Omicron subvariant BA.2 – which was dominant worldwide early this year, including in Hong Kong – replicates more swiftly than other strains and causes faster programmed cell death in human brains, a new study has found. Scientists from the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong exposed brain cells developed in laboratories to [...]

The urgent need to remove excess carbon dioxide from Earth’s environment could include enlisting some of our planet’s smallest inhabitants, according to an international research team led by Michael Hochella of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Hochella and his colleagues examined the scientific evidence for seeding the oceans with iron-rich engineered [...]

 Blood pressure is a key vital sign that provides insight into our cardiovascular health. But blood pressure is typically measured only a few times per year by a clinician—and these measurements might not always be accurate (maybe, for instance, you’re nervous at the doctor’s office). A wearable device that could monitor blood pressure continuously [...]

A South African laboratory study using Covid-19 samples from an immunosupressed individual over six months showed that the virus evolved to become more pathogenic, indicating that a new variant could cause worse illness than the current predominant omicron strain. The research, conducted by the same laboratory that was to first test the omicron strain against vaccines [...]

For the past several months, Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have dominated COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But now, there’s a class of new COVID subvariants on the rise and one in particular is getting plenty of attention. It’s called XBB—or Gryphon—and there’s a chance it could overtake everything else out there. XBB is getting a lot [...]

Nucleic acid therapies involving DNA or RNA have significant potential to treat genetic disorders, infectious diseases, and cancer; however, research suggests that less than 1% of injected nucleic acid doses reach target cells in an active form. An article in WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology highlights two of the major barriers to this therapeutic strategy, [...]

The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Hemgenix, a new drug to treat hemophilia. Manufacturer CSL Behring set the price at $3.5 million per treatment, making it the most expensive drug in the world. Hemgenix is a gene therapy to treat adults with hemophilia B, a genetic bleeding disorder in which [...]

Some wounds just won’t heal. Infections, diseases like diabetes, and suppressed immune systems often stack up to slow healing. Chronic wounds can last months and lead to anxiety and depression. In the worst cases, they are life threatening. Cost of treatment has soared to $25 billion each year. So far, however, solutions for treating [...]

Over the years, researchers have tried hard to comprehend topographic signals that promote cell mechanical sensitive responses. The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides a complex cellular microenvironment that controls cellular behavior. Nevertheless, only a few functions of these factors are understood, and most remain obscure. An article published in Advanced Sciences presented a convenient method to demonstrate [...]

There is now an imminent threat of measles spreading in various regions globally, as COVID-19 led to a steady decline in vaccination coverage and weakened surveillance of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. public health agency said on Wednesday. Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses and is [...]