR pop-ups in schools and other convenient places, while GPs, teachers and trusted community leaders are encouraging groups that are less likely to get their jab to come forward,” he said.One in five children with the disease are having to be admitted to hospital for treatment in Birmingham. Babies who are too young to have their first dose, pregnant women and those who have weakened immune systems are most at risk from measles, which can be serious at any age.During pregnancy, measles can lead to stillbirth, miscarriage and a baby being born small, so NHS England is encouraging young adults to catch up on missed doses too.Why is there a fall in vaccines in children?There are lots of different factors involved and experts say it is too easy to blame anti-vaccine attitudes.With the NHS under huge pressure, child health experts say parents often struggle to get through to their GP and speak to the right staff to ask any questions they might have about the jab. Making a convenient appointment for their child during a busy working day can also be a challenge.That is why head teachers in some areas are now working with the NHS to run clinics in schools, where children are.Dr David Elliman, community paediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said parents’ questions were understandable and they should be given time to talk to a trusted practice nurse, health visitor or GP for reassurance.”There are very few parents who do not want their children immunised,” he says.However, there are those who were put off going to health centres during the pandemic for fear of catching Covid.And there are also many parents who have not seen measles before, because it was nearly eliminated in the UK a few years ago. “That means people forget about the dangers of it,” says Prof Helen Bedford, child health expert from University College London.Between one in 1,000 and one in 5,000 people who catch measles will die, so the worry is that there could be dozens of deaths from a disease that is easily preventable.There are still some who believe the fake news around the MMR jab and autism, tied to a study from 25 years ago, which is known to be completely false.Those myths have become worryingly embedded in some communities, health officials say.The legacy of that study is that thousands of young adults in their 20s, who were born soon after it was published, missed out on vaccinations because of their parents’ concerns at the time.More on this storyWhy are measles cases rising and what is the MMR vaccine?Published32 minutes agoAround the BBCBirmingham Children’s Hospital inundated with measles cases – BBC News

Published39 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ShutterstockBy Shyamantha AsokanBBC News, West MidlandsBirmingham Children’s Hospital is having to isolate measles patients to stop the disease spreading, a doctor at the hospital has said.Chris Bird, an A&E consultant, said the measures felt like going “back to Covid” in some respects.The West Midlands has seen more than 200 cases of measles since 1 October, with most of these cases in Birmingham. There have also been smaller measles outbreaks in London as national vaccination rates miss targets.Dr Bird said Birmingham Children’s Hospital was currently seeing five to seven measles cases a day, which was “pretty extraordinary” and “completely out of the normal range”.Image source, GoogleEarlier in January, the hospital said it had treated 50 cases in the past month, the highest number it had seen in years.Dr Bird said it was challenging for medics to try to isolate these patients, in order to stop the disease spreading to vulnerable children at the hospital who had weakened immune systems.”It feels a bit sort of like ‘back to Covid’,” he told told Radio 4’s Today programme, referring to measures that included screening patients on arrival and wearing masks. Why are cases rising and what is the MMR vaccine?Warning of further measles outbreaks as cases riseMeasles is highly contagious and can lead to complications that include pneumonia, meningitis, blindness, and seizures. Babies, young children, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems are more at risk.The MMR vaccine is extremely effective against measles, mumps and rubella, but in 2022-23 only only 85% of children in England had received two doses by the time they were five years old. This is the lowest level since 2010-11 and below the World Health Organization’s target of 95%.Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.ukMore on this storyPop up MMR clinics set up amid measles outbreakPublished3 days agoWhy are measles cases rising and what is the MMR vaccine?Published3 days agoChildren’s hospital inundated with measles casesPublished12 JanuaryRelated Internet LinksBirmingham Children’s HospitalThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published8 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, AFPThe world’s first routine vaccine programme against malaria has started in Cameroon, in a move projected to save thousands of children’s lives across Africa. The symbolic first jab was given to a baby girl named Daniella at a health facility near Yaoundé on Monday.Every year 600,000 people die of malaria in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).Children under five make up at least 80% of those deaths.Cameroon is offering the RTS,S vaccine free of charge to all infants up to the age of six months old.Patients require a total of four doses.The jab is known to be effective in at least 36% of cases, according to US researchers, meaning it could save over one in three lives.While the rollout is undoubtedly a relief and a life-saver, its relatively low efficacy rate means that it is not a “silver bullet”, argues Willis Akhwale at End Malaria Council Kenya.But for medics it is an important “additional tool” in the fight against malaria, says Cameroonian doctor Shalom Ndoula who helped to lead the rollout in his country.”We have a capacity to considerably reduce the number of cases and deaths from malaria and accelerate the elimination of the disease,” he told the BBC.Development of the RTS,S vaccine has taken 30 years of research by the British drug-maker GSK. The World Health Organization, which approved the vaccine, hailed the launch in Cameroon as a historic moment in the global fight against the mosquito-borne disease. It comes after successful pilot campaigns in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. Twenty other countries aim to roll out the programme this year, according to the global vaccine alliance, Gavi. Among them are Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone.The WHO says Cameroon records about six million malaria cases every year, with 4,000 deaths in health facilities – most of them children below five. Six-month-old children in 42 districts with the greatest rates of morbidity and mortality will receive four doses until the age of two.In 2021, Africa accounted for 95% of malaria cases globally and about 96% of related deaths.More on this storyCape Verde hits malaria-free statusPublished12 JanuaryA quick guide to CameroonPublished9 March 2023

The first death happened before the academic year began. In July 2021, an undergraduate student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute was reported dead. The administration sent a notice out over email, with the familiar, thoroughly vetted phrasing and appended resources. Katherine Foo, an assistant professor in the department of integrative and global studies, felt especially crushed by the news. She taught this student. He was Chinese American, and she felt connected to the particular set of pressures he faced. She read through old, anonymous course evaluations, looking for any sign she might have missed. But she was unsure where to put her personal feelings about a loss suffered in this professional context. What was the appropriate channel for processing, either with co-workers or students, the sorrow and fear that the death of a student inspired? Foo went on preparing for her fall classes. Listen to This ArticleOpen this article in the New York Times Audio app on iOS.The week before the academic year began, a second student died. A rising senior in the computer-science department who loved horticulture took his own life. This brought an intimation of disaster. One student suicide is a tragedy; two might be the beginning of a cluster. Some faculty members began to feel a tinge of dread when they stepped onto campus. Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts is a tidy New England college campus with the high-saturation landscaping typical of well-funded institutions. The hedges are beautifully trimmed, the pathways are swept clean. Red-brick buildings from the 19th century fraternize with high glass facades and renovated interiors: a new sports complex, a new “well-being” center. Students were still not allowed to congregate in large groups, so the lush quads and dining halls were eerily silent. The following Wednesday, students began classes, with the option of Zooming in from their dorms. Some W.P.I. faculty members continued scaled-down versions of teaching strategies they developed during the pandemic: prerecording lectures, holding seminars over Zoom and experimenting with ways to have lab sessions with only 12 students present. Fastening Air glasses to the heads of the 12 so everyone else could watch from their dorms had not worked very well. (The glasses ran out of battery power too soon, and they gave people headaches.) The leaves began to turn in Worcester. W.P.I. had possible risk factors for mental-health issues and suicide among the student body: Its academic culture was fast-paced and intense; the enrolled students skewed male; there was a comparatively high number of neurodivergent and introverted students who might struggle to maintain the social bonds that help protect against psychological challenges. But then, in 2021, risk factors for every type of student were elevated.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? 

Image source, Dr Rashid RiazJosh SandifordBBC News, West MidlandsPublished22 January 2024, 06:13 GMTUpdated 37 minutes agoA doctor used an Apple Watch to aid an elderly woman who suffered a medical emergency on a flight.NHS doctor Rashid Riaz, from Hereford, was travelling by Ryanair from Birmingham to Verona for a skiing holiday.During the journey on 9 January, the woman, in her 70s, experienced shortness of breath, with the cabin crew then asking whether there was a healthcare worker on board.Dr Riaz, 43, stepped forward to help, and, borrowing the device from a flight attendant, was able to use its native health-monitoring software to gauge the patient’s oxygen levels.He said he discovered the woman had a history of heart issues, having spoken to her in her native Urdu, reassuring her husband when she initially did not respond to his queries.The doctor knew the wrist-worn technology could further assist his medical inquiries, but he was not wearing his own device, which is when he sought one from staff. “The Apple Watch helped me find out the patient had low oxygen saturation,” the medic explained. The Apple website,

Published6 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingBy Jen SmithBBC South West health correspondentResearchers from Devon believe the healing properties of watercress could pave the way for new skin treatments.Dr Kyle Stewart, a Paignton GP, said he began looking into the benefits of the vegetable after seeing an extreme case of nappy rash.He teamed up with Prof Paul Winyard, a biochemist from the University of Exeter, to carry out the research.The pair believe a chemical compound found in watercress could help treat nappy rash, dermatitis and eczema.They have launched three skincare products in the hope sales fund ongoing research into inflammatory skin conditions.The aim is to get approval from the UK medicines regulator for the treatment of skin problems, they said.’Really interesting compounds’Dr Stewart said he began his research a decade ago after seeing a child who was septic from infected nappy rash during a stint as a junior doctor at Torbay Hospital.”I was interested in the biochemistry of disease, so I started to have a read about what actually causes nappy rash,” he said.”I read that there was an enzyme called urease that makes ammonia … the literature said there were some plants that have high levels of urease inhibitors – one of those was watercress.”He said his early experiments on the plant were at his mother’s house in Exeter.”We knew watercress had these really interesting compounds and chemicals in, we just didn’t know how to get them out,” he said.”It turns out that we managed to do it in the kitchen after lots of trial and error.”Dr Stewart then approached Prof Winyard, who specialises in inflammation, for help.”The thing I’ve really liked about this project, is that it’s a clinical problem that’s been presented to me, where I was asked can I use my scientific expertise to solve a real-world problem” Prof Winyard said.”So often in laboratories we’re there doing experiments and then looking for how we can apply this science, where in this case it was our job to address how to solve this skincare problem.”‘Exciting to see’The pair began working with The Watercress Company near Dorchester, Dorset, for the supply of excess stock.Once the crop is brought to Exeter, research is carried out in one of the university’s labs, before it is taken to their own biorefinery at the city’s Skypark.It is then converted into extract in significant quantities, Prof Winyard said, before being sent to Tiverton for testing, bottling and labelling of the skincare product. Quality control takes place at a laboratory in Paignton. Prof Winyard said the range, called Prof&Doc, was “very much a South West story”.”It’s exciting to see what more is possible here,” he said. Dr Stewart added: “In the background we’re also developing what we hope will be new medicines from the learning that we’ve undertaken.”Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.More on this storyMedical students pioneer use of diverse skin tonesPublished6 October 2023Sister creates device to ease brother’s eczemaPublished17 October 2023My four-year wait to see an NHS dermatologistPublished28 November 2023Concern over focus on skin colour in newborn checksPublished12 July 2023Related Internet LinksUniversity of ExeterThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published16 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Oscar Wong/Getty ImagesBy Aurelia Foster and Eve WebsterHealth reporter, BBC NewsHealthcare workers are being told not to report women to the police if they believe their patients may have illegally ended their own pregnancy.The Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (RCOG) says “deeply traumatised” women are being prosecuted following abortions.By law, patients’ data must not be disclosed without their consent.The new guidance follows a recent rise in police investigations into abortions.The RCOG says these cases are rare, however, and it is encouraging women to seek medical help if needed.NHS staff can breach confidentiality rules to give information to the police about possible crimes, but only if it is in the “public interest”. The RCOG says it is “never” in the public interest to report women who have abortions, and that they must be safeguarded.In the first official guidance issued of its kind, a healthcare worker must “justify” any disclosure of patient data or “face potential fitness to practice proceedings”.The organisation says it is “concerned” by the rising number of police investigations following abortions and pregnancy loss, and the effect this might have on “especially vulnerable” patients.Dr Jonathan Lord, RCOG’s medical director, told the BBC: “A law that was originally designed to protect a woman is now being used against her.”We have witnessed life-changing harm to women and their wider families as a direct result of NHS staff reporting women suspected of crimes, and we just don’t think that would happen in other areas of healthcare.”We deal with the most vulnerable groups who may be concerned about turning to regulated healthcare at all, and we need them to trust us”.Dr Lord said he believed some NHS staff had shared information with police because they were “ignorant” about confidentiality regulations.What are the UK’s abortion laws?Image source, PA MediaPolice investigationsIn 2022, the number of suspected illegal abortions logged with police forces in England and Wales rose to 29, from 16 in 2018.Abortions are legal in England if they are performed by a registered medical practitioner and take place within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Otherwise, it is illegal to deliberately end a pregnancy and, under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, it carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.Last year, six women were prosecuted in England on suspicion of breaking abortion law, according to the RCOG, compared with just three in the previous 20 years. It is believed their information may have been handed to police by medical staff.Dr Lord said many women who had been investigated had in fact had late miscarriages, or had been later in their pregnancy than they had realised when they had had terminations.Recent prosecutions include that of Carla Foster, who was jailed for procuring her own abortion in 2020, and Bethany Cox from Teesside, who was cleared of the same charge earlier this month.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said cases such as these were very rare: “We carefully consider the personal circumstances of those who end their pregnancy outside the legal parameters and address these as sensitively as possible.”Our prosecutors have a duty to ensure that laws set by Parliament are properly considered and applied when making difficult charging decisions.”The RCOG says it supports an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, which would have the effect of protecting women from prosecution for having abortions.A government spokesperson told the BBC: “It is important that all women have access to safe and legal abortions on the NHS…”We understand this is an extremely sensitive issue and we recognise the strongly held views on all sides of the discussion. “That is why, by longstanding convention, any change to the law in this area would be a matter of conscience for individual MPs rather than the government.”The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has been approached for comment.More on this storyWoman found not guilty of ‘home abortion’Published9 JanuaryMother jailed over lockdown abortion to be releasedPublished18 July 2023Senior Tory MP calls for abortion law rethinkPublished13 June 2023’Stillborn babies should have legal rights’Published19 May 2023No strong case for changing abortion rules – RaabPublished29 June 2022How do the UK’s abortion laws compare?Published22 October 2019Related Internet LinksWelcome to GOV.UKThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Scientists working on biological design should focus on the idiosyncrasies of biological systems over optimisation, according to new research.
In a study, published today in Science Advances, researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Ghent have shown how exploring the unknown may be the crucial step needed to realise the continual innovation needed for the biotechnologies of the future.
Recognising the role of open-endedness in achieving this goal and its growing importance in fields like computer science and evolutionary biology, the team mapped out how open-endedness is linked to bioengineering practice today and what would be required to achieve it in the lab.
For success, algorithms used for biological design should not solely focus on moving toward a specific goal — such as better yield – but also consider the creation and maintenance of novelty and diversity in the solutions that have been found.
Dr Thomas Gorochowski, co-author and Royal Society University Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at Bristol, explained: “When we try to design a complex biological process, it’s often tempting to just tweak something that partially works rather than take the risk of trying something completely new.
“In this work we highlight that in these situations the best solutions often come from unexpected directions, because we don’t always fully understand how everything works. With biology, there are lots of unknowns and so we need a vast and diverse toolkit of building blocks to ensure we have the best chance of finding the solution we need.”
Professor Michiel Stock, lead author from Ghent University, added: “Biological systems have a natural capacity for innovation that has led to the overwhelming biodiversity we see in nature today.

“Our own attempts to engineer biology, in contrast, lack this creativity — they are far more rigid, less imaginative, and often doesn’t make the best use of what biology is capable of.
“With all life around us originating from the open-ended process of evolution, wouldn’t it be awesome if we could harness some of that power for our own biological designs.”
The ability to create new biotechnologies is becoming increasingly important for tackling global challenges spanning the sustainable production of chemicals, materials and food, to advanced therapeutics to combat emerging diseases. Fueling this progress are innovations in how biology can be harnessed in new ways. This work supports this goal by offering a fresh direction for new research and design approaches.
The study was made possible due to a travel grant from the FWO Flanders and funding from the Royal Society, BBSRC and EPSRC.