Press monitoring
Nano-sized traps show promise in diagnosing pathogenic bacterial infections
30.7.2018 | Press monitoring
A new type of "lab on a chip" developed by McGill University scientists has the potential to become a clinical tool capable of detecting very small quantities of disease-causing bacteria in just minutes. The device designed by Sara Mahshid, Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at McGill, is made of nano-sized "islands,"...
Engineering 3-D bio-printed scaffolds to regenerate damaged peripheral nervous systems
27.7.2018 | Press monitoring
In the last decade or so, 3-D printing has experienced a surge in popularity as the technology has become more precise and accessible. Now, researchers from the University of Saskatchewan are looking at how we can use 3-D printing to help damaged nervous systems to regrow. The peripheral nervous system, which controls the body beyond the brain...
Targeting headaches and tumors with nano-submarines
25.7.2018 | Press monitoring
Scientists at the Mainz University Medical Center and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) have developed a new method to enable miniature drug-filled nanocarriers to dock on to immune cells, which in turn attack tumors. In the future, this may lead to targeted treatment that can largely eliminate damage to healthy tissue. In...
The highly complex sugarcane genome has finally been sequenced
23.7.2018 | Press monitoring
Sugarcane was the last major cultivated plant to have its genome sequenced. This was because of its huge complexity: The genome comprises between 10 and 12 copies of each chromosome, while the human genome has just two. It was an international team coordinated by CIRAD that achieved this milestone, as reported in Nature Communications on July 6....
Inhalable viruses show promise as a better way to treat lung infections
20.7.2018 | Press monitoring
Bacteriophages are viruses that target specific strains of bacteria. They were explored in the early 20th century as potential treatments for infection, but fell by the wayside once antibiotics were discovered. However, with superbugs increasingly developing antibiotic resistance, scientists have once again started investigating how they might be...
Researchers engineer bacteria to create fertilizer out of thin air
18.7.2018 | Press monitoring
In the future, plants will be able to create their own fertilizer. Farmers will no longer need to buy and spread fertilizer for their crops, and increased food production will benefit billions of people around the world, who might otherwise go hungry. These statements may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but new research by...
Scientists create nano-size packets of genetic code aimed at brain cancer seed cell
16.7.2018 | Press monitoring
In a "proof of concept" study, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say they have successfully delivered nano-size packets of genetic code called microRNAs to treat human brain tumors implanted in mice. The contents of the super-small containers were designed to target cancer stem cells, a kind of cellular "seed" that produces countless...
Stanford AI can predict negative side effects of millions of drug combinations
13.7.2018 | Press monitoring
Nearly 40 percent of Americans over the age of 65 take five or more different drugs, and doctors often simply have to monitor patients to see if any of those drugs combine to create adverse side effects. Drug combinations are a remarkably unstudied area, but as Marinka Zitnik explains, "it's practically impossible to test a new drug in...
Mandatory labels reduce GMO food fears
11.7.2018 | Press monitoring
As the U.S. Department of Agriculture prepares guidelines for labeling products that contain genetically modified ingredients, a new study from the University of Vermont reveals that a simple disclosure can improve consumer attitudes toward GMO food. Led by Jane Kolodinsky, an applied economist in UVM's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,...
Gene editing successfully lowers monkey cholesterol levels
9.7.2018 | Press monitoring
In one of the first examples of gene-editing technology being effectively used to knock out the expression of a gene in non-human primates, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have lowered the blood cholesterol in monkeys by disabling a single gene in the liver. The successful experiments pave the way for future human trials in five to...
