UNSW medical researchers have found a way to starve pancreatic cancer cells and ‘disable’ the cells that block treatment from working effectively. Their findings in mice and human lab models – which have been 10 years in the making and are about to be put to the test in a human clinical trial – are published today in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. “Pancreatic cancer has seen minimal improvement in survival for the last…

World-first nanotechnology developed by the University of South Australia could change the lives of thousands of people living with cystic fibrosis (CF) as groundbreaking research shows it can improve the effectiveness of the CF antibiotic Tobramycin, increasing its efficacy by up to 100,000-fold. The new technology uses a biomimetic nanostructured material to augment Tobramycin – the antibiotic prescribed to treat chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infections in severe cases of CF – eradicating the infection in as little as two doses….

The human brain is a vast network of billions of biological cells called Neurons which fires electrical signals that process information, resulting in our sense and thoughts. The ion channels of atomic scale in each neuron cell membrane plays a key role in such firings that opens and closes the ion flow in an individual cell by the electrical voltage applied across the cell membrane, acting as a “biological transistor” similar to electronic transistors in computers. For decades, scientists have…

The advance, researchers say, is like the discovery of the Rosetta stone and could eventually lead to new treatments for diseases. UCLA life scientists have identified six “words” that specific immune cells use to call up immune defense genes — an important step toward understanding the language the body uses to marshal responses to threats. In addition, they discovered that the incorrect use of two of these words can activate the wrong genes, resulting in the autoimmune disease known as…

Platinum-free biocatalyst for fuel cells and water electrolysis … An enzyme could make a dream come true for the energy industry: It can efficiently produce hydrogen using electricity and can also generate electricity from hydrogen. The enzyme is protected by embedding it in a polymer. An international research team with significant participation of scientists from Technical University of Munich (TUM) has presented the system in the renowned science journal Nature Catalysis. Fuel cells turn hydrogen into electricity, while electrolysers use…

Research team from the Kiel Evolution Center at Kiel University investigates the diversity of immune functions of closely related C-type lectin-like domain genes in the nematode C. elegans. Humans, like all other living beings, have a so-called innate immune system. The structure of the proteins involved is already genetically fixed and therefore cannot be changed. In addition to the innate immune system, vertebrates, including humans, have a so-called adaptive immune system. The repertoire of defence proteins of the adaptive immune…

Columbia Engineers develop the smallest single-chip system that is a complete functioning electronic circuit; implantable chips visible only in a microscope point the way to developing chips that can be injected into the body with a hypodermic needle. Widely used to monitor and map biological signals, to support and enhance physiological functions, and to treat diseases, implantable medical devices are transforming healthcare and improving the quality of life for millions of people. Researchers are increasingly interested in designing wireless, miniaturized…

Platinum-free biocatalyst for fuel cells and water electrolysis … An enzyme could make a dream come true for the energy industry: It can efficiently produce hydrogen using electricity and can also generate electricity from hydrogen. The enzyme is protected by embedding it in a polymer. An international research team with significant participation of scientists from Technical University of Munich (TUM) has presented the system in the renowned science journal Nature Catalysis. Fuel cells turn hydrogen into electricity, while electrolysers use…

Controlling, and mitigating the effects of ice growth is crucial to protect infrastructure, help preserve frozen cells and to enhance texture of frozen foods. An international collaboration of Warwick Scientists working with researchers from Switzerland have used a phage display platform to discover new, small, peptides which function like larger antifreeze proteins. This presents a route to new, easier to synthesise, cryoprotectants.Caption: Using viruses (phage display) to identify the one molecule in a billion (peptide8) that controls the formation of…

Protein remodels intracellular membrane to help bacteria survive in host cells. Scientists at UT Southwestern have discovered a key protein that helps the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease to set up house in the cells of humans and other hosts. The findings, published in Science, could offer insights into how other bacteria are able to survive inside cells, knowledge that could lead to new treatments for a wide variety of infections. “Many infectious bacteria, from listeria to chlamydia to salmonella,…

The process of combining maternal and paternal genetic information is surprisingly error-prone. Only one in three fertilizations leads to a successful pregnancy. Many embryos fail to progress beyond early development. Cell biologists at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen (Germany), together with researchers at the Institute of Farm Animal Genetics in Mariensee and other international colleagues, have now developed a new model system for studying early embryonic development. With the help of this system, they discovered…

Researchers at KU Leuven (Belgium) have developed a 3D printing technique that extends the possibilities of lateral flow testing. These tests are widespread in the form of the classic pregnancy test and the COVID-19 self-tests. With the new printing technique, advanced diagnostic tests can be produced that are quick, cheap, and easy to use. The COVID-19 pandemic has made everyone aware of the importance of rapid diagnosis. The sale of self-tests in pharmacies has been permitted in Belgium since the…

Stimulators win top award at circuitry conference, could aid spinal cord, heart therapies. Implants that require a steady source of power but don’t need wires are an idea whose time has come. Now, for therapies that require multiple, coordinated stimulation implants, their timing has come as well. Rice University engineers who developed implants for electrical stimulation in patients with spinal cord injuries have advanced their technique to power and program multisite biostimulators from a single transmitter. A peer-reviewed paper about…

Probiotic approaches could protect corals against heat stress. Corals are the backbone of marine ecosystems in the tropics. They are threatened by rising water temperatures caused by global warming and they are among the first ecosystems worldwide that are on the verge of ecological collapse. Coral bleaching, which is becoming stronger and more frequent due to heat stress, has already wiped out corals at many locations globally. With the help of a microbiome-targeting strategy developed by an international team led…

Worldwide network headed by Goethe University develops protocols for laboratories. For the development of drugs or vaccines against COVID-19, research needs virus proteins of high purity. For most of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins, scientists at Goethe University Frankfurt and a total of 36 partner laboratories have now developed protocols that enable the production of several milligrams of each of these proteins with high purity, and allow the determination of the three-dimensional protein structures. The laboratory protocols and the required genetic tools…

A team of turbulence researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria led by Björn Hof reports that a small difference in epidemic mitigation levels can cause a discontinuous jump in infection numbers. In the article published in Nature Communications and co-authored by Marc Timme from the TU Dresden, the researchers show that limits in testing and contact tracing are responsible for this sudden change in the epidemic outcome. Testing followed up by contact tracing is extremely efficient in…