Author Archives: karen
New method to isolate biofuel-producing bacteria
There has been much debate about converting foods like corn grain into fuel for our cars. Even if all the corn grain in the US were converted to ethanol, it still wouldn’t make enough fuel to replace
Filamentous bacteriophage organize bacterial biofilms into liquid crystals
At sites of chronic infection, bacteria form biofilms, clusters of bacteria encased within a slimy, polymer-rich coating called the matrix. Biofilms are of concern because bacteria within biofilms become tolerant not only to environmental stresses, but also
Should you be taking a statin drug?
Millions of patients are currently treated with cholesterol-lowering statin drugs that are prescribed to prolong life and prevent heart attacks. For patients who have never had a heart attack or stroke (primary prevention), statin therapy is typically
From cell to society: a nutritional intervention to offset the age-related loss in lean tissue mass
Society is aware of obesity. Defined by the WHO, obesity is an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. A 40y person with normal BMI will progress to obesity at 70y through an annual gain
Multiminerals in mammals: longevity, organ biology and other things
Whenever we pick up a bottle of multimineral supplement, some chemical elements often appear on the list of ingredients: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and so on. How are they important to us? Well, our bones
Tricking the body into building new heart valves and blood vessels
When heart valves or small blood vessels fail, surgically implanting a replacement can be a life-saving operation. Right now, replacement blood vessels are harvested from the patient’s leg or chest, which is an additional invasive procedure. Heart
Mold is meat: Microbes are trophically equivalent to animals in the food-chain
The biological world can be divided into two vast “empires:” 1) organisms that make their own food (i.e., autotrophs, such as plants, algae, phytoplankton), and 2) those that must eat other organisms to live (i.e., heterotrophs, such
Using stem cells to battle brain diseases
Neurodegenerative diseases are conditions resulting from the malfunction and death of brain cells, known as “neurons”. As people are living longer, neurodegenerative diseases affect an increasing number of people and pose a major social and economic burden
The multiple faces of Alzheimer’s disease: it’s not only memory
When we think of Alzheimer’s, the first thing that comes to our mind is memory loss. Memory problems were, until recently, a core and mandatory criteria to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. The word has spread through awareness programs
Lighting up a flashlight without batteries
What people often do is the usage of batteries to light a lamp or a flashlight for illumination. Herein, researchers from Institute of Intelligent Machines (IIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) shall tell you another way to
Salmonella savors flavors
Salmonella is a common bacterial pathogen that causes a type of food-poisoning in humans (salmonellosis) which is characterized by diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. In general, the illness is self-limiting and most people recover without treatment.
Isovaline, a compound first identified in the Murchison meteorite, shows potential for treating Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a brain disease that affects 65 million people worldwide and is characterized by seizures that arise from hyper-active and hyper-connected brain cells. Typically, the first approach for managing seizures is treating individuals with pharmaceuticals. However,
Bone cells prefer to grow on aligned fibers
The finding of suitable biomaterials allowing the bone restoration of large bone defects is the subject of active research. Non-resorbable biomaterials such as polymers can constitute suitable scaffolds allowing the deposition of new bone. Microfibers made with
Spectroscopic platform to cut time and resources needed to quantify cancer cell biomarker concentrations
Survivability of a living cell, tissue and ultimately a being is influenced by the state of proteolytic degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM) components; if the dynamics of the degradation is perturbed, regulation of many biological processes such
Child protection in research undertaken by UK universities
In a review of the literature on child protection in research we showed that there is variation in the way researchers deal with protecting children who participate in research. We also found some concerning practices where researchers
Maps can help in the fight against neglected tropical diseases
Numerous diseases affect the populations of Africa. Some diseases receive a lot of attention and others do not. The World Health Organization has grouped seventeen of these latter diseases into what is now known as Neglected Tropical
Application of bacteria as microbial factories for natural products
Bacteria may be described as tiny chemical factories that take up simple molecules like sugars or alcohols as nutrients and utilize them to build all components that are necessary for basic cell metabolism, thus so called primary
Detecting biological hydrogen sulphide gas using metal-organic frameworks
Remember the unpleasant smell of boiled egg? It’s a Hydrogen Sulphide(H2S) an infamous flammable gas known for its smell and toxic effects.The exposure to H2S causes loss of sense of smell (Olfactory Paralysis) while the prolong exposure
Human blood brain barriers malfunction in Alzheimer’s disease
While the ancient Greeks and Romans already associated old age with dementia, it was not until 1901 that the German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer diagnosed the first case of Alzheimer’s disease in a fifty year old woman. Today,
Using Anthrax toxin (Atx) for drug delivery
When people think of toxins in relation to medicine, they usually think of the use of the toxins’ warhead. This warhead has been used to kill things like cancer cells when directed by a cell-targeting antibody. However,
