New in the world of technology. Blog “promising developments, R&D, inventions
If you take you back to the mid-90s, it will take you a very long time to get used to life there. And it’s not a fact that you’ll get used to it. The point is not that the dollar then cost 3,926 rubles, but that it was a world without widespread Internet and without mobile phones. We decided to figure out which technologies will also change our reality in the coming years.
1.
We initially liked Google Glass with its augmented reality and ability to capture everything you see, but then we realized that it had one big problem. It's not the price or the software, but the fact that Google Glass makes anyone look like a complete idiot. By the way, people from Google also understood this - they invited a designer from Apple and sent the product for revision. But while the glasses are being completed, it may turn out that no one will need them anymore, because “smart” contact lenses are on the way.
Less pretentious and noticeable to others, they are capable of giving a person Terminator-like super vision. Thus, the Innovega company, which once worked on a project of such lenses for the US military in collaboration with the DARPA agency, now plans to release a civilian version called iOptik.
With these lenses, of course, you won’t be able, like Schwarzenegger’s hero, to immediately determine whether your opponent’s clothing size will suit you in a fight, but you will receive email and messages from social networks right in your eye, and also see navigator tips right on the way to Sarah Connor. In addition, these “smart” lenses, like their regular counterparts, will correct your vision: you will be able to read signs on the street even from a skyscraper window (they promise that iOptik will have a built-in zoom).
And since we started this article with Google products, we’ll end with it - in addition to the mentioned glasses, this company is also working on lenses. Google is testing a model for diabetics: a system is built into the lenses that checks the sugar level in a person's tears every second and sends the data to a smartphone. Perhaps in the future it will be able to display the sugar level directly on the picture that a person sees with the eye, just like in a computer game you see the health status of your hero.
Expected: in 2020
Possible problems: and now about the sad thing - at the moment, for full-fledged operation, iOptik “smart” lenses need glasses with built-in projectors, which display all the additional information on their surface. Well, at least you don’t have to carry a backpack with batteries with you.
2.
The sky outside your window will soon become much noisier - drones will deliver mail, parcels and purchases from stores. However, that’s why we’ll better tell you what will happen to this food next. Scanners are coming that will be able to tell in detail exactly how much of certain useful substances are contained in what you are about to eat.
It will be easier than ever to control your diet. The Israeli company Consumer Physics is ready to begin production of such gadgets, called SciO, as soon as it raises $200,000 on a crowdfunding platform.
A device the size of a flash card will understand from the light reflected from the product what it consists of, and, after checking with the cloud service, via Bluetooth it will display the exact composition on the screen of your smartphone. Finally, it will be possible to check how environmentally friendly “farm products” are.
Expected: in 2017
Possible problems: There don’t seem to be any problems with the scanner, but as far as drones are concerned, things are not so rosy. Already, robot flights are banned in some cities, and given the ever-increasing security measures, it will not be easy for them to get the green light.
3.
Virtual reality is becoming more and more real, and headsets like the Oculus Rift are proof of this. Soon it will be possible, wearing special glasses or a helmet, to instantly not only see the most distant countries from your sofa, but also feel their aroma. Harvard University professor David Edwards, in partnership with his student Rachelle Field, has already shown a device called oPhone, which can form up to 300,000 odors from special cartridges, so this future is just around the corner.
“Virtual leisure can be an excellent way to relieve stress,” says Professor Karol Żliczyński from the Silesian University of Technology. - Research shows that a virtual walk is even more relaxing than a regular one.
Expected: in 2017
Possible problems: It is better to refrain from using it when watching porn and horror films.
4.
Arkady Raikin also called for attaching a dynamo to the ballerina’s leg so that it would generate current. And he was right. “Our bodies are constantly producing energy, some of which is wasted,” says Dr Joe Briscoe from Queen Mary University of London. “If we could use at least part of it, the problem of unexpectedly dead phones would be solved.”
Dr. Briscoe is experimenting with piezoelectric materials that generate energy when they are stretched or compressed. This technology also has a second advantage - clothing made from such materials allows you to track every movement of a person, which can be useful when caring for the sick or monitoring criminals under house arrest.
Expected: in the coming year
Possible problems: For now, the material turns out to be quite hard and unpleasant for the body, so such clothes will not suit either ballerinas or athletes.
5.
Evgeny Leonov’s hero in “Big Change” also tried to study in his sleep. It didn't work out for him. And you might succeed.
Dream analysis was useful in Freud's time, but your dream may serve you differently in the future. Neurological studies show that learning in sleep is real, the main thing is to synchronize it with the phases of a person’s sleep (and today even fitness bracelets have learned to track them). How about learning kung fu using the Neo system from The Matrix?
During sleep, the brain structures and “organizes” the knowledge acquired during the day, and it is quite possible to influence this process, stimulating neurons and strengthening memory.
Expected: in 2030
Possible problems: Most likely, it will not be possible to completely shift learning to sleep time, and at night we will only be able to consolidate previously learned material.
6.
"Green" ways of generating electricity are already saving the planet, but this does not reflect in any way on your electricity bills. But never mind, soon everything will fall into place: environmentally friendly current will flow into your sockets, and “green” (and this time we’re talking about dollars) will flow into your pockets.
Draw a meter by meter square on the wall next to the window of your apartment. One fine (and not too distant) day, as soon as the sun floods it with its light, you will receive a flow of electricity capable of lighting 7 100-watt light bulbs.
Scientists are now close to creating a paint that replaces solar panels, which could supply your home with energy, and possibly money (if you decide to sell excess electricity to your neighbors). This paint contains so-called quantum dots - microscopic conductors or semiconductors. When it goes on sale, you will be able to read with a smile the news that “tariffs for the population will grow at a faster pace in 2017–18.”
Expected: in 2019
Possible problems: So far, the efficiency of the paint is 15–20 times lower than that of conventional solar panels.
7.
Scientists will soon be able to grow new legs, lungs, fingers or scalps with hair directly on the patient's body. You don't have much in common with an amphibian. Alas. Cut off her leg and it will grow back, fully functional and absolutely healthy. Perform the same trick on you, and the result will be tragic.
Scientists believe this is temporary. They are working on a technology for growing spare parts based on the patient's own stem cells directly on his body. If now, after a donor organ transplant, a person has to take drugs that suppress the immune system for the rest of his life, then it will be much easier for the body to get used to an organ or limb obtained from its own cells. Especially if transplant surgery is not required.
In the summer of 2015, biotechnologists from the Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University were able to obtain a fully functional rat's paw in a few weeks, and they are much more proud of it than the kidneys, lungs and heart that were previously recreated using a similar algorithm.
The fact is that the paw (read - leg or arm) is more complex, as it consists of muscles, bones, cartilage, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels, but everything went well. And although this paw grew in a test tube, in the future there are plans to transfer this process to the patient's body.
“Already today we see almost unlimited potential for creating any part of the human body,” says Dr David Pan, director of the research program at the British Regenerative Medicine Platform. “The goal is to learn how to use the patient’s own stem cells to repair cells or tissues on site, which could revolutionize transplantation, because the very need to do transplants of anything will disappear. This will be a revolution in medicine!”
Expected: in 2025
Possible problems: for the foreseeable future, such treatments will be very expensive. Even small “spare parts” for experimental rodents cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
8.
Late diagnosis and improper treatment are the main killers on our planet. It's time to send them to three letters - DNA. It could be just a dust allergy, or it could be dengue fever, syphilis or the Ebola virus. Fears of disease may become a thing of the past, along with unpleasant medical procedures like gastro- or colonoscopy, which will seem as barbaric as bloodletting seems today.
The era of DNA medicine is coming. The UK National Health Service (NHS) has committed £300,000,000 to the massive 100,000 Genomes Project, which will sequence the genomes of 100,000 people with cancer or a rare inherited disease. Similar projects, but on a smaller scale, exist in other countries. Their goal is not only to learn to notice signs of a future disease at the earliest possible stages, but also to select the most effective means of combating it based on the patient’s DNA.
Dr. Jeff Barrett, a genetics researcher at the Sanger Institute, believes our DNA will replace traditional medical records, allowing doctors to get all the information they need about what's going on inside you without having to invade your body through the front or back door. .
Expected: in 2022
Possible problems: DNA databases will become a new target for criminals, because they will allow them to blackmail people and even kill them without weapons, selecting individual poisons that may consist of completely harmless substances.
9.
The flu mutates year after year, so we never have a vaccine that guarantees complete protection. While scientists are developing a new one, the disease itself is changing. This was the case, but soon everything will change: a medicine is already in development that affects the proteins in the core of the virus, through which the disease spreads throughout your body. If everything works out, the new medicine will nip the flu in the bud, and you won’t even notice how you got infected and recovered.
Expected: in 2023
Possible problems: you'll have to find a new excuse for missing work.
10.
As you know, all restrictions and boundaries are in your head. Turn it off, and your results in sports will increase; it’s not for nothing that violent crazy people sometimes show strength and invulnerability that Superman himself would envy. However, even sensible people are capable of unexpected feats at certain moments. For example, when their life is in danger.
If Rocky had used a real angry tiger while training instead of the song Eye of the Tiger, he would have run up not only the stairs, but the wall of the building. And that's a fact. The body always reserves a certain amount of energy for emergencies.
Scientists are now looking for ways to easily access this NT. If they succeed, perhaps we, at will, will be able to not only instantly open a second wind, but we will even learn to slow down time for ourselves, as happens in the case of great danger, when in seconds you manage to remember the smallest details.
Expected: in 2019
Possible problems: Some techniques are being tested, but their safety for your health is still in question.
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Anton Ivanov
Illustrations
2016 was rich in high-profile scientific discoveries and spectacular technical achievements. The discoveries are widely covered in the media, and the most interesting new gadgets were demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). For 50 years now it has been a launching pad for innovation and hi-end technologies.
December has arrived and it's time to sum it up the most interesting results of 2016 in science and technology.
10. Multicellular life is the result of genetic mutation
The GK-PID molecule allows cells to divide, avoiding malignant formations. At the same time, the ancient gene, an analogue of GK-PID, was a building enzyme necessary for the creation of DNA. Scientists have suggested that in some ancient single-celled organism 800 million years ago the GK gene was duplicated, one of the copies of which then mutated. This caused the appearance of the GK-PID molecule, which allowed cells to divide correctly. This is how multicellular organisms appeared9. New prime number
It became 2^74,207,281 – 1. The discovery is useful for cryptography problems where both very complex and simple Mersenne numbers are used (49 of them were discovered in total).8. Planet Nine
Scientists from the California Institute of Technology have provided evidence that there is a ninth planet in the solar system. Its orbital period is 15,000 years. However, due to its colossal orbit, not a single astronomer was able to see this planet.7. Eternal data storage
This 2016 invention was made possible thanks to nanostructured glass, on which information is recorded using ultra-high-speed short and laser pulses. The glass disk holds up to 360 TB of data and can withstand temperatures up to a thousand degrees.6. Relationship between the blind eye and four-toed vertebrates
A fish called the Taiwan blind eye, which can crawl along walls, has been found to have anatomical abilities similar to amphibians or reptiles. This discovery will allow biologists to better study how the process of transformation of prehistoric fish into terrestrial tetrapods took place.5. Vertical landing of a space rocket
Typically, spent rocket stages either fall into the ocean or burn up in the atmosphere. Now they can be used for subsequent projects. The launch process will be significantly faster and cheaper, and the time between launches will be reduced.4. Cybernetic implant
A special chip implanted into the brain of a completely paralyzed man has restored his ability to move his fingers. It sends signals to a glove worn on the subject's hand, which contains electrical wires that stimulate certain muscles and cause the fingers to move.3. Stem cells will help people after a stroke
Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine injected human stem cells into the brains of 18 volunteers who had suffered a stroke. All subjects showed improvement in mobility and general well-being.2. Carbon dioxide stones
Icelandic scientists pumped carbon dioxide into volcanic rock. Thanks to this, the process of transforming basalt into carbonate minerals (later becoming limestone) took only 2 years, instead of hundreds and thousands of years. This discovery will make it possible to store carbon dioxide underground or use it for construction needs without releasing it into the atmosphere.1. Another Moon
NASA has discovered an asteroid that was captured by Earth's gravity. Now it is in its orbit, in fact being the second natural satellite of the planet.List of unusual new gadgets of 2016 (CES)
10. Casio WSD-F10 smart watch
This waterproof and very durable gadget works at a depth of up to 50 meters. The “brain” of the watch is the Android Wear OS. can synchronize with Android and iOS devices.9. Spherical drone
The drone's blades may injure the owner or bystanders. To deal with this problem, FLEYE created a drone with a spherical design. Its blades are hidden, which means they are completely safe.8. Arke 3D printer
Mcor has introduced a desktop device that allows you to print color 3D models using regular office paper. Print resolution is 4800x2400DPI.7. Garmin Augmented Reality Device
Varia Vision is a special display for cyclists placed on sunglasses. It not only informs you about your heart rate and blood pressure, but also helps you plan the optimal route.6. Origami drone
The new paper product from POWERUP is controlled via Wi-Fi and can be equipped with an augmented reality helmet.5. Virtual reality helmet from HTC
The HTC Vive Pre helmet allows you to physically move around objects in virtual space. The device claims: improved display brightness with greater detail and a built-in camera that allows the gadget to work in augmented reality mode.4. LG SIGNATURE G6V Super Slim OLED TV
LG engineers integrated the OLED screen of the 65-inch TV model into 2.57 mm thick glass. Thanks to the stated color depth of 10 bits, the TV can display fantastically colorful images.3. Solar Grill
The GoSun grill has a unique design that directs sunlight towards a cylinder that can heat up to 290 degrees in 10 or 20 minutes (depending on model).2. Passenger drone EHang 184
The stylish new technology of 2016 will be able to carry one passenger for 23 minutes at a speed of 100 km/h. The destination is indicated on the tablet.1. Flexible screen for a smartphone from LG Display
In the first position of the top 10 is a prototype of an 18-inch screen that can be folded like a sheet of paper. This type of futuristic display is promising for use in smartphones, TVs and tablets.An international team of physicists has discovered why beta decays in atomic nuclei occur more slowly than in free neutrons. Scientists have been struggling to solve this mystery for 50 years, according to a press release on Phys.org. Researchers studied the transformation of the isotope tin-100 into indium-100. These two elements have the same...
2019-03-12 214 0 Scientific discoveries
Physicists from the USA and China have for the first time calculated the contributions to the proton mass associated with various effects. For calculations performed within the framework of lattice QCD, scientists used the Titan supercomputer with a performance of about 27 petaflops. As a result, the researchers found that the quark condensate provides about..
2019-02-26 274 0 Scientific discoveries
Physicists from Germany proposed using electromagnetic waves with azimuthal polarization to overcome the diffraction limit and accurately measure the position of a nanoparticle on a glass substrate. By observing the scattering of such waves on a spherical particle, scientists were able to record a displacement of just...
2019-02-26 210 0 Scientific discoveries
The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator proved its performance in a series of experiments conducted in 2016-2017 - the plasma-destabilizing booster current was reduced by almost four times, and the plasma confinement time was increased to 160 milliseconds. This is currently the best result among stellarators. ..
2018-06-04 22052 0 Scientific discoveries
Physicists at the University of Maryland have discovered an exotic superconductor, YPtBi, inside which electrons interact with each other to form high-spin quasiparticles. This was reported in the journal Science Advances. Scientists analyzed the electronic structure of a material made from yttrium, platinum..
2018-04-10 7137 0 Scientific discoveries
Physicists from Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have identified the mechanism of operation of the anomalous superconductor strontium titanate, which is capable of conducting electricity without resistance despite the fact that it is not a metal. Science Alert reports this. Strontium titanate is an oxide, however...
2018-03-27 5168 0 Scientific discoveries
Mathematicians from the University of California at Berkeley have found a condition for the existence of naked singularities in black holes, in which the laws of physics are violated. This conclusion calls into question the strong principle of cosmic censorship, when a naked singularity should be unattainable for any...
2018-03-06 5893 0 Scientific discoveries
Neurologists from the Charite University Hospital in Berlin have revealed the processes occurring in the human brain during the dying process. It turned out that the “brain tsunami” - a wave of depolarization of nerve cells that spreads uncontrollably across the cerebral cortex and causes the death of neurons - can be blocked. ..
2018-03-06 5831 0 Scientific discoveries
American physicists were the first to experimentally register bound states of three photons. The formation of trimers, unusual for photons, occurs when a laser beam passes through a cloud of cooled rubidium atoms due to the formation of intermediate polariton states, scientists write in Science. In contrast..
2018-02-18 4333 0 Scientific discoveries
Scientists at Northwestern University in the US have found that terminally ill people suffering from Huntington's chorea have an 80 percent reduced risk of cancer. It turned out that tumor cells are sensitive to a defective form of the huntingtin protein, which also causes the death of nerve cells. This is reported...
2018-02-14 5146 0 Scientific discoveries
Biologists from Moscow State University have discovered a “molecular timer” - a special mechanism for regulating protein synthesis that prevents the formation of abnormal molecules through stuck ribosomes. According to scientists, the discovery will help create therapeutic methods to combat cancer. This was reported in a press release...
2018-02-05 4641 0 Scientific discoveries
Scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg have deciphered the genome of one of the simplest multicellular life forms - the green algae Tetrabaena socialis, consisting of four cells. This made it possible to identify the genetic mechanisms that contributed to the emergence of multicellularity. An article by biologists was published in the journal..
2018-02-05 4005 0 Scientific discoveries
Hypothetical magnetic monopoles could be created in collisions of heavy ions or in the strong magnetic fields of neutron stars. Physicists from Imperial College London theoretically examined these processes and calculated the lower limit for the possible mass of monopoles - it turned out to be slightly less than the mass..
2017-12-14 3536 0 Scientific discoveries
Physicists have developed a shell that, due to magnetohydrodynamic effects, makes it possible to completely suppress all disturbances in the flow of water around moving objects. In a paper published in Physical Review E, the scientists also proposed a way to create such a device that could...
2017-12-12 3402 0 Scientific discoveries
For the first time, physicists have experimentally measured the force of attraction that acts on individual cesium atoms from a black body. This force turned out to be several times greater than the gravitational force and the pressure force of electromagnetic radiation, write the authors of the work published in Nature Physics. Effect..
2017-12-11 3118 0 Scientific discoveries
An international team of researchers has proven the existence of a new form of matter - excitonium. It is a condensate of excitons—electrons and “holes” bound together. This state of matter was first predicted almost 50 years ago. The scientists' article was published in the journal Science. About it..
2017-12-11 3872 0 Scientific discoveries
An international team of physicists has managed to reverse the passage of time for a pair of interconnected particles. Researchers have proven that for quantum interconnected qubits (quantum bits) the second law of thermodynamics is spontaneously violated, according to which in isolated systems all processes proceed only in the direction of increasing...
2017-12-05 2954 0 Scientific discoveries
An extended version of the main physical theory, the Standard Model, predicts that charged particles can polarize the vacuum and emit photons. The Brazilian theoretical physicist studied this effect, known as vacuum Cherenkov radiation, and used it to set limits on certain parameters.
2017-11-30 2671 0 Scientific discoveries
Professor of the Nizhny Novgorod State University named after Nikolai Lobachevsky, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Yaroslav Sergeev, in an interview with TASS, announced the solution to two Hilbert problems. The research was published in the journal of the European Mathematical Society EMS Surveys in Mathematical Sciences. The first problem, about the solution..
2017-11-28 3322 0 Scientific discoveries
Spanish scientists have for the first time transmitted quantum states between a cloud of cold rubidium-87 atoms and a Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal using photons. The article was published in Nature. To build a quantum network, it is necessary not only to store quantum states over time, but also to transmit...
Money goes to work. The Russian Science Foundation selects world-class socially significant works for supportAt the Institute of Organic Chemistry named after. N.D. Zelinsky RAS, Poisk journalists come often. The reason for this meeting was the victory of Iokhovo residents in the recently completed competition of the Russian Science Foundation to support projects implemented in world-class laboratories. The Russian Science Foundation recognized 49 structures as such, one of which - the laboratory of glycoconjugate chemistry - is headed by our author, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nikolai NIFANTYEV, who came to work at the Institute of Organic Chemistry immediately after graduating from Moscow State University almost 40 years ago. When he has time, he gladly tells the history of this institute; he will certainly mention that half of the lobby is decorated with marble from the destroyed Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and how many talents worked here. As we walk to his office, I notice that it would be nice to invest at least part of the funds from the grants won into maintaining the historical appearance of the building. No, spending money on repairs is not allowed by the rules of the funds,” Nikolai Eduardovich responds. – And the scientific reputation of the institute is not judged by the varnish of the doors, but by the quality of the research. There are big problems with the maintenance of the IOC buildings due to the change of ownership of the RAS property. With the creation and liquidation of FANO, the institute receives extremely small repair resources. We hope that the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MES), which is now responsible for the institutes, will take this seriously. What problem does the money from the Russian Science Foundation help you solve, because it’s quite a lot? The main expense items are researchers' salaries, the purchase of new instruments and reagents, and business trips to conferences. Thanks to grants from the Russian Science Foundation, we were able to update and significantly expand our equipment fleet in the interests of advanced research areas. But in 2019, a serious problem arose. Previously, RSF funds, unlike budget funding, were not burdened with labor-intensive procedures. It was enough to order the necessary equipment and wait for delivery, although the selection of devices in the required configuration already takes a lot of time, but is carried out by the authors of the project themselves, since only they know what equipment and when to buy. In 2019, the situation changed dramatically for the worse. The Ministry of Education and Science, which now manages academic institutions, for some reason abruptly intervened in the rules for using grants. The procurement regulations assigned by the ministry were developed by it for the expenditure of budget funds under 44-FZ. RSF funds are extra-budgetary, and their spending is regulated by Federal Law 223, which allows grant holders to choose what they need and its supplier. The Ministry of Education and Science's procurement regulations require purchasing equipment through electronic platforms, effectively equating extra-budgetary funds with budget funds. This complicates and lengthens the process of obtaining equipment and reagents, which are always urgently needed for research. Because price plays a key role in choosing the winning bidder, the door opens for unscrupulous suppliers and, as a result, a decrease in the efficiency of research and the expenditure of grants. Such sad examples have already happened. This categorically does not meet the needs of a modern, dynamically developing scientific institution and negates the convenient funding conditions from the Russian Science Foundation. Does the Russian Science Foundation really not check what grants are spent on? Checks, but within reasonable limits. The Russian Science Foundation professionally and without unnecessary formalities monitors the implementation of projects in detail and controls the correctness of spending. To do this, it conducts on-site inspections with its teams, which work quickly and efficiently, since their teams include specialists from various fields. The Russian Science Foundation, it must be admitted, has an enviable reputation. Undoubtedly! By the way, the fund has been in existence for six years, and interim results can already be summed up. I believe that the Russian Science Foundation is very successfully fulfilling the tasks that were assigned to it during its creation. The foundation's grants gave a powerful impetus to the development of scientific work: we received large funds for advanced research, which, having completed, created the basis for moving on to the next, even more complex projects. For example, planning our new RSF project became possible after we created a biochemical research module using funds from a previous “institutional” RSF mega-grant. Note, at the Institute of Organic Chemistry. The first stage has been launched, we are preparing the second, and this is already yielding results of a fundamentally higher level. It really turned out that money was put into business, like feed for a horse. Please tell us about your new RSF project. In short, his task is to develop fundamental approaches for creating third-generation vaccines and enzyme-linked immunosorbent sandwich diagnostics based on carbohydrate ligands. And if it’s simpler about the same thing, as they now say, in their own words... Such products are necessary for the detection and prevention of clinically significant bacterial and fungal infections. But let's start with carbohydrate ligands. Everyone has heard of genomic and proteomic research. For many years they determined important directions in the sciences of living systems, but recently glycomics have been actively developing (the prefix “glyco” denotes that they belong to compounds with a glycosidic bond, i.e. carbohydrates). They are aimed at studying the biosynthesis and functioning of carbohydrate structures of cells - oligo- and polysaccharides, glycolipids, glycoproteins, etc. The priority in the study of such compounds explains the fact that they play a key role in the development of serious diseases, including cancer, inflammation, infectious lesions, immune and hormonal disorders and others. Therefore, glycol medicines, vaccines and diagnostics form very important segments of the global pharmaceutical market. Let me give you an illustrative example: carbohydrate vaccines in value terms account for up to half of the national calendars of preventive vaccinations in many countries, including the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, such products are imported; we do not have our own full-cycle production of carbohydrate conjugate vaccines. That is, the implementation of your project will serve to fill this significant gap? Certainly. Our area of research is a priority now; we are the first to synthesize many antigens in the world and are the first to get our hands on the tools to create the vaccines and diagnostics that are in demand today. And this despite the fact that in the USA, developed EU countries, Japan, and China there are specialized national programs on glycosciences, the study of the synthesis and biology of carbohydrate compounds and the creation of promising products based on them. The goal is to increase the length and quality of human life. A priority program in glycosciences is urgently needed in Russia, otherwise we will find ourselves outsiders of scientific progress. It is worth noting that brain research and many innovative medical technologies, especially cellular, genomic and post-genomic, which are now so much talked about, are either directly related to biologically significant carbohydrate compounds and rely on glycotechnologies, or have as their task to influence the processes that determine carbohydrate molecules in target cells. Yes, the situation is extraordinary, especially since this area of research meets the objectives of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development. Is your project also related to countering biogenic threats? We have chosen very complex objects for ourselves: we are working on the creation of first-in-class vaccines against bacteria included in the ESCAPE list, which, according to WHO, pose a special threat to humanity. In addition, we are developing a third generation Haemophilus influenzae vaccine. For now, to prevent hemophilus influenzae infection, the Russian vaccination calendar for children at risk includes the second generation French vaccine. It has many shortcomings, but we don’t have a better one yet. And from 2020, all children in Russia must be vaccinated against hemophilus influenzae. I would like to note that in order to obtain a hemophilus influenzae vaccine, in addition to the carbohydrate ligand, a special carrier protein is required, which was specially produced for us at Microgen JSC (part of the Rostec Group of Companies). Let's get back to fungal infections. How scary are they? Very! In everyday language, they kill several million people a year, about as many as tuberculosis and malaria. Effective control of fungal pathogens is difficult due to their incredible diversity and antibiotic resistance. Therefore, the development of antifungal carbohydrate vaccines is so urgent. It began in the world recently, and here we have a good position, cooperation has been established with leading foreign and domestic mycological laboratories. Combining research competencies is very important to speed up the delivery of the target product. Conidia (spores) of Aspergillus fumigatus (black mold) - a fungal pathogen that causes the most dangerous disease - invasive aspergillosis. You speak so optimistically, as if there are no decades between basic research and medicines. The grant is given to you for four years, and if you work well, they will extend it for another three. Maximum - seven. Not enough? Not enough to finally create a vaccine. But the RSF grant is designed to solve problems at the research stage, and clinical trials are supported in a different way. Another thing is that the research program we have chosen is very intense and intense, but we are reasonably aimed at positive results. Why, in addition to vaccines, are you also developing diagnostics? Because vaccines and diagnostics are related products, because It is difficult to develop vaccines without effective methods of infection control and treatment. We develop immunoenzyme sandwich diagnostics in various formats - from individual immunochromatographic strips (as in pregnancy detection kits) to laboratory tablets and robotic systems. If things are tolerable with bacterial diagnosticums, then with mycodiagnosticums it is a disaster: there are no registered immunoenzyme diagnosticums in the Russian Federation - neither domestic nor imported. Therefore, in our project, special attention is paid specifically to diagnostic kits for detecting the main types of invasive mycoses. A lot of new drugs are needed, but who will decide which ones first? To keep abreast of priorities, I communicate a lot with mycologists and go to major infectious disease conferences. In April, for example, I will be in Amsterdam at the European Symposium on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. The last forum brought together 15 thousand participants, every tenth from the USA. From us, if there were a dozen specialists, that would be good. Doctors come together to exchange results and catch new trends. In particular, last year there were two sessions on the relationship between influenza and fungal infections. It was found that those who died from influenza often died not from it, but from invasive aspergillosis. Every day we inhale hundreds of spores of Aspergillus - mold fungi, there are three hundred species of them, living on all continents in any climate. For people with strong immunity, aspergillus is not dangerous, but as a result of influenza, serious operations, or oncology treatment, the immune system becomes suppressed, so the mold “grabs” into the bronchi and lungs, injuring the skin, visual apparatus, and central nervous system. And quite quickly leads the patient to death. But we do not have a diagnostic tool to detect a marker of invasive aspergillosis, so we are working especially intensively on its creation. Can you compare your products, even future ones, with imported analogues? This topic deserves a separate discussion. In recent years, thanks to major support from the Russian Science Foundation, we have been able to develop new chemical approaches and study reaction mechanisms, including using computer methods. This made it possible to synthesize a very wide range of oligosaccharides, reflecting key fragments of polysaccharides from the fungal cell wall. Using these unique libraries of carbohydrate ligands, we were able to study the specificity of antibodies used in enzyme immunoassay kits from a leading international diagnostic concern, and were surprised to discover that the specificity of the antibodies was not at all the same as declared by the manufacturer. This causes false positive results and, consequently, errors with prescribed medications. We recently published an article in a specialized international journal (from Q1) about the antibodies used in the invasive aspergillosis detection kit. That is, the international expert community agreed with our conclusions. Now we are writing an article about antibodies that are mistakenly used in a kit to detect invasive and other types of candidiasis. In general, fungal pathogens are a Klondike for researchers. There are hundreds of mycopathogens, many of them dangerous, but often just beginning to be studied. Now, for example, the hit of the season is Candida auris, which causes invasive infections with a mortality rate reaching 60%. What about cryptococci? They also “fall” on patients with viral infections. We work very intensively against all these “creatures”. Are there any special features of RSF grants for world-class laboratories? Yes. First, we need to hold a school for young researchers every year. The second requirement is unusual: an agreement on the subject of the project must be concluded with an industrial partner who will co-finance the work or, together with us, conduct research on the subject of the project to create the final product. Our partner is one of the largest domestic companies - R-Pharm JSC, which today is already an international company. She is actively involved in the vaccine research consortium that we created several years ago. And not only with its resources, but also by providing expert support, which is very valuable to us. The joint project that we will carry out with R-Pharm is aimed at developing a first-in-class vaccine against a bacterial pathogen from the ESCAPE group. Nikolai Eduardovich, are young people interested in your project? Young researchers, starting with the responsible executor, Candidate of Chemical Sciences Vadim Krylov, who is 33 years old, are the main part of our team. This, by the way, is a requirement for all RSF competitions. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the project, we also invited young colleagues from the Institute of Vaccines and Serums. I.I. Mechnikov, Hematological Research Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Research Institute of Medical Mycology named after. P.N. Kashkin, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine SB RAS, State Research Institute of Genetics National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" and other organizations. They have the biomedical base required for research. But the core of the project is our laboratory at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, and links from it extend to different institutes, where world-class research will also be conducted. Apparently, it is world-class not only in the quality of science, but also in its significance for humanity. Interviewed by Elizaveta Ponarina
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