Press monitoring
Adapting Fish Defenses to Block Human Infections: Antimicrobial Peptide of Fish Gills Inspire Clean Surfaces
5.12.2012 | Press monitoring
An undergraduate research team analyzes peptides from fish gills to engineer antimicrobial surfaces for food preparation and medical devices. Living in an environment teaming with bacteria and fungi, fish have evolved powerful defenses against waterborne pathogens, including antimicrobial peptides located in their gills. The research team,...
Beneficial Microbes Are Selected and Nurtured in the Human Gut
4.12.2012 | Press monitoring
Animals, including humans, actively select the gut microbes that are the best partners and nurture them with nutritious secretions, suggests a new study led by Oxford University, and published November 20 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology. The Oxford team created an evolutionary computer model of interactions between gut microbes and the...
Watermelon Genome Decoded: Scientists Find Clues to Disease Resistant Watermelons
3.12.2012 | Press monitoring
Are juicier, sweeter, more disease-resistant watermelons on the way? An international consortium of more than 60 scientists from the United States, China, and Europe has published the genome sequence of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) -- information that could dramatically accelerate watermelon breeding toward production of a more nutritious,...
Compound Found in Rosemary Protects Against Macular Degeneration in Laboratory Model
30.11.2012 | Press monitoring
In a study published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, scientists report that carnosic acid, a component of the herb rosemary, promotes eye health. Research team found that carnosic acid protects retinas from degeneration and toxicity in cell culture and in rodent models of light-induced retinal damage. Their findings...
Grapefruit–medication Interactions Increasing
29.11.2012 | Press monitoring
The number of prescription drugs that can have serious adverse effects from interactions with grapefruit are markedly increasing, yet many physicians may be unaware of these effects, states an article published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Between 2008 and 2012, the number of medications with the potential to interact with...
Engineering Plants for Biofuels
28.11.2012 | Press monitoring
With increasing demands for sustainable energy, being able to cost-efficiently produce biofuels from plant biomass is more important than ever. However, lignin and hemicelluloses present in certain plants mean that they cannot be easily converted into biofuels. A study published in journal Biotechnology for Biofuels appears to have solved this...
Unexpected Microbes Fighting Harmful Greenhouse Gas
27.11.2012 | Press monitoring
The environment has a more formidable opponent than carbon dioxide. Another greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide, is 300 times more potent and also destroys the ozone layer each time it is released into the atmosphere through agricultural practices, sewage treatment and fossil fuel combustion. Scientists have long known about naturally occurring...
Natural fungus may provide effective bedbug control
26.11.2012 | Press monitoring
According to a team of Penn State entomologists, biopesticides -- naturally occurring microorganisms -- might provide an answer to this pest problem. According to Nina Jenkins, senior research associate in entomology, preliminary bioassays on the effects of Beauveria bassiana -- a natural fungus that causes disease in insects -- on bedbug control...
Even Moderate Drinking in Pregnancy Can Affect a Child\'s IQ
23.11.2012 | Press monitoring
Relatively small levels of exposure to alcohol while in the womb can influence a child's IQ, according to a new study led by researchers from the universities of Bristol and Oxford using data from over 4,000 mothers and their children. This study, believed to be the first substantial one of its kind, used genetic variation to investigate the...
Carbon Nanotubes May Protect DNA from Oxidation
22.11.2012 | Press monitoring
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have provided evidence in the laboratory that single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) may help protect DNA molecules from damage by oxidation. In nature, oxidation is a common chemical process in which a reactive chemical removes electrons from DNA and may increase the chance...
