What is new in Biotech
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Chocolate that harnesses the full potential of the cocoa fruit
24.5.2024 | Press monitoring
Researchers at ETH Zurich have teamed up with the food industry to produce a whole-fruit variety of chocolate. This helps increase the value creation of cocoa farming – and is healthier. For many people, chocolate is a sweet delight: its main components are cocoa mass and cocoa butter, which are extracted from the cocoa fruit. What is less known,...
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Nanotubes, nanoparticles and antibodies detect tiny amounts of fentanyl
22.5.2024 | Press monitoring
A research team at the University of Pittsburgh led by Alexander Star, a chemistry professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, has developed a fentanyl sensor that is six orders of magnitude more sensitive than any electrochemical sensor for the drug reported in the past five years. The portable sensor can also tell the...
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More efficient bioethanol production might be possible using persimmon tannin to help yeast thrive
20.5.2024 | Press monitoring
What is necessary for the production of ethanol is yeast, but ethanol is among the environmental factors that add stress to yeasts, hindering their growth. To promote efficient bioethanol production, scientists have been searching for substances that can help yeasts better withstand ethanol, but few effective ones have been found. An Osaka...
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Nanocarriers loaded with DNA relieve back pain, repairs damaged disk in mice
17.5.2024 | Press monitoring
Disk-related back pain may one day meet its therapeutic match: Gene therapy delivered by naturally derived nanocarriers that, a new study shows, repairs damaged disks in the spine and lowers pain symptoms in mice. Scientists engineered nanocarriers using mouse connective-tissue cells called fibroblasts as a model of skin cells and loaded them...
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Biohybrid robot made from flour and oats could act as a biodegradable vector for reforestation
15.5.2024 | Press monitoring
Researchers at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology) in collaboration with the University of Freiburg have developed a biohybrid robot, which consists of a flour-based capsule created using 3D microfabrication techniques, and two natural appendages from oat fruit capable of moving in response to air humidity. Named...
Nanoparticle plant virus treatment shows promise in fighting metastatic cancers in mice
13.5.2024 | Press monitoring
An experimental treatment made from a plant virus is effective at protecting against a broad range of metastatic cancers in mice, according to a new study from the University of California San Diego. The treatment, composed of nanoparticles fashioned from the cowpea mosaic virus – a virus that infects black-eyed pea plants – showed remarkable...
Laser printing on fallen tree leaves produces sensors for medical and laboratory use
10.5.2024 | Press monitoring
Fabrication of sensors by 3D printing combines speed, freedom of design, and the possibility of using waste as a substrate. Various results have been obtained in a circular economy mode, whereby residues usually thrown away are instead used as low-cost resources. A highly creative solution involving the printing of electrochemical sensors on...
Quartet Nanocage vaccine found effective against coronaviruses that haven\'t even emerged yet
8.5.2024 | Press monitoring
Researchers have developed a new vaccine technology that has been shown in mice to provide protection against a broad range of coronaviruses with potential for future disease outbreaks – including ones we don't even know about. This is a new approach to vaccine development called "proactive vaccinology," where scientists build a vaccine before...
Marriage of synthetic biology and 3D printing produces programmable living materials
6.5.2024 | Press monitoring
Scientists are harnessing cells to make new types of materials that can grow, repair themselves and even respond to their environment. These solid "engineered living materials" are made by embedding cells in an inanimate matrix that's formed in a desired shape. Now, researchers report in ACS Central Science that they have 3D printed a bioink...
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Centipedes used in traditional Chinese medicine offer leads for kidney treatment
3.5.2024 | Press monitoring
A venomous, 8-inch centipede may be the stuff of nightmares, but it could save the life of those affected by kidney disease. Researchers report in the Journal of Natural Products that the many-legged critter – used in traditional Chinese medicine – contains alkaloids that in cell cultures reduced inflammation and renal fibrosis, which both...
