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Squirrels may know a cure for cancer!

Scientists in the United States believe they have discovered a previously unknown anti-cancer mechanism in some rodents.

18 Sep 2008

Scientists develop nanometer-sized 'cargo ships' to target and destroy tumors

Scientists have developed nanometer-sized 'cargo ships' that can sail throughout the body via the bloodstream without immediate detection from the body's immune radar system and ferry their cargo of anti-cancer drugs and markers into tumors that might otherwise go untreated or undetected.

11 Sep 2008

New nanotechnology paints for hospitals could kill superbugs

New nanotechnology paints for walls, ceilings, and surfaces could be used to kill hospital superbugs when fluorescent lights are switched on, scientists heard today (Wednesday 10 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

9 Sep 2008

Food poisoning bacteria prefer duck to beef on meat factory surfaces

The food poisoning bacterium Listeria could survive on surfaces in meat processing factories if certain other bacteria are present, scientists heard today (Wednesday 10 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

9 Sep 2008

Titanium kitchen surfaces could cut food poisoning cases

Food factory work surfaces coated in titanium could cut the number of food poisoning cases every year, scientists heard today (Wednesday 10 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

9 Sep 2008

Copper-bottomed guarantee for safe shellfish in restaurants

Putting brass where your money is could be a guarantee of safety according to researchers looking at the dangers of eating raw fish and shellfish in seafood restaurants, scientists heard today (Wednesday 10 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

9 Sep 2008

Egg secretions from a worm may be useful in gene therapy

Egg secretions from a worm that causes a deadly human disease may prove useful in gene therapy, according to research presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester.

8 Sep 2008

Gold nanorods for medical applications

Gold nanoparticles are under consideration for a number of biomedical applications, such as tumor treatment. A German-American research team at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Hunter College in New York, and the RWTH Aachen has now developed a new method for the production of nanoscopic gold rods. In contrast to previous methods, they have achieved this without the use of cytotoxic additives.

8 Sep 2008

Atomic structure of the mammalian "fatty acid factory" determined

Mammalian fatty acid synthase is one of the most complex molecular synthetic machines in human cells. It is also a promising target for the development of anti-cancer and anti-obesity drugs and the treatment of metabolic disorders. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have determined the atomic structure of a mammalian fatty acid synthase. Their results have just been published in Science magazine.

7 Sep 2008

Living sensor can warn of arsenic pollution

Scientists studying arsenic pollution have discovered a living sensor that can spot contamination. They have also discovered new bacteria that can clean up arsenic spills even in previously untreatable cold areas, microbiologists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

7 Sep 2008

Milk may help bacteria survive against low levels of antibiotics

Milk may help prevent potentially dangerous bacteria like Staphylococcus from being killed by antibiotics used to treat animals, scientists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

7 Sep 2008

Rattlesnake-type poisons used by superbug bacteria to beat our defences

Colonies of hospital superbugs can make poisons similar to those found in rattlesnake venom to attack our bodies' natural defences, scientists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

7 Sep 2008

Framing the concept of a gene

Even scientists define 'a gene' in different ways, so it comes as little surprise that the media also have various ways of framing the concept of a gene, according to a new study appearing in the October 2008 issue of EMBO reports.

4 Sep 2008

Nature inspires new highly specific drugs and organic products

The best place to seek novel compounds for pharmaceutical drugs, alternative energy sources, and a host of industrial applications, is within natural systems that have evolved over millions of years.

2 Sep 2008

New stem cell tools to aid drug development

Scientists have designed, developed and tested new molecular tools for stem cell research to direct the formation of certain tissue types for use in drug development programmes.

2 Sep 2008

Some stem cells take charge of their surroundings

Adult stem cells are not pampered pushovers. O'Reilly et al. report that certain stem cells take charge of their surroundings, molding their environment to control their division and differentiation.

25 Aug 2008

Mosquitoes stay away from DEET because they hate the smell!

According to scientists in the U.S. the reason why the insect repellent DEET works so well is because mosquitoes don't like the smell.

25 Aug 2008

Scientists trace evolution of the nerve cell

University of Queensland researchers have traced the origins of one of the most important steps in animal evolution - the development of nerves.

20 Aug 2008

Scientists synthesize promising anti-cancer product from marine algae

Duke University chemists have patented an efficient technique for synthesizing a marine algae extract in sufficient quantities to now test its ability to inhibit the growth of cancerous cells while leaving normal cells unaffected.

20 Aug 2008

Evolution in the ribosome

A new study of the ribosome, the cell's protein-building machinery, sheds light on the oldest branches of the evolutionary tree of life and suggests that differences in ribosomal structure between the three main branches of that tree are "molecular fossils" of the early evolution of protein synthesis.

18 Aug 2008