Optical scientists have developed eyeglass lenses that switch focus in a blink of an eye. Optical scientists at The University of Arizona have developed new switchable, flat, liquid crystal diffractive lenses that can adaptively change their focusing power. That’s great news for those old enough to wear bifocals. And it’s great news for anyone with imperfect vision, for it opens the way for next-generation “smart” eyeglasses — glasses with built-in automatic focus.

Medical lasers are like science fiction heat rays that can vaporize tumors. The problem has been getting the lasers to where they are needed inside the body while protecting healthy tissue. Now “perfect mirror” technology, developed by MIT researchers, is being used to shoot a laser through a spaghetti-thin, flexible fiber to attack tumors and other diseased tissue in highly targeted, minimally invasive surgery. OmniGuide fiber, licensed through MIT’s Technology Licens

UV-absorbing chemicals used in sunscreens may disturb production of thyroid hormone, according to new work being presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Glasgow.

German researchers looked at rats exposed to the UV-absorbing chemicals 4MBC (also used in some anti-aging creams) and benzophenone 2 (BP2).

They found that after treating the rats with 4MBC for 5 days, the levels of thyroid stimulating hormone were significantly raised (with the other main t

A newly-discovered mode of action of testosterone is showing great promise in defining novel strategies for the development of drugs against prostate cancer.

Testosterone has been associated with a higher rate of certain cancers. Classically, testosterone passes through the cell membrane to act inside the cell. However recent work has indicated that testosterone may also act at the cell surface, through membrane androgen binding sites called Ambs.

Now a team lead by Pro

If you enjoy wildlife programmes then you’ll probably have seen bird’s-eye view footage of flying, taken from cameras attached to birds. A research group from the University of Oxford has gone one step further: by attaching a compact motion measurement unit in addition to cameras they hope to glean novel information on what it is that makes birds aeronautical experts. Their results could help in designing wing-morphing aircraft that would have deformable wing and tail parts, in place of convent

Do you remember learning to swim? Thrashing around, floundering, until suddenly it all clicks into place and a few feeble strokes of doggy-paddle propel you away from your parent’s arms. Surely, you think, fish must be born as expert swimmers. Actually, fish larvae are pretty feeble when it comes to an efficient mode of swimming called ‘burst-and-coast’. Dr Ulrike Müller from Wageningen University studies how fish swim: “Fish larvae are the most critical life history stage. In marine fish more than

Increasing carbon levels can be a good thing in some cases: scientists at the University of Durham propose that higher levels of inorganic carbon can have a positive influence on human health.

Carbon levels are sensed by a biological molecule, adenylyl cyclase (AC), that can then affect sperm motility or the virulence of a dangerous human pathogen. So far, AC is the only signalling molecule known to directly respond to inorganic carbon. Dr Martin Cann will present this work at the

A new method of delivering chemotherapy to cancer patients without incurring side effects such as hair loss and vomiting is being developed.

The method, produced at the University of Bath, involves using tiny fibres and beads soaked in the chemotherapy drug which are then implanted into the cancerous area in the patient’s body.

These fibres are bio-degradable and compatible with body tissue, which means they would not be rejected by the patient’s body. They gradually tur

Malaria kills a child every thirty seconds in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to recent estimates. It is a huge problem currently threatening over 40% of the world’s population and still on the increase. The infection causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least a million deaths annually, and is recognised as a major factor impeding the development of some of the poorest nations.

Past strategies to kill off mosquitoes with insecticides failed as they developed resistance

In the April 1 issue of G&D, Dr. Cory Abate-Shen (UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School) and colleagues resolve the long-standing question of how homeoproteins selectively bind their DNA targets in vivo.

In marked contrast to their precise target recognition in vivo, in vitro, homeoproteins bind DNA quite promiscuously. In their upcoming paper, Dr. Abate-Shen and colleagues demonstrate that the PIAS1 SUMO E3 ubiquitin ligase protein underlies the in vivo DNA-binding specificity of t

The 2-gene expression profile of HOXB13 and IL17BR in a woman’s breast cancer predicts risk of recurrence in node-negative patients treated with tamoxifen

Mayo Clinic researchers report that the expression of two novel genes within the tumors of women with early stage breast cancer may allow identification of women who are and are not at risk for early relapse or cancer-related death. Results of the study are published in the April 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

How would an outbreak of avian flu affect business worldwide? Let’s find out. MIT will be staging a real-time simulation of an avian flu outbreak to show how global supply chains are severely disrupted by such emergencies.

Developed by the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, the simulation will involve a hypothetical outbreak of avian flu that shuts down a fictional manufacturing facility. A panel of executives will respond in real time to the unfolding emergency. “In thi

The children of mothers who eat high protein diets in late pregnancy seem to be more susceptible to stress when they grow to adulthood. These are the results of an initial study which a group from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Southampton, led by Dr Rebecca Reynolds, Senior Lecturer, presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Glasgow today.

Dr Reynolds’ group have followed up the children of the ‘Motherwell babies’, whose mothers were advised to eat a high-pr

A quarter of the men who had vasectomies at a clinic didn’t return for any follow up tests to make sure that the procedure had worked, according to research published in the April issue of the British–based urology journal BJU International.

And only a fifth of the 436 men turned up for both of the tests needed to finally put them in the clear, according to a study carried out by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urological Institute in Ohio, USA.

Of the 75

Braquitherapy guided by ecoendoscopy has enabled a therapeutic approach to injuries, hitherto inaccessible by other means.

Braquitherapy involves the local administration of radiotherapy by means of the implantation of radioactive seeds. It involves a technique used in treatment for cancer of the prostate gland, uterus, bronchial tubes and other locations. The technique developed at the University of Navarra University Clinic enables access to tumorous lesions in the area along the

Cosmetic considerations and a perceived lack of patent opportunities could be stopping the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries from investing in the development of a new therapy proven to be effective in the treatment of MRSA.

According to a leading scientist based at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) photodynamic or dye therapy could be an effective alternative therapy for the hospital superbug.

Around 5000 people die and many thousands more suffer long term