Press monitoring
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Researchers quicken drug discovery method via zombie-like cells
10.5.2019 | Press monitoring
Researchers are using zombie-like cells that behave normally on the outside, but are filled with magnetic particles inside, to screen potential drugs from natural products. Discovered at The University of Alabama, the method could quicken a laborious task that slows drug discovery, according to findings in a paper published in the journal...
Machine learning reveals metabolic pathways disrupted by the drugs, offering new targets to combat resistence
8.5.2019 | Press monitoring
Most antibiotics work by interfering with critical functions such as DNA replication or construction of the bacterial cell wall. However, these mechanisms represent only part of the full picture of how antibiotics act. In a new study of antibiotic action, MIT researchers developed a new machine-learning approach to discover an additional...
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Peanut genome sequenced with unprecedented accuracy
6.5.2019 | Press monitoring
Improved pest resistance and drought tolerance are among potential benefits of an international effort in which Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their collaborators have produced the clearest picture yet of the complex genomic history of the cultivated peanut. Scientists undertook this large project to better understand the...
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Discovery of RNA transfer through royal jelly could aid development of honey bee vaccines
3.5.2019 | Press monitoring
Researchers have discovered that honey bees are able to share immunity with other bees and to their offspring in a hive by transmitting RNA 'vaccines' through royal jelly and worker jelly. The jelly is the bee equivalent of mother's milk: a secretion used to provide nutrition to worker and queen bee larvae. The findings suggest new ways to...
Harnessing microorganisms for smart microsystems
1.5.2019 | Press monitoring
A research team at ont of Mechanical Engineering at Toyohashi University of Technology has developed a method to construct a biohybrid system that incorporates Vorticella microorganisms. The method allows movable structures to be formed in a microchannel and combined with Vorticella. In addition, the biohybrid system demonstrates the conversion...
Deadly box jellyfish antidote discovered using CRISPR genome editing
29.4.2019 | Press monitoring
Researchers at the University of Sydney have discovered an antidote to the deadly sting delivered by the most venomous creature on earth – the Australian box jellyfish. The Australian box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) has about 60 tentacles that can grow up to three metres long. Each tentacle has millions of microscopic hooks filled with...
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Nanofiber yarn makes for stretchy, protective artificial tissue
26.4.2019 | Press monitoring
The human body is held together by an intricate cable system of tendons and muscles, engineered by nature to be tough and highly stretchable. An injury to any of these tissues, particularly in a major joint like the shoulder or knee, can require surgical repairs and weeks of limited mobility to fully heal. Now MIT engineers have come up with a...
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Spread of deadly pig virus in China hastens vaccine research
24.4.2019 | Press monitoring
A highly contagious disease that kills infected pigs has swept across China and is moving through neighbouring countries. Scientists in China are ramping up efforts to study the virus that causes African swine fever and produce a vaccine. But scientists elsewhere fear that political pressure to make a vaccine quickly could risk introducing chronic...
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Waterborne DNA provides a picture of coral reef health
22.4.2019 | Press monitoring
In these times of coral reef die-offs, it's vitally important to monitor the abundance and variety of corals on the reefs that remain. This is currently performed visually by scuba divers, but there may soon be a quicker, cheaper and easier method – just check the water for coral DNA. All aquatic organisms are constantly dispensing their DNA...
A biosynthetic dual-core cell computer
19.4.2019 | Press monitoring
ETH researchers have integrated two CRISPR-Cas9-based core processors into human cells. This represents a huge step towards creating powerful biocomputers. A team of researchers led by Martin Fussenegger, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich in Basel, have now found a...
