Press monitoring
Zoo experiments detect dozens of animals from airborne DNA
7.1.2022 | Press monitoring
Animals are constantly shedding DNA into their environment, traces of which can then be detected in soil and water – and now, perhaps even air. Two new studies collected air samples from zoos and were able to identify a range of animals living in and around the facilities, which could eventually be used as a non-invasive way to track...
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Lychee genome tells a colorful story about a colorful tropical fruit
5.1.2022 | Press monitoring
Lychees have been grown in China since ancient times, with records of cultivation dating back about 2,000 years. Fresh lychees were an object of such desire that in the Tang Dynasty, one emperor set up a dedicated horse relay to deliver the fruits to the imperial court from harvests made far to the south. Now, scientists have used genomics to...
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Slug-slime-inspired biomaterial speeds repair of injured tendons
3.1.2022 | Press monitoring
Injured tendons are notoriously tricky to repair. Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute have now developed a two-faced biomaterial that can improve healing, with one side that firmly sticks to tendons, while a low-friction outer surface keeps it gliding against other tissues. Better yet, they can be loaded with slow-release drugs to reduce...
Speeding up directed evolution of molecules in the lab using a new robotic platform
31.12.2021 | Press monitoring
Natural evolution is a slow process that relies on the gradual accumulation of genetic mutations. In recent years, scientists have found ways to speed up the process on a small scale, allowing them to rapidly create new proteins and other molecules in their lab. This widely-used technique, known as directed evolution, has yielded new antibodies...
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Intestine organoid grown in lab to study why bats live with viruses but dont get sick
29.12.2021 | Press monitoring
Experiments attempting to explain why bats can be infected with many viruses at a time without succumbing to diseases such as COVID-19 – knowledge that could help us to reduce the threat to humans of infectious disease – have struggled until now with the fact that live wild bats make poor research subjects. To overcome this obstacle, for the...
Bacterial battle: How protective cultures can protect us from food-borne pathogens in cheese
27.12.2021 | Press monitoring
Cheese is a simple product. It usually only consists of milk, enzymes, salt, and bacteria that give the cheese its form and flavor. But this simplicity, free of preservatives found in other foods, leaves it vulnerable to hosting pathogens. In the cheese production process, cheese makers use starter bacterial cultures to turn milk into cheese. In...
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Protein structure discovery lays foundation for dog allergy vaccine
24.12.2021 | Press monitoring
Scientists in Japan investigating the possibility of a vaccine for people allergic to dogs have made a significant breakthrough, identifying the crystal structure of a protein at the heart of the majority of dog allergies for the first time. The new understanding of this protein has enabled the researchers to narrow their search for protein...
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Plant scientists find recipe for anti-cancer compound in herbs
22.12.2021 | Press monitoring
Thyme and oregano possess an anti-cancer compound that suppresses tumor development, but adding more to your tomato sauce isn't enough to gain significant benefit. The key to unlocking the power of these plants is in amplifying the amount of the compound created or synthesizing the compound for drug development. Thymol, carvacrol and...
Anthrax toxin may be the key to new pain-blocking therapies
20.12.2021 | Press monitoring
Early preclinical work led by researchers from Harvard Medical School has found certain elements in a toxin produced by the anthrax bacterium can silence activity in pain-signaling brain neurons. The research proposes this could be a new model for future pain therapeutics. Anthrax toxins are composed of several molecules secreted by the anthrax...
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A biopolymer hydrogel with amino-functionalized bioactive glass for accelerated bone regeneration
17.12.2021 | Press monitoring
Composite hydrogels can incorporate natural polymers and bioactive glass as promising materials for bone regeneration. However, the applications of such constructs are limited by poor compatibility between organic and inorganic phases. In a new study now published in Science Advances, Xinxin Ding, and a research team in medicine, in Shanghai...
