News and Trends 19 Jul 2023 Novel bacterial communication system could help take on antimicrobial resistance A new stress signaling system enables bacteria cells to adapt and protect themselves against the immune system and certain antibiotics. The discovery was made by researchers from the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with Singapore Centre for Environmental […] July 19, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Jul 2023 Life saved: AI discovers existing drug works for rare disease A patient’s life was saved after researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, Medidata, and Every Cure, used artificial intelligence to use an existing drug to treat idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD). Every Cure and its partners are developing medical databases and AI algorithms to unlock new uses for existing medicines across […] July 14, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Jul 2023 Immune memory research could lead to next generation of epigenetic drugs A team of researchers has discovered that the memory of the immune system relies on characteristic epigenetic features and a specific 3D arrangement of the DNA in the nucleus of memory cells, allowing for a fast activation of these cells. These features are altered in chronic inflammation diseases like asthma and could be important in […] July 11, 2023 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Jul 2023 Existing cancer drug could be repurposed to fight certain aggressive cancers A team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has found that an existing cancer drug could be repurposed to target a subset of cancers that currently lack targeted treatment options and is often associated with poor outcomes.This subset of cancers makes up 15% of all cancers and is especially prevalent in […] July 10, 2023 - 5 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Jul 2023 Swedish researchers look to peptides to destroy viruses A new study from Sweden shows how a type of peptide from a lactic acid bacterium destroys viruses, including coronavirus. The findings have resulted in a Swedish patent, with an international patent pending. “We’re hoping for a quick turnaround to allow this discovery to be utilised in antiviral treatments and as a complement to vaccine,” […] July 7, 2023 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Jul 2023 New drug helps prostate cancer patients Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland have developed a new drug that could increase the survival chances of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. The drug is now being tested on patients in the PROGNOSTICS project. A research consortium consisting of the PSI, the University Hospital Basel and ETH Zurich is receiving CHF […] July 4, 2023 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 3 Jul 2023 New osteoarthritis treatment for horses could work for humans For the first time, an intervention that seems to slow down osteoarthritis (OA) progression has been presented. In a clinical study from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the University of Gothenburg, OA horses that received a novel drug treatment became completely free from lameness, with a simultaneous impediment of the joint tissue degradation. […] July 3, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Podcast 30 Jun 2023Beyond Biotech podcast 52: Antiphospholipid syndrome June is Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) Awareness Month. APS is a rare autoimmune disorder in which the body recognizes certain normal components of blood and/or cell membranes as foreign substances and produces antibodies against them. There are two known forms. APS may occur in people with systemic lupus erythematosus, other autoimmune disease, or in otherwise healthy […] June 30, 2023 Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Opinion 30 Jun 2023 Virus tracking could be key to kidney transplant patients’ drug choices By Dr Gregor Bond More than 15,000 Europeans undergo kidney transplants on average each year, and while medical advances have helped many recipients enjoy healthy lives, the risks of organ rejection and infection remain huge challenges. With each transplant, success depends on using carefully balanced doses of immuno-suppressive drugs to reduce the risk of infection […] June 30, 2023 - 5 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Jun 2023 Small particles will deliver TB drugs to the lungs in the future Treatment of the dangerous infectious disease tuberculosis faces the challenge of pathogens frequently being resistant to several common antibiotics. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany have developed nanoparticles to deliver new antibiotics directly to the lungs in the future. Surfactants ensure that the highly fat-soluble antibiotics disperse very finely in water and […] June 28, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Jun 2023 New platform cuts time engineering and selecting genome editors A research team from the LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) has developed a new way to break through the current limited throughput in optimizing precise genome editors at scale, engineer hundreds of base editor variants in parallel instead of current one-by-one testing, and informing users of the most suitable ones […] June 28, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Jun 2023 Breakthrough treatment for skin infections? A research team led by Kelvin Yeung from the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) has designed a new microneedle patch that provides an effective non-antibiotic approach for the treatment of skin infections. The design engineered with ultrasound-responsive zinc-based metal-organic framework (MOF) […] June 23, 2023 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email