Press monitoring
Mechanical cues reprogram normal cell lines into stem-like cells
12.12.2014 | Press monitoring
Scientists at the University at Buffalo and other institutions have turned cells normally used as model cells, known as immortalized cells, into stem or, as they call it, "stem-like" cells, using nothing more than mechanical stress. They have done it without employing the potentially hazardous techniques previously used to obtain similar...
Yeast are first cells known to cure themselves of prions
11.12.2014 | Press monitoring
Yeast cells can sometimes reverse the protein misfolding and clumping associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's, according to new research from the University of Arizona. The new finding contradicts the idea that once prion proteins have changed into the shape that aggregates, the change is irreversible. "It's believed that when these...
Injectable 3-D vaccines could fight cancer, infectious diseases
10.12.2014 | Press monitoring
One of the reasons cancer is so deadly is that it can evade attack from the body's immune system, which allows tumors to flourish and spread. Scientists can try to induce the immune system, known as immunotherapy, to go into attack mode to fight cancer and to build long lasting immune resistance to cancer cells. Now, researchers at the Wyss...
Promising compound rapidly eliminates malaria parasite
9.12.2014 | Press monitoring
An international research collaborative has determined that a promising anti-malarial compound tricks the immune system to rapidly destroy red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite but leave healthy cells unharmed. The compound, (+)-SJ733, was developed from a molecule identified in a previous St. Jude Children's Research Hospital-led...
Poisonous cure: Toxic fungi may hold secrets to tackling deadly diseases
8.12.2014 | Press monitoring
A team of Michigan State University scientists has discovered an enzyme that is the key to the lethal potency of poisonous mushrooms. The results, published in the current issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology, reveal the enzyme's ability to create the mushroom's molecules that harbor missile-like proficiency in attacking and annihilating...
Gut bacteria from a worm can degrade plastic
5.12.2014 | Press monitoring
Plastic is well-known for sticking around in the environment for years without breaking down, contributing significantly to litter and landfills. But scientists have now discovered that bacteria from the guts of a worm known to munch on food packaging can degrade polyethylene, the most common plastic. Reported in the ACS journal Environmental...
Wireless Electronic Implants Stop Staph, Then Harmlessly Dissolve
4.12.2014 | Press monitoring
Researchers at Tufts University, in collaboration with a team at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, have demonstrated a resorbable electronic implant that eliminated bacterial infection in mice by delivering heat to infected tissue when triggered by a remote wireless signal. The silk and magnesium devices then harmlessly dissolved in...
Nutrition, safety key to consumer acceptance of nanotech, genetic modification in foods
3.12.2014 | Press monitoring
New research from North Carolina State University and the University of Minnesota shows that the majority of consumers will accept the presence of nanotechnology or genetic modification (GM) technology in foods - but only if the technology enhances the nutrition or improves the safety of the food.
Test for horse meat developed
2.12.2014 | Press monitoring
Scientists at the Institute of Food Research on the Norwich Research Park have teamed up with Oxford Instruments to develop a fast, cheap alternative to DNA testing as a means of distinguishing horse meat from beef. Because horses and cattle have different digestive systems, the fat components of the two meats have different fatty acid...
Organovo now selling tiny 3D-printed human livers
1.12.2014 | Press monitoring
When a medication enters the bloodstream, it ends up being concentrated in the liver – after all, one of the organ's main functions is to cleanse the blood. This means that if a drug is going to have an adverse effect on any part of the body, chances are it will be the liver. It would seem to follow, therefore, that if a pharmaceutical company...
