Press monitoring
Research shows viral DNA infects cells by changing from solid to fluid-like state
30.9.2014 | Press monitoring
Many double-stranded DNA viruses infect cells by ejecting their genetic information into a host cell. But how does the usually rigid DNA packaged inside a virus' shell flow from the virus to the cell? In two separate studies, Carnegie Mellon University biophysicist Alex Evilevitch has shown that in viruses that infect both bacteria and humans, a...
Chemists recruit anthrax to deliver cancer drugs
29.9.2014 | Press monitoring
Bacillus anthracis bacteria have very efficient machinery for injecting toxic proteins into cells, leading to the potentially deadly infection known as anthrax. A team of MIT researchers has now hijacked that delivery system for a different purpose: administering cancer drugs. "Anthrax toxin is a professional at delivering large enzymes into...
Lego-like modular components make building 3-D labs-on-a-chip a snap
26.9.2014 | Press monitoring
Thanks to new LEGO-like components developed by researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, it is now possible to build a 3-D microfluidic system quickly and cheaply by simply snapping together small modules by hand. Microfluidic systems are used in many fields including engineering, chemistry and biotechnology to precisely manipulate...
Bacterial communication system could be used to stop, kill cancer cells
25.9.2014 | Press monitoring
Cancer, while always dangerous, truly becomes life-threatening when cancer cells begin to spread to different areas throughout the body. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered that a molecule used as a communication system by bacteria can be manipulated to prevent cancer cells from spreading. Senthil Kumar, an assistant...
Researcher\'s nanoparticle key to new malaria vaccine
24.9.2014 | Press monitoring
A self-assembling nanoparticle designed by a UConn professor is the key component of a potent new malaria vaccine that is showing promise in early tests. For years, scientists trying to develop a malaria vaccine have been stymied by the malaria parasite's ability to transform itself and "hide" in the liver and red blood cells of an infected...
Mass spectrometry in your hand
23.9.2014 | Press monitoring
If you're out in the field doing environmental testing, food checks, forensic work, or other chemical analysis, mass spectrometry is an extremely accurate detection tool with one huge drawback: You can lose days in sending samples back to the lab for analysis. MIT researchers now have developed technologies that promise to enable mass...
Vaginal microbe yields novel antibiotic
22.9.2014 | Press monitoring
Bacteria living on human bodies contain genes that are likely to code for a vast number of drug-like molecules — including a new antibiotic made by bacteria that live in the vagina The drug, lactocillin, hints at the untapped medical potential of this microbial landscape. “They have shown that there is a huge diverse potential of the microbiome...
Artificial spleen cleans up blood
19.9.2014 | Press monitoring
Researchers have developed a high-tech method to rid the body of infections — even those caused by unknown pathogens. A device inspired by the spleen can quickly clean blood of everything from Escherichia coli to Ebola. Blood infections can be very difficult to treat, and can lead to sepsis, an often-fatal immune response. More than 50% of the...
Japanese woman is first recipient of next-generation stem cells
18.9.2014 | Press monitoring
Surgeons implanted retinal tissue created after reverting the patient's own cells to 'pluripotent' state. A Japanese woman in her 70s is the first person to receive tissue derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, a technology that has created great expectations since it could offer the same regenerative potential as embryo-derived cells...
War between bacteria, phages benefits humans
17.9.2014 | Press monitoring
In our battle with cholera bacteria, we may have an unknown ally in bacteria-killing viruses known as phages. In a new study, researchers from Tufts University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Partners In Health, Haiti's National Public Health Laboratory, and elsewhere, report that phages can force cholera bacteria to give up their virulence in...
