What is new in Biotech
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The Future of Organ Transplants: Bioprinting, Stem Cells and More
22.1.2021 | Press monitoring
In the United States alone, over 100,000 people are on the organ transplant list. Around 17 of these people will die per day without having received the transplant. It’s clear that organs from human donors will never be adequate for everyone looking for a transplant. Thus, scientists have been researching alternatives, such as using organs made...
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Compound from medicinal herb kills brain-eating amoebae in lab studies
20.1.2021 | Press monitoring
Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a deadly disease caused by the "brain-eating amoeba" Naegleria fowleri, is becoming more common in some areas of the world, and it has no effective treatment. Amphotericin B is the most common therapy given to those with the infection. It can kill N. fowleri in the lab, but it isn't very effective...
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Designer protein helps paralyzed mice walk again in breakthrough study
18.1.2021 | Press monitoring
In a new study, German scientists have restored the ability to walk in mice that had been paralyzed after a complete spinal cord injury. The team created a “designer” signaling protein and injected it into the animals’ brains, stimulating their nerve cells to regenerate and share the recipe to make the protein. Spinal cord injuries are among the...
Researchers develop oral insulin nanoparticles that could be an alternative to jabs
15.1.2021 | Press monitoring
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed insulin nanoparticles that may one day become the basis for an oral medicine, and an alternative to insulin injections for diabetic patients. In a pre-clinical study, the NTU Singapore team fed insulin-containing nanoparticles to rats and found that insulin...
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Phage viruses can make superbugs susceptible to antibiotics again
13.1.2021 | Press monitoring
Viruses firmly hold the world’s attention at the moment, but we shouldn’t ignore the rising health threat that bacteria pose, too. The crafty critters are fast evolving resistance to antibiotics, meaning our best drugs could soon stop working entirely. Now researchers in Australia have found a way to bypass drug resistance in these so-called...
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Producing milk from yeast that looks and tastes like cows milk
11.1.2021 | Press monitoring
Might a new technological development of researchers from Tel Aviv University soon revolutionize the dairy products we consume? The initiators of the development believe that in the not-too-distant future we will be able to buy dairy products in the supermarket that are identical in taste and color to the ordinary dairy products that we consume...
Artificial enzyme could slow Parkinsons by targeting protein clumps
8.1.2021 | Press monitoring
Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s are characterized by clumps of misfolded proteins accumulating and killing brain cells. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed an artificial enzyme that may stop these clumps from spreading, providing a new potential treatment for Parkinson’s. Alpha-synuclein is an abundant protein in the...
Supercomputers simulate new pathways for potential RNA virus treatment
6.1.2021 | Press monitoring
University of New Hampshire (UNH) researchers recently used Comet at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and Stampede2 at the Texas Advanced Computing Center to identify new inhibitor binding/unbinding pathways in an RNA-based virus. The findings could be beneficial in understanding how these inhibitors react and potentially help...
Scientists turn toxic pesticide into treatment against antibiotic-resistant bacteria
4.1.2021 | Press monitoring
N-Aryl-C-nitroazoles are an important class of heterocyclic compounds. They are used as pesticides and fungicides. However, these substances could be toxic to humans and cause mutations. As they are not frequently used, there is little data about them in the medicinal chemistry literature. However, it has been suggested recently that the groups...
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Weedy Seadragon genomics reveal highly distinct populations
1.1.2021 | Press monitoring
Charismatic, iconic and Instagram-friendly, the weedy seadragon is a favorite with divers and snorkellers. The first genomic study of east coast Australian seadragon populations can now reveal "weedies" from NSW, Victoria and Tasmania are significantly different. The study, published in PLOS ONE, also reveals that Victorian weedy seadragons may...
