Press monitoring
Molecule behind Huntington\'s disease found to be cancer-killing super assassin
12.2.2018 | Press monitoring
For several years, scientists have noticed an unexplained reduced incidence of cancer in patients suffering from the devastating hereditary neurodegenerative condition Huntington's disease. Now a team at Northwestern Medicine has uncovered how the disease could be inadvertently killing cancer cells, and how this process could be harnessed for a...
Bacterial superheroes may save the day for crops
9.2.2018 | Press monitoring
The bacterium SA187 has been isolated from the root nodules of an indigenous desert plant that grows in Saudi Arabia. The KAUST team found it has many genes that promote plant growth in stressful environments. Their finding is part of a KAUST project called DARWIN21, which aims to explore the microbial diversity of desert plants and examine their...
Injection helps the immune system obliterate tumors, at least in mice
7.2.2018 | Press monitoring
Our immune cells can destroy tumors, but sometimes they need a kick in the pants to do the job. A study in mice describes a new way to incite these attacks by injecting an immune-stimulating mixture directly into tumors. The shots trigger the animals’ immune system to eliminate not only the injected tumors, but also other tumors in their...
To baldly grow: Japan scientists regrow hair at record rate
5.2.2018 | Press monitoring
Polished pates and thinning thatches may one day be a thing of the past, thanks to Japanese scientists who have developed a way to grow hair follicles at a record rate. The study used two kinds of cells placed in silicone containers to cultivate "hair follicle germs" - the sources of the tiny organs that grow and sustain hair. Led by professor...
Lab-on-a-chip for tracking single bacterial cells
2.2.2018 | Press monitoring
Researchers at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, together with researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, have set up a novel lab-on-a-chip with accompanying automatic analysis software. As they report in Nature Communications, this integrated setup can be used to study gene regulation in single bacterial cells in response to...
Stealth virus for cancer therapy
31.1.2018 | Press monitoring
Scientists from the University of Zurich have redesigned an adenovirus for use in cancer therapy. To achieve this, they developed a new protein shield that hides the virus and protects it from elimination. Adapters on the surface of the virus enable the reconstructed virus to specifically infect tumor cells. Viruses have their own genetic...
Researchers explore anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin
29.1.2018 | Press monitoring
Extracts of the plant turmeric - the spice that gives Indian curries a yellow color - have been used as an anti-inflammatory treatment in traditional Asian medicine for centuries. Clinical trials of curcumin (the active chemical compound in turmeric), however, have produced mixed results. A molecular understanding of curcumin's biological effects...
Meet Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, the first monkey clones produced by method that made Dolly
26.1.2018 | Press monitoring
The first primate clones made by somatic cell nuclear transfer are two genetically identical long-tailed macaques born recently at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai. Researchers named the newborns Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua - born eight and six weeks ago, respectively - after the Chinese adjective "Zhonghua,"...
Functional synthetic enzyme could be catalyst for artificial life
24.1.2018 | Press monitoring
Not content with editing the genes of living organisms or creating ever-smarter AI, scientists may eventually be able to biologically engineer unique artificial lifeforms from scratch. A new study from Princeton has brought that future a step closer, by confirming that an artificial protein the team developed functions as an enzyme in living...
Clean and green - a moss that removes lead from water
22.1.2018 | Press monitoring
Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have demonstrated that that moss can be a green alternative for decontaminating polluted water and soil. Published in PLOS ONE, the study shows that in particular, the moss Funaria hygrometrica tolerates and absorbs an impressive amount of lead (Pb) from...
