Training neural circuits early in development improves response, study finds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When it comes to training neural circuits for tissue engineering or biomedical applications, a new study suggests a key parameter: Train them young. Techniques for training engineered neural circuits usually involve training them after the cells have fully matured. Using light-sensitive neurons derived from mouse stem cells, researchers at the University of…

Unveiled: A channel SARS-CoV-2 may use to proceed with viral replication in the host cell

By visualizing coronavirus replication in an infected host cell, researchers may have answered a long-standing question about how newly synthesized coronavirus components are able to be incorporated into fully infectious viruses. Their work uncovers a coronavirus-specific structure in cells that may be a target for much-needed antiviral strategies against this family of viruses. Coronaviruses replicate…

Major U.S. Health Insurers Report Big Profits, Benefiting From the Pandemic

The nation’s leading health insurers are experiencing an embarrassment of profits. Some of the largest companies, including Anthem, Humana and UnitedHealth Group, are reporting second-quarter earnings that are double what they were a year ago. And while insurance profits are capped under the Affordable Care Act, with the requirement that consumers should benefit from such…