MedicalTesting
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Theranos lab failed to meet its own accuracy standards
Theranos' proprietary blood-testing methods failed to meet the company's own standards as often as 87 percent of the time, according to a new report. Released by the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) agency and seen in unredacted form by the WSJ, the data confirms that the company knew its finger pin-prick tests were often wrong when it used them in October, 2014. It has since pulled most of the testing done by its key "Edison" machine and can only perform a single herpes test. However, the FDA and CMS received complaints from Theranos employees that even that one was "tainted by breaches in research protocol."
Former employee claims Theranos' FDA-approved test is faulty
Startup medical testing company Theranos came under fire in October as the accuracy of its tests were called into question. The FDA has been investigating since then, and today more fuel was thrown on the fire by some former employees. According to The Wall Street Journal, both the FDA and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) each received a complaint from a different former employee. The FDA received notice that the study Theranos submitted to win the agency's approval for its herpes test was "tainted by breaches in research protocol." That's notable because so far that herpes test is the only one of Theranos' tests that has actually been approved by the FDA. Founder Elizabeth Holmes (above) has continued to deny any accusations claiming that Theranos' data is inaccurate.
Scientists develop the world's smallest single-molecule electric motor
Bigger is certainly not better when it comes to the world's first single-molecule electric engine, which measures in at one nanometer wide -- for perspective, that lash hanging from your left eye is around 60,000 times larger. Single-molecule engines have been used for years, but the new method uses a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope to power and control the molecule more effectively. In the future, scientists could use the technology for things like lab-on-a-chip devices, miniature medical testing equipment that require a motor to push fluid through tiny pipes. Tufts researchers responsible for the discovery warn that a practical application is still a ways off, but are hopeful that they'll snag a Guinness world record, regardless. After hearing the news, both Pinky and The Brain are feeling entirely more confident about their lifelong goals.
