Laboratory News and Research

RSS

Siemens’ SARS-CoV-2 antibody immunoassays meet regulatory targets

New research being presented at the ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID, online 23-25 September) shows that, in a head-to-head comparison of five tests used to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (known as 'immunoassays'), an assay manufactured by Siemens and one developed by an academic partnership led by the University of Oxford had the most accurate results.

24 Sep 2020

Gruthan Bioscience to develop new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs

Gruthan Bioscience, LLC, a Medical University of South Carolina startup based in Charleston, South Carolina, received a Small Business technology Transfer (STTR) award from the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute in August to take the next step in developing a novel class of cholesterol-lowering drugs to treat familial hypercholesterolemia.

24 Sep 2020

Researchers uncover an active role of glycans in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, researchers are working overtime to develop vaccines and therapies to thwart SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease Many efforts focus on the coronavirus spike protein, which binds the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on human cells to allow viral entry.

24 Sep 2020

Fourth Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating COVID-19 vaccine begins in the U.S.

A fourth Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun enrolling adult volunteers.

23 Sep 2020

Scientists develop new tool for studying the biting behavior of mosquitoes

Scientists have developed a tool for studying the biting behaviour of common pathogen-carrying mosquitoes, according to new research published this week in eLife.

23 Sep 2020

New T-cell-based vaccine strategy provides broader protection against seasonal influenza

As Americans begin pulling up their sleeves for an annual flu vaccine, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have provided new insights into an alternative vaccine approach that provides broader protection against seasonal influenza.

23 Sep 2020

Intensive physical exercise session improves memory

If sport is good for the body, it also seems to be good for the brain. By evaluating memory performance following a sport session, neuroscientists from the University of Geneva demonstrate that an intensive physical exercise session as short as 15 minutes improves memory, including the acquisition of new motor skills.

23 Sep 2020

Bioinformatics analysis reveals genes and pathways shared in COVID-19 disease and comorbidities

Using bioinformatics approaches, researchers have identified genes and pathways shared among patients with comorbidities and having severe COVID-19. The research is published on the preprint server bioRxiv in September 2020.

23 Sep 2020

Light therapy is safe and can benefit patients with TBI, shows study

Light therapy is safe and has measurable effects in the brain, according to a pioneering study by researchers from the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

23 Sep 2020

Innovative robot automates nasal swabbing needed to diagnose COVID-19

A group of clinicians from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and Duke-NUS Medical School has partnered Biobot Surgical Pte Ltd, one of Singapore's pioneers in the field of medical robotics technology, to develop a robot that automates nasal swabbing needed to diagnose COVID-19.

23 Sep 2020

New book sheds light on addiction to psychoactive drugs

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHLP) announced the publication of Addiction, 2e, now available on its website in ebook and hardcover formats.

23 Sep 2020

New technique helps visualize the mechanical forces of cells at the molecular level

Scientists have developed a new technique using tools made of luminescent DNA, lit up like fireflies, to visualize the mechanical forces of cells at the molecular level.

23 Sep 2020

Parkinson's disease diagnosed after SARS-CoV-2

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, new and unusual chronic sequelae of the disease are cropping up in many medical practices. Now, a new case paper published in The Lancet in September 2020 describes a case of new-onset Parkinson's disease following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

22 Sep 2020

Men are dying from COVID-19 at a higher rate than women

A new review article from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center shows people who are biologically male are dying from COVID-19 at a higher rate than people who are biologically female.

22 Sep 2020

Intra-CREATE grants awarded to support research on personalized medicine and cell therapy

Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine, an interdisciplinary research group at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, have been awarded Intra-CREATE grants from the National Research Foundation Singapore to help support research on retinal biometrics for glaucoma progression and neural cell implantation therapy for spinal cord injuries.

22 Sep 2020

NIH expands clinical trials to evaluate convalescent plasma as a treatment for COVID-19

Two randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are expanding enrollment to further evaluate convalescent plasma as a treatment for patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

22 Sep 2020

Research consortium receives $111 million NCI grant to prevent, treat HIV-related cancers

The widespread use of antiretroviral therapy to suppress the HIV virus has helped tens of millions of people with HIV live healthier, longer lives--but an unfortunate consequence of people living longer with HIV is an increased risk of cancer.

22 Sep 2020

Nanoparticle SARS-CoV-2 model could potentially speed the search for drugs

A team of scientists from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., has developed a new tool that mimics how SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- infects a cell, information that could potentially speed the search for treatments against the disease.

22 Sep 2020

Expanded screening of asymptomatic people could reduce COVID-19 infections and deaths

New research suggests when the COVID-19 pandemic is slowing, low-cost, recurring screening of asymptomatic people - at an expense of approximately $3 or less per test every two weeks - could decrease COVID-19 infections and deaths and be cost-effective.

22 Sep 2020

Impaired cytotoxic T cell response found in in elderly COVID-19 patients

Although people of any age can become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, elderly patients face a higher risk of severity and death than younger patients.

22 Sep 2020