Life Science

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…

The inner structure of corn, one of the world’s most important crops, may be different than previously thought, a discovery that could lead to better biofuel production. In the past, researchers believed that a thick and rigid complex carbohydrate called cellulose acts as a scaffold and connects directly to the lignin in corn. It was…

With recreational marijuana already legalized in 10 states plus the District of Columbia and more states expected to legalize in 2019, research into safe and effective marijuana products is becoming increasingly important. The cannabis R&D space is rapidly growing, and organizations throughout the country are already investigating the proper dosages, mixtures and forms of cannabis…

The world of the dinosaurs just got a bit more bizarre with a newly discovered species of freshwater shark whose tiny teeth resemble the alien ships from the popular 1980s video game Galaga. Unlike its gargantuan cousin the megalodon, Galagadon nordquistae was a small shark (approximately 12 to 18 inches long), related to modern-day carpet…

The hassle of taking medication every day could someday be eliminated, thanks to an ingestible electronic pill that lasts in the stomach for close to a month and releases medication only when necessary. A research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed the capsule, which could be designed to treat a variety…

Using the CRISPR gene editing tool, Nikolay Kandul, Omar Akbari and their colleagues at UC San Diego and UC Berkeley devised a method of altering key genes that control insect sex determination and fertility. A description of the new “precision-guided sterile insect technique,” or pgSIT, is published Jan. 8 in the journal Nature Communications. When…

Researchers from Singapore’s Duke-NUS Medical School, in collaboration with scientists in China, have identified and characterised a new genus of filovirus from a Rousettus bat in China. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Microbiology. Bat-borne viruses around the world pose a threat to human and animal health. Filoviruses, especially Ebola virus and Marburg…

A research team led by scientists at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health report on a new method to help health officials control outbreaks of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infection often seen in hospitals. The researchers are the first to reveal the invisible dynamics governing the spread of these…

Researchers analysing soil from Ireland long thought to have medicinal properties have discovered that it contains a previously unknown strain of bacteria which is effective against four of the top six superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics, including MRSA. Antibiotic resistant superbugs could kill up to 1.3 million people in Europe by 2050, according to…