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Extreme environment medicine: an interview with Dr Kevin Fong, University College London

The understanding of how long-duration space flight affects the human body has come on quite considerably in recent years, and in large part, we owe that to programs of research that have taken place aboard the International Space Station and the Mir Space Station.

8 Sep 2014

Engineers create truly portable device for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

A team of engineers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Schlumberger-Doll Research Center in Cambridge, Mass., and the University of Texas, Austin, have created a truly portable device for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

5 Aug 2014

Metal-free chemical reaction for anti-HIV, anti-cancer and anti-bacterial drugs

A team of researchers from KU Leuven, in Belgium, has developed an economical, reliable and heavy metal-free chemical reaction that yields fully functional 1,2,3-triazoles. Triazoles are chemical compounds that can be used as building blocks for more complex chemical compounds, including pharmaceutical drugs.

4 Jul 2014

Investigators isolate protein that is responsible for fungus' ability to cross blood-brain barrier

In a remarkable series of experiments on a fungus that causes cryptococcal meningitis, a deadly infection of the membranes that cover the spinal cord and brain, investigators at UC Davis have isolated a protein that appears to be responsible for the fungus' ability to cross from the bloodstream into the brain.

13 Jun 2014

NSF awards nearly $200,000 to make environmentally friendly field analyzer

The National Science Foundation has awarded nearly $200,000 to two University of Texas at Arlington researchers teaming with a private company to make an affordable, environmentally friendly field analyzer for arsenic levels in water.

13 Jun 2014

French researchers introduce new method to effectively control bleeding and repair tissues

Stopping bleeding, closing wounds, repairing organs—these are everyday challenges in medical and surgical practice. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, French researchers have now introduced a new method that employs gluing by aqueous nanoparticle solutions to effectively control bleeding and repair tissues. In animal tests, their approach proved easy to apply, rapid and efficient even in situations when conventional methods are traumatic or fail.

25 Apr 2014

Scientists develop DNA nanodevices that survive body's immune defenses

It's a familiar trope in science fiction: In enemy territory, activate your cloaking device. And real-world viruses use similar tactics to make themselves invisible to the immune system.

23 Apr 2014

Researchers discover effective way of tuning muscle elasticity

How does yoga improve your flexibility? In the Mar 13 cover story of Cell, Columbia University biological sciences professor Julio Fernandez and team report the discovery of a new form of mechanical memory that adjusts the elasticity of muscles to their history of stretching.

14 Mar 2014

Unprecedented, atom-scale simulation of G protein-coupled receptor site's transformation

Roughly 40 percent of all medications act on cells' G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). One of these receptors, beta 2 adrenergic receptor site (B2AR), naturally transforms between two base configurations; knowing the precise location of each of approximately 4,000 atoms is crucial for ensuring a snug fit between it and the drug.

28 Dec 2013

Researchers discover easy-to-use method for bonding gels and biological tissues

Researchers have discovered an efficient and easy-to-use method for bonding together gels and biological tissues. A team headed by Ludwik Leibler, involving researchers from the Laboratoire Matière Molle et Chimie (CNRS/ESPCI ParisTech) and the Laboratoire Physico-Chimie des Polymères et Milieux Dispersés (CNRS/ UPMC/ESPCI ParisTech), has succeeded in obtaining very strong adhesion between two gels by spreading on their surface a solution containing nanoparticles.

12 Dec 2013

Probe mimics pathogen's amino acids, solving mystery behind Chlamydiae cell wall

Biochemical sleuthing by an Indiana University graduate student has ended a nearly 50-year-old search to find a megamolecule in bacterial cell walls commonly used as a target for antibiotics, but whose presence had never been identified in the bacterium responsible for the most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease in the United States.

12 Dec 2013

American scientists introduce novel gel for sealing wounds

In first-aid situations, wounds must be quickly and effectively closed to stop blood loss and prevent infection. For treatment on arrival in a hospital, the temporary seal must be reopened, which often causes additional damage to the injured tissue. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, American scientists have now introduced a novel gel for sealing wounds. The gel can later be dissolved and gently removed.

28 Nov 2013

New method to display viral DNA in host cells at single-molecule resolution

The medical, humanitarian and economical impact of viral diseases is devastating to humans and livestock. There are no adequate therapies available against most viral diseases, largely because the mechanisms by which viruses infect cells are poorly known.

17 Oct 2013

Common catalyst cerium oxide opens door to nanochemistry for medicine

Scientists at Rice University are enhancing the natural antioxidant properties of an element found in a car's catalytic converter to make it useful for medical applications.

16 Oct 2013

Cannabis affects addiction processes in adolescent brain

The nature of the teenage brain makes users of cannabis amongst this population particularly at risk of developing addictive behaviors and suffering other long-term negative effects, according to researchers at the University of Montreal and New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

27 Aug 2013

Research findings lay foundation for regenerating damaged heart muscle

In the aftermath of a heart attack, cells within the region most affected shut down. They stop beating. And they become entombed in scar tissue. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have demonstrated that this damage need not be permanent-by finding a way to transform the class of cells that form human scar tissue into those that closely resemble beating heart cells.

23 Aug 2013

Researchers develop inexpensive test kit that detects phenolic compounds in water

Clean drinking water is a diminishing natural resource in developing nations and in many industrialised countries. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a simple and inexpensive test kit that detects phenolic compounds in water. Sources of phenolic compounds found in drinking water include industrial wastewaters, drug residues and pipes.