Life Science

The discovery, published today in Nature Communications by researchers from La Trobe University and the University of Queensland, provides details on how proteins in the outer membrane of bacteria – the bacteria’s ‘superglue’ – are able to stick to and populate parts of the human body. This new information paves the way for the development…

DNA and the genome, we know, provide the blueprint for life. But it is the proteins made according to the genome’s instructions that are the nuts and bolts of living organisms, providing the molecular building blocks for all cells and that are critical targets for therapy. There are many different kinds of proteins that make…

The biggest source of global energy consumption is the industrial manufacturing of products such as plastics, iron, and steel. Not only does manufacturing these materials require huge amounts of energy, but many of the reactions also directly emit carbon dioxide as a byproduct. In an effort to help reduce this energy use and the related…

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, have developed skin-inspired electronics to conform to the skin, allowing for long-term, high-performance, real-time wound monitoring in users. “We eventually hope that these sensors and engineering accomplishments can help advance healthcare applications and provide a better quantitative understanding in disease progression, wound care, general health, fitness…

A newly created sensor could help doctors identify various brain disorders almost immediately by detecting how much dopamine is in the blood. Researchers from the University of Central Florida (UCF) believe that their enzyme-free plasmonic neurotransmitter dopamine biosensor, integrated with a microfluidic plasma separator, could rapidly detect dopamine levels in the brain with only a…

Researchers at UBC have created the first-ever nanocomposite biomaterial heart-valve developed to reduce or eliminate complications related to heart transplants. By using a newly developed technique, the researchers were able to build a more durable valve that enables the heart to adapt faster and more seamlessly. Assistant Professor Hadi Mohammadi runs the Heart Valve Performance…

Nitric oxide is a fascinating and versatile molecule, important for all living things as well as our environment: It is highly reactive and toxic, it is used as a signaling molecule, it depletes the ozone layer in our planet’s atmosphere and it is the precursor of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Nitrogen oxides are…

Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine used MRI brain scans and machine learning techniques at birth to predict cognitive development at age 2 years with 95 percent accuracy. “This prediction could help identify children at risk for poor cognitive development shortly after birth with high accuracy,” said senior author John H.…

A comprehensive analysis of sewage collected in 74 cities in 60 countries has yielded the first comparable global data showing the levels and types of antimicrobial resistant bacteria present in healthy people. The National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, headed the study, which was conducted by an international team of researchers. In a metagenomics…

Researchers are investigating the ability of some frog species to resist diseases that have driven other amphibians to extinction, in order to find new ways to treat fungal infections in humans. Researchers have long known that skin bacteria protects amphibians by producing fungi-fighting compounds. Now, a team from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is looking…

The human genome contains an estimated 20,000 genes coding for proteins. The proteins are the body’s “workers”, tasked with performing specific functions that are key to survival. Despite their importance, there is a type of very small proteins, with less than 100 amino acids, that are essential to understanding how living things work, and about…