Press monitoring
Peering into a more human petri dish
6.11.2019 | Press monitoring
Cell culture media, the cocktail of chemicals and nutrients that keep cells alive and thriving in a dish, have been an essential tool of biology for more than 70 years. Remarkably, the composition of these potions hasn't fundamentally changed much over that time, primarily because they deliver what scientists need: Cells that stay viable and...
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Blood vessels incorporated into 3D-printed living skin
4.11.2019 | Press monitoring
It certainly would be great if instead of having to be harvested from a patient's own body, permanent skin grafts could be 3D-printed as needed. Well, we may be getting a little closer to that point, as scientists have now bioprinted living skin complete with blood vessels. First of all, there already are commercially-available 3D-bioprinted...
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The world’s best drink cooler may come from pineapple scraps
1.11.2019 | Press monitoring
When life gives you pineapples – and hundreds of millions of tons of pineapple waste – what do you do? Engineers in Singapore and Vietnam decided to turn all those scraps into something useful – insulation for their pi?a coladas. Not only does their new material keep drinks chilled better than many commercial coolers, but it could also offer a...
Gold-DNA nanosunflowers for efficient gene silencing and controlled transformation
30.10.2019 | Press monitoring
Developing an efficient delivery system for enhanced and controlled gene interference-based therapeutics is an existing challenge in molecular biology. The advancing field of nanotechnology can provide an effective, cross-disciplinary strategy to facilitate nucleic acid delivery. In a new report, Shuaidong Huo and colleagues in the...
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Implantable cancer traps could replace biopsies for tumor detection
28.10.2019 | Press monitoring
One of the main things that makes cancer so deadly is its ability to spread throughout the body, so it’s important for doctors to detect it before it does. Rather than the invasive process of taking biopsies of organs, researchers from the University of Michigan have developed “cancer traps” that can be implanted just below the skin. In tests on...
Nanoparticle tech reverses celiac disease in promising human trials
25.10.2019 | Press monitoring
The first results have been revealed from Phase 2 human trials investigating a promising new treatment for celiac disease. The novel nanoparticle technology was found to significantly induce an immune tolerance to gluten in celiac subjects after just two intravenous treatments. The treatment involves encapsulating a specific allergen inside a...
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Chemical vaccine helps plants repel pathogens
23.10.2019 | Press monitoring
When plants come under attack from invading bacteria, viruses or fungi, they mount a two-pronged response, producing both offensive chemicals to kill invaders and defensive chemicals to prevent infestations from spreading. Now, scientists at Stanford have used a type of chemical vaccine to switch on this plant defense system to prevent localized...
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The secret of classic Belgian beers? Medieval super-yeasts
21.10.2019 | Press monitoring
An international team of scientists led by Prof. Kevin Verstrepen (VIB-KU-Leuven) and Prof. Steven Maere (VIB-UGent) has discovered that some of the most renowned classic Belgian beers, including Gueuze and Trappist ales, are fermented with a rare and unusual form of hybrid yeasts. These yeasts combine DNA of the traditional ale yeast,...
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Discovery raises hopes of preventing streptococci infections
18.10.2019 | Press monitoring
Researchers at the University of Dundee have discovered an enzyme they believe could be key to preventing Group A Streptococcus infections that cause more than 500,000 deaths worldwide each year. Group A Streptococcus can lead to illnesses such as strep throat, scarlet fever, sepsis and toxic shock syndrome as well as several long-term autoimmune...
Artificial gut aims to expose the elusive microbiome
16.10.2019 | Press monitoring
The microbiome is a collection of trillions of bacteria that reside in and on our bodies. Each person's microbiome is unique – just like a fingerprint – and researchers are finding more and more ways in which it impacts our health and daily lives. One example involves an apparent link between the brain and the bacteria in the gut. This brain-gut...
