Press monitoring
Assessing quality of flowing waters with DNA analyses
13.7.2015 | Press monitoring
The quality of waters can be assessed using of the organisms occurring therein. This approach often results in errors, because many species look alike. Therefore, new methods focus on DNA analyses instead. Biologists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have optimised the process so that they are now able to identify many organisms at once in a...
Scientists hack one of the most common bacteria in human intestines
10.7.2015 | Press monitoring
One of the most common bacteria in the human gut, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, can now be engineered with new functions and re-introduced into the intestinal tract of a mouse. The work is a starting point for designing microbes that could eventually deliver drugs or detect long-term changes in the intestines that lead to inflammatory bowel...
Waging war on Australia\'s nastiest parasite: Scientists map blowfly genome
8.7.2015 | Press monitoring
This blowfly is responsible for about $280 million in losses to Australia's sheep industry each year from flystrike. All 14,544 genes of the blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) were identified by the international research team, led by the University of Melbourne. Around 2000 genes not seen before in any other organism were discovered. These genes can now...
Researchers mass-producing stem cells to satisfy the demands of regenerative medicine
6.7.2015 | Press monitoring
Steve Oh had been growing stem cells by conventional means at the A*STAR Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) for seven years, when in 2008 his colleague Shaul Reuveny proposed an idea for speeding up the process. Instead of culturing the cells on round, flat Petri dishes, he could try growing them on tiny polystyrene beads known as...
Engineered particles produce toxins deadly to targeted bacteria
3.7.2015 | Press monitoring
The global rise in antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to public health, damaging our ability to fight deadly infections such as tuberculosis. In a paper published online in the journal Nano Letters, researchers at MIT, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Harvard University reveal that they have developed a new means of killing...
Strong teeth: Nanostructures under stress make teeth crack resistant
1.7.2015 | Press monitoring
Human teeth have to serve for a lifetime, despite being subjected to huge forces. But the high failure resistance of dentin in teeth is not fully understood. An interdisciplinary team led by scientists of Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin has now analyzed the complex structure of dentin. At the synchrotron sources BESSY II at HZB, Berlin,...
Genetic discovery uncovers key tool for morphine production in poppies
29.6.2015 | Press monitoring
Scientists at the University of York and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Australia have made a key genetic discovery in poppies, paving the way for more effective painkillers. The discovery, published in the latest issue of Science, reveals the long sought after gene that is seen as a critical gateway step in the synthesis of the morphinan class of...
Inactivating a single enzyme could effectively eradicate an aggressive form of leukemia
26.6.2015 | Press monitoring
EPFL scientists show how inactivating a single enzyme could effectively eradicate an aggressive form of leukemia. The principles could apply to other cancers as well. T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a rare type of leukemia that is more common in older children and teenagers. It affects white blood cells, which are an essential...
Microalgae produced on a commercial scale
24.6.2015 | Press monitoring
Many products, including food supplements, cosmetics and biodiesel, are made from substances derived from microalgae. A fully automated pilot plant operated by Fraunhofer in Leuna is capable of producing microalgae on pilot scale. Microalgae are highly versatile organisms. Some strains, for instance, produce large quantities of omega-3 fatty...
Scientists use molecular lock and key for potential control of GMOs
22.6.2015 | Press monitoring
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an easy way to put bacteria under a molecular lock and key in order to contain its accidental spread. The method involves a series of genetic mutations that render the microbe inactive unless the right molecule is added to enable its viability. The findings show promise as a...
