Nanoparticles are everywhere. They are in our body as protein aggregates, lipid vesicles, or viruses. They are in our drinking water in the form of impurities. They are in the air we breath as pollutants. At the same time, many drugs are based on the delivery of nanoparticles, including the vaccines we have been [...]

Drug resistance is a common phenomenon, with drugs becoming less and less effective as their usage increases. To address this issue, a novel technique employing conjugated polymer-based nanoparticles is presented in the study published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. What is TRAIL? TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), a part of the TNF superfamily, [...]

Microrobots have the potential to revolutionize medicine. Researchers at the Max Planck ETH Centre for Learning Systems have now developed an imaging technique that for the first time recognises cell-sized microrobots individually and at high resolution in a living organism. How can a blood clot be removed from the brain without any major surgical [...]

Scientists have recently developed multifunctional hexagonal NaxWO3 nanocrystals that can serve as microwave sensitizers to kill cancer cells as well as improve the overall chemodynamic therapy (CDT). This study is available as a pre-proof in Chemical Engineering Journal. Technologies Associated with Clinical Management of Tumors​​​​​​​ Some of the thermal ablation technologies, such as radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave [...]

Apple’s visionary founder, the late Steve Jobs once said, “the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be at the intersection of biology and technology”. And that prediction is coming true in the drug discovery field where biology, nanotechnology and AI are uniting against previously untreatable diseases, pandemics, and human ageing. “Out of COVID’s [...]

Chemical separation processes are essential in the manufacturing of many products from gasoline to whiskey. Such processes are energetically costly, accounting for approximately 10–15 percent of global energy consumption. In particular, the use of so-called "thermal separation processes," such as distillation for separating petroleum-based hydrocarbons, is deeply ingrained in the chemical industry and has [...]

Scientists have recently developed electrochemical immunosensors based on graphene oxide−gold (GO−Au) nanocomposites. These immunosensors are highly sensitive with dual function, i.e., they can detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen and antibody. This study is available in the journal ACS Applied Bio Materials. Impact of Global Outbreak of Diseases​​​​​​​ In the last century, [...]

Omicron relatives called BA.4 and BA.5 are behind a fresh wave of COVID-19 in South Africa, and could be signs of a more predictable future for SARS-CoV-2. Here we go again. Nearly six months after researchers in South Africa identified the Omicron coronavirus variant, two offshoots of the game-changing lineage are once again driving [...]

Early detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) is critical to stopping the spread of this contagious disease. The current diagnostic methods for COVID-19 are expensive and difficult to handle. Hence, there is a need for a quick, efficient, and user-friendly detection method. In an article recently published in Analytica Chimica Acta, the authors fabricated a [...]

WHO data suggests richer countries have so far received 87 per cent of doses globally. Waiving patents on COVID-19 vaccines would remove "a legal hurdle" to companies and developing countries producing the shots and fixing a global supply problem, says an advocate with Oxfam Canada. "It allows them to produce it without having to [...]