23-05-2025
The Prototype: New Bacteria Discovered On Chinese Space Station
In this week's edition of The Prototype, we look at whether we should worry about spaceborne bacteria, a clinical trial for regenerating nerves after a traumatic injury, a new class of electronics and more. You can sign up to get The Prototype in your inbox here.
A Chinese spacecraft returning from the Tiangong space station
A previously unknown strain of bacteria is living on Chain's Tiangong space station, according to a study published this week. The new microorganisms were discovered on swabs taken from the station. The news immediately brought the novel (and movie) The Andromeda Strain into my brain, which is about a disease that makes it to Earth from space by way of a government satellite.
Luckily, Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, reassured me that any microorganisms found in space aren't likely to cause a new pandemic. 'It's important to remember that the vast, vast majority of bacterial organisms are not going to cause any harm,' he said.
One thing to consider about these types of microbes, he said, is that their ability to adapt to one extreme environment does not mean they will thrive in another environment that it's not adapted to.' And to determine whether such an organism might pose a disease risk, it's important to consider whether they can survive in human bodies. If they can, do they even cause any harm? Odds are, they don't, he said. 'Most bacteria that live on or in us aren't harmful,' he said.
Even if a new microorganism adapted to space or some other environment were to cause disease, humans still wouldn't necessarily be helpless, Adalja said. That's because lots of microorganisms share characteristics with each other, meaning the study of a new pathogen's data, like its DNA, can help researchers determine ways to find a treatment or vaccine.
Stay tuned.
Auxilium Biotechnologies
Over 300,000 people every year experience an accident that causes damage to their peripheral nerves–those that exist outside of the brain and spinal cord. These injuries can be serious and lead to disability in some cases. There's no easy way to treat them, either. When repairs are possible, they often require surgically grafting a portion of a healthy nerve from another part of the body to the injured one. Sometimes that canlead to difficult complications and side effects like chronic pain.
San Diego-based Auxilium Biotechnologies has a different approach. It's developed a device it calls a NeuroSpan Bridge, which it hopes will enable damaged nerves to regenerate into health. It does this by physically guiding the nerves to grow in a single direction to repair the damage. The company announced this week that it will begin a clinical trial of 80 nerve trauma patients with its device.
Nerves do actually regenerate naturally, CEO and cofounder Jacob Koffler, who is also a professor of neuroscience at UC San Diego, told me. But the problem is that 'the nerve goes wherever it wants,' he said. It doesn't necessarily reconnect with the rest of the healthy nerve. 'What we bring to the table is a technology that organizes regeneration' by guiding the regenerated nerves directly to the healthy one. The company has already successfully demonstrated the device in mice, so humans are the next step.
The clinical trial will take about a year, Koffler said. If results are good, the company would then work to seek a green light from the FDA to commercialize its device.
Scientists at Rutgers University have created 'intercrystals' - a new substance that could power the electronics of the future. It consists of two layers of graphene, each one atom thick, which are laid on top of a crystal made from boron and nitrogen. The result is a structural pattern in the chemistry that allows a very efficient transmission of electrons that can be refined on the atomic level. The researchers behind the discovery say it could someday lead to more efficient electronics materials such as sensors or transistors. Even more importantly–all the components are cheap. 'Because these structures can be made out of abundant, non-toxic elements such as carbon, boron and nitrogen, rather than rare earth elements, they also offer a more sustainable and scalable pathway for future technologies,' researcher Eva Andrei said in a press release about the discovery.
NASA says that a 'cumulative multi-year budget reduction' will force cutbacks in crew size and scientific research on board the International Space Station. NASA is currently considering operating the U.S. portion of the station with a three person crew, rather than four. There are also fewer planned cargo flights to the International Space Station, which will reduce revenues for contractors like SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. It's not clear yet whether NASA will be able to continue to support private missions to the ISS, such as those from SpaceX purchased by Axiom Space.
I wrote about Abel Avellan, whose company AST SpaceMobile is taking on SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Project Kuiper in the battle to provide broadband satellite internet directly to your smartphone. This would enable connectivity in remote areas and help the over 2.6 billion people who currently lack regular internet access o get online.
In my other newsletter, InnovationRx, Amy Feldman and I looked at the FDA's new COVID-19 vaccine rules, Novartis's acquisition strategy, Medtronic's diabetes spinoff, Regeneron's purchase of 23AndMe, and more.
Recycling electronics might get easier thanks to researchers at the University of Helsinki, who figured out a way to extract silver from old electronics with used cooking oil.
Funding for scientific research is at its lowest point in 35 years, reports the New York Times, with nearly every field being impacted by the slowdown in grants from the National Science Foundation.
Energy infrastructure projects tend to be over budget and behind schedule, a new study finds. Nuclear power plants are the worst offenders. If you want the best bang for your energy investment buck, build a solar power project–they tend to finish under budget or ahead of schedule.
Researchers built a new kind of lithium battery that works by pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Previous attempts at this kind of chemistry tended to be expensive and not work well, but the new version could allow them to scale cheaply. And good news for Elon Musk–they're ideal for Mars, where the atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide.
One of the downfalls of restrictive dieting to lose weight is that pretty soon you start craving certain foods–and once you give in after prolonged abstinence, you may start binging, which can derail your diet completely. A new study suggests a better way: eat what you crave. During the study, a group of people on a diet were encouraged to include the foods they love, even junk food, into otherwise balanced meals. That group of people not only lost more weight, they also reported fewer food cravings than those who didn't incorporate such foods into their meal plans.
One of the comforts of the streaming era is the chance to finally get around to shows that you missed the first time. Right now, for example, I'm watching Boardwalk Empire, which aired on HBO from 2009 to 2014. The series is centered on organized crime and corruption in Atlantic City during the Prohibition era, using real-life characters like Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. Steve Buscemi is excellent in the lead role and it's a great watch for anyone who's into a good mob drama. All episodes are streaming on Max–or HBO Max–or whatever we're calling it now.
