New tech could repair damaged neurons.
Stanford researchers have developed a technology that may lead to potential treatments targeting neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and spinal muscular atrophy. When a neuron in our body is damaged, segments of RNA produce proteins that can help to repair the injury. However, in some degenerative neurological disorders—or following spinal cord injuries—the mechanism for moving RNA to the injury site fails, and the damage becomes permanent. The new technology uses a version of the gene-editing tool CRISPR, but not to edit genetic code. “CRISPR-Cas13 naturally acts like a pair of scissors, but we engineered it to act like a mailman instead,” said Stanley Qi, an associate professor of bioengineering and senior author on the paper. “Then we can tell it to carry the RNA from one precise location to another,” allowing RNA to facilitate neuron repair or regrowth. Qi hopes the technology will lead to treatments for neurological diseases and traumatic injuries.
A pivotal time for universities.
At last week’s annual meeting of Stanford’s Academic Council, university president Jonathan Levin, ’94, said that higher education faces an “extraordinary moment” as universities navigate complexities related to civil discourse, academic freedom, and AI, alongside challenges to federal research funding, institutional autonomy, and public trust. His full remarks can be read here. During a panel discussion, Hoover Institution director Condoleezza Rice spoke about the public misperception of elite institutions, emphasizing that many Stanford students come from non-elite backgrounds and are often the first in their families to attend college. And Yvonne “Bonnie” Maldonado, MD ’81, senior associate dean of faculty development and engagement at the School of Medicine, stressed the importance of communicating the societal value of research to lawmakers. “We’re all dedicated to making sure that we improve the health of not only people in the U.S. but around the world,” she said.
A few days before, Levin sat down with the Daily to answer questions about the university’s response to recent actions taken by the federal government. He discussed two lawsuits Stanford is party to; Stanford’s commitment to fully honor its financial commitments to graduate students, regardless of federal grant status; the value of international students; and his hope that the government continues its economically beneficial support for research. “We obviously have to engage now in the current environment,” Levin said, “but our goal should be: How, in five years or 10 years, do universities establish a broad base of support in this country, so that it doesn’t matter what political party is in power . . . enough people support us and believe in what we do—and the value we’ve created for the country—that we have great support, and we can continue with our mission.”
Working sew hard.
Photo: Harry Gregory
Stanford students work hard, but they also serve hard. During Spring into Service, more than 180 students participated in service projects, including sewing pillowcases for dog beds and binding journals for K-12 students. With spring quarter in full swing, participant Rose Garcia, ’28, appreciated that students could apply their powers of procrastination toward helping others. “By filling others’ cups, we can fill our own.”
How proteins might predict Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers have identified a biomarker in spinal fluid that could gauge a person’s risk of developing dementia and how quickly their condition may progress. Using machine learning, researchers analyzed spinal-fluid samples from 3,300 people across six major Alzheimer’s research cohorts, testing thousands of proteins in different combinations. They homed in on the ratio between two (YWHAG and NPTX2, in case you want to whip out some scientific details at a summer barbecue). Both proteins have to do with regulating activity at synapses, the junctions where neurons communicate. Participants with a higher proportion of YWHAG were more likely to experience cognitive decline—and the increase was detectable up to 20 years before the first signs of memory loss. In the near term, the discovery could make clinical trials for Alzheimer’s more robust by enabling researchers to select participants more likely to struggle with cognition. Down the road, it could lead to a new treatment. Higher relative levels of the NPTX2 protein appear to help maintain brain function in the face of disease, so “restoring it might promote cognitive resilience,” said Tony Wyss-Coray, a professor of neurology and neurological sciences and a senior author of the study. “That’s a question we’re now excited to pursue.”
Worth a glam.
Renee Cafaro, ’03, has always loved fashion, but the industry didn’t love her back. As a teen, she got the message that “there was kind of no place for the fat girl in fashion,” she told Stanford magazine. After struggling to find clothes she loved for work or vacation, she took the matter into her own hands, designing a dress that had a built-in bra, an adjustable hemline, and a flexible neckline. She calls it the Game Changer, and it now sells under RCA Public Label (primarily sizes 16 to 32), one of two fashion brands Cafaro has founded in the past five years. Its parent company, Renee Cafaro Atelier, makes custom couture. Cafaro’s designs have been featured on Fashion Week runways, and she dressed an award-winning producer for the 2023 Academy Awards.
Waste not.
Stanford researchers have developed specialized resins that can separate harmful chemicals and compounds from wastewater. The resins work much like the beads in a Brita water filter and could be used to both purify drinking water and recover valuable products, such as ammonia for fertilizer. With the global demand for drinkable water projected to exceed supply by 40 percent by 2030, the project has the potential to make water treatment cheaper, more efficient, and possibly profitable. “Wastewater treatment plants are increasingly being reconceptualized as water resource recovery facilities that achieve multiple co-benefits at once,” said William Tarpeh, ’12, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and one of the project’s principal investigators. Resins are already widely used in water treatment plants, so this technology could be integrated into existing infrastructure. In the future, the team could potentially design resins to filter perfluoroalkylated substances, or “forever chemicals,” out of water supplies. Tarpeh is working with other campus labs to make the development and testing of such resins faster and cheaper.
But wait, there’s more.
Students with swagger: Undergrads have been teaching line dancing on the Old Union patio, hosted by the Stanford Rural Engagement Network in partnership with the student-run On Call Café.
How healthy is the gut microbiome of a New York Times restaurant critic? Two Stanford scientists were enlisted to help find out.
Stanford has named the Science and Engineering Quad for Robert Rosenkranz, a philanthropist who is helping to advance the science, technology, engineering, and medicine fields as well as the science of extending the human health span, or staying healthier for longer.
Researchers have found that a promising cancer treatment using CAR-T cells can cause the same “brain fog” as chemotherapy and COVID-19. The breakthrough also identified compounds that may help reverse mild cognitive impairment.
“What if we brought the Met Gala to Stanford?” The inaugural La Soirée Cardinale was held at the Cantor Arts Center and the Anderson Collection last week. The event, attended by approximately 1,700 students, was hosted by FashionX, the museums, and Stanford Cardinal Nights, providing guests with an opportunity to dress up and celebrate the artistic community at Stanford.
June Book Nook reading recs are here, including novels by Erin Crosby Eckstine, MA ’17, and Robert Baird, ’00; and a collection of medical tales from neurologist Priya Anand, MD ’14.
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