The multicellular bots move around and help heal “wounds” created in cultured neurons. Researchers at Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have created tiny biological robots that they call Anthrobots from human tracheal cells that can move across a surface and have been found to encourage the growth of neurons across a region of damage in a lab dish. The multicellular robots, ranging in size from the width of a human hair to the point of a sharpened pencil,…
Microgels form a thin protective shell around a droplet until the temperature rises above 32 degrees. Then the microgels shrink and the droplet dissolves in the surrounding liquid. A study by researchers from the University of Gothenburg now reveals the underlying mechanism behind this process. The discovery could revolutionise methods of targeting medicines to specific locations within the body. Emulsions consist of numerous droplets that are present in a liquid without dissolving and mixing with the liquid. For example, milk…
Insilico Medicine (“Insilico”), an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, clinical stage biotechnology company and leader in AI drug discovery platform technology, is hosting three webinars unveiling its latest technology breakthroughs Nov. 28-30, 2023. These new features are part of the expansion of the Company’s end-to-end Pharma.AI platform and include chat functionality, off-target screening tools, enhanced knowledge graphs and more. They represent major steps forward in the advancement of AI drug discovery. The company is an early innovator in generative chemistry and biology…
What happens when the vaginal microbiome attacks. UC San Diego study begins to explain why a common and seemingly benign condition of the vaginal microbiome is linked to pregnancy loss, preterm birth and other health complications. Bacterial vaginosis is a common condition in which the natural microbiome of the vagina falls out of balance, sometimes leading to complications in sexual and reproductive health. But exactly how these bacterial populations disrupt vaginal health has remained unclear. Researchers at University of California…
Salk researchers discover protein Mitf mediates the repair function in the peripheral nervous systems of mice, offering potential new therapeutic target. Each year in the United States there are more than 3 million cases of peripheral neuropathy, wherein nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord are damaged and cause pain and loss of feeling in the affected areas. Peripheral neuropathy can occur from diabetes, injury, genetically inherited disease, infection, and more. Salk scientists have now uncovered in mice a…
Texas A&M University researchers are co-leading a $20 million project to develop a $1 cancer treatment. What if a single one-dollar dose could cure cancer? A multi-university team of researchers, supported by federal funding, is developing a highly efficient bacterial therapeutic to target cancer more precisely to make treatment safer through a single $1 dose. Traditionally, cancer therapies have been limited in their efficacy in treating patients. Some, like radiation and chemotherapy, cause harmful side effects, while others tend to…
Growth is a fundamental biological process and a prerequisite for living organisms to develop and reproduce. The processes of cell growth (i.e. the production of new biomass) and of cell division must be coordinated with each other. In multicellular organisms such as humans, the growth of cells must also be coordinated with their environment so that cells are present in the right number and size to form functional tissue or organs. Cell growth is therefore strictly regulated and takes place…
Unlike humans, zebrafish can completely regenerate their hearts after injury. They owe this ability to the interaction between their nervous and immune systems, as researchers led by Suphansa Sawamiphak from the Max Delbrück Center now report in the journal Developmental Cell. Each year, more than 300,000 people in Germany have a myocardial infarction – the technical term for heart attack. The number of people surviving a heart attack has increased significantly, but this severe cardiac event causes irreparable damage to their hearts….
…in wide temperature range. A research team led by Prof. CHEN Wei from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) designed a rechargeable hydrogen-chlorine (H2-Cl2) battery which can operates in a wide temperature ranging from -70 ℃ to 40 ℃. Their research was published in Journal of the American Chemical Society as the cover article on October 25th. Hydrogen fuel cell is a promising technology nowadays for its sustainability and the…
Cell and organ transplants can be lifesaving, but patients often encounter long waiting lists due to the shortage of suitable donors. According to donatelife.net, in 2021 6,000 people died in the U.S. alone while waiting for a transplant. One day, transplants generated from stem cells may alleviate the constant organ donor shortage, making transplants available to a larger group of patients. An issue with donation, whether it’s with solid tissues or cells from deceased or living donors, is immune rejection….
Research team of the CRC 1182 at Kiel University uses the example of the freshwater polyp Hydra to show how nerve cells and microorganisms cooperate to control the animals’ feeding behaviour. An increasingly important field of work in modern life sciences is the study of the symbiotic coexistence of animals, plants and humans with their specific microbial populations. In recent years, researchers have gathered growing evidence that the composition and balance of the microbiome plays a decisive role in the…
New mechanism for the degradation of aldehyde-induced RNA-protein crosslinks. PRESS RELEASE OF THE INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (IMB) The research team of Professor Petra Beli and their collaborators have discovered that aldehydes, a type of toxic chemical produced by the body after drinking alcohol, damage cells by creating chemical crosslinks between RNA and proteins, thereby interfering with protein production. The scientists in Beli’s group, who come from the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), and the…
As biocatalysts, enzymes can make many chemical processes “greener” and open up promising opportunities for various industries from pharmaceuticals to environmental technology. New analytical methods, the enormous increase in data volumes and machine learning have helped boost the development of biocatalysis. A recent publication in the journal Science, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Uwe Bornscheuer from the University of Greifswald (DE) and Prof. Dr. Rebecca Buller from the ZHAW (CH), summarizes the developments in biocatalysis. Enzymes have been used in biocatalysis…
Bacteria support each other across generations. When bacteria build communities, they cooperate and share nutrients across generations. Researchers at the University of Basel have been able to demonstrate this for the first time using a newly developed method. This innovative technique enables the tracking of gene expression during the development of bacterial communities over space and time. In nature, bacteria usually live in communities. They collectively colonize our gut, also known as the gut microbiome, or form biofilms such as…
Model enzyme from an edible fungus. “In plasma-driven biocatalysis, we intend to use technical plasmas to drive enzymes that use hydrogen peroxide to convert a substrate into a more valuable product,” explains Julia Bandow, Head of the Department of Applied Microbiology. The plasmas – energetically charged gases – produce hydrogen peroxide as well as a variety of reactive species. The researchers use the non-specific peroxigenase (AaeUPO) from the edible fungus Agrocybe aegerita as a model enzyme. They showed in initial…
Day by day, we communicate with our office colleagues to accomplish tasks that are necessary to function. The more than 200 different types of cells in our bodies do the same thing, but the way they communicate with each other isn’t as simple as sending an email. Researchers like Ioannis Zervantonakis are still trying to understand how these cells actually communicate with each other. The assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering recently received…
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