Press monitoring
New dual-action cancer-killing virus
23.11.2018 | Press monitoring
Scientists have equipped a virus that kills carcinoma cells with a protein so it can also target and kill adjacent cells that are tricked into shielding the cancer from the immune system. It is the first time that cancer-associated fibroblasts within solid tumours - healthy cells that are tricked into protecting the cancer from the immune system...
Farm animals may soon get new features through gene editing
21.11.2018 | Press monitoring
Cows that can withstand hotter temperatures. Cows born without pesky horns. Pigs that never reach puberty. A company wants to alter farm animals by adding and subtracting genetic traits in a lab. It sounds like science fiction, but Recombinetics sees opportunity for its technology in the livestock industry. But first, it needs to convince...
Nanotubes built from protein crystals: Breakthrough in biomolecular engineering
19.11.2018 | Press monitoring
Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) have constructed protein nanotubes from tiny scaffolds made by cross-linking of engineered protein crystals. The achievement could accelerate the development of artificial enzymes, nano-sized carriers and delivery systems for a host of biomedical and biotechnological applications. An...
Solar panels for yeast cell biofactories
16.11.2018 | Press monitoring
Genetically engineered microbes such as bacteria and yeasts have long been used as living factories to produce drugs and fine chemicals. More recently, researchers have started to combine bacteria with semiconductor technology that, similar to solar panels on the roof of a house, harvests energy from light and, when coupled to the microbes'...
Nanorobots propel through the eye
14.11.2018 | Press monitoring
Researchers of the Micro, Nano and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, together with an international team of scientists, have developed propeller-shaped nanorobots that, for the first time, are able to drill through dense tissue as is prevalent in an eye. They applied a non-stick coating to the...
Researchers discover genes that give vegetables their shape
12.11.2018 | Press monitoring
From elongated oblongs to near-perfect spheres, vegetables come in almost every size and shape. But what differentiates a fingerling potato from a russet or a Roma tomato from a beefsteak? Researchers at the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have recently found the genetic mechanism that controls the shape of...
Wearable bioreactor stimulates limb regrowth in frogs
9.11.2018 | Press monitoring
Whether it's the Mexican axolotl that can regrow its legs in weeks, the green anole lizard that sprouts new tails as needed, or the ability of newts to replace pretty whatever limb they happen to be missing, the regenerative abilities of certain creatures have much to teach the world of medical science. A new breakthrough out of Tufts University...
Laser-activated silk sealants outperform sutures for tissue repair
7.11.2018 | Press monitoring
NIBIB funded researchers have developed laser-activated nanomaterials that integrate with wounded tissues to form seals that are superior to sutures for containing body fluids and preventing bacterial infection. Tissue repair following injury or during surgery is conventionally performed with sutures and staples, which can cause tissue damage and...
Red-hued yeasts hold clues to producing better biofuels
5.11.2018 | Press monitoring
A compound that has scientists seeing red may hold the key to engineering yeasts that produce better biofuels. A red pigment called pulcherrimin, naturally produced by several strains of wild yeasts, is synthesized in part through the same biochemical pathway that researchers hope to use to improve production of isobutanol, a promising biofuel...
Tiny, pain free vaccinations – microneedles and nanoparticles
2.11.2018 | Press monitoring
If it's up to Ph.D. student Guangsheng Du, patients don't need to worry about big needles anymore. At the Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR), he studied the use of microneedles and nanoparticles as a new vaccination system. "I want to create a more patient-friendly delivery method." He defends his Ph.D. on 30 October. In his...
