Press monitoring
Identification of transgenic organisms
30.3.2018 | Press monitoring
Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt have developed a concept called AGameOfClones, which allows them to distinguish whether transgenic organisms carry an inserted foreign gene on one or on both chromosomes. This facilitates breeding and also benefits animal welfare. To understand biological processes, researchers often use model organisms...
First proof a synthesized antibiotic is capable of treating superbugs
28.3.2018 | Press monitoring
A "game changing" new antibiotic which is capable of killing superbugs has been successfully synthesised and used to treat an infection for the first time – and could lead to the first new class of antibiotic drug in 30 years. The breakthrough is another major step forward on the journey to develop a commercially viable drug version based on...
Virus fished from pond cures mans deadly antibiotic-resistant infection
26.3.2018 | Press monitoring
The clinical success suggests promising strategy for fighting antibiotic resistance. In 2012, a 76-year-old Connecticut doctor had surgery to repair a life-threatening bulge in his aortic arch – the hulking bend that hooks the massive artery around the heart, routing oxygenated blood both upward and downward. Surgeons successfully used a...
Machine learning spots treasure trove of elusive viruses
23.3.2018 | Press monitoring
Many viruses are difficult to study because they cannot be grown in the lab. Artificial intelligence could speed up metagenomic studies that look for species unknown to science. Although viruses influence everything from human health to the degradation of trash, they are hard to study. Scientists cannot grow most viruses in the lab, and attempts...
Body on a chip could improve drug evaluation
21.3.2018 | Press monitoring
MIT engineers have developed new technology that could be used to evaluate new drugs and detect possible side effects before the drugs are tested in humans. Using a microfluidic platform that connects engineered tissues from up to 10 organs, the researchers can accurately replicate human organ interactions for weeks at a time, allowing them to...
Nanospears deliver genetic material to cells with pinpoint accuracy
19.3.2018 | Press monitoring
UCLA scientists have developed a new method that utilizes microscopic splinter-like structures called "nanospears" for the targeted delivery of biomolecules such as genes straight to patient cells. These magnetically guided nanostructures could enable gene therapies that are safer, faster and more cost-effective. Gene therapy, the process of...
Unwanted fish scales may help heal wounds
16.3.2018 | Press monitoring
Chances are, you can't think of many uses for fish scales. Neither can the fisheries industry, which is why it disposes of great quantities of the things every year. According to scientists from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, however, such scales may be able to help heal wounds in humans. The researchers started by obtaining sea...
Researchers make breakthrough in glyphosate resistance in pigweeds
14.3.2018 | Press monitoring
Kansas State University researchers have discovered how weeds develop resistance to the popular herbicide glyphosate, a finding that could have broad future implications in agriculture and many other industries. "Herbicide resistance in weeds has been a huge problem, not only in Kansas and the U.S. but many parts of the world," said Mithila...
Cancer-killing hydrogel stays in place until the job is done
12.3.2018 | Press monitoring
The cure for cancer might have been inside us all along – our own immune system. The trick is to give it a boost to find and destroy those rogue cells, and that's the focus of the field of immunotherapy. To that end, a new hydrogel has been developed that can be injected directly to the site of a tumor, where it stays to slowly release its...
Flower-shaped gold nanocrystals as photothermal agents against tumor cells
9.3.2018 | Press monitoring
Gold nanoflowers grown in starfruit juice are promising agents for photothermal cancer therapy. When injected into a tumor and irradiated with near-infrared laser light, the nanoflowers heat up and kill the cancer cells around them. Although photothermal therapy is an established idea, the agents developed so far have had drawbacks, explains Enyi...
