In the last few years, the number of eye surgeries for conditions including glaucoma and cataracts has greatly increased and with it, so has the number of potentially blinding intraocular infections. In a recent study, researchers demonstrate using a mouse model that engineered nanosponges can be employed to protect eyes from infections caused by Enterococcus [...]
Moderate exposure to sunlight has significant health benefits – vitamin D production, beneficial modulation of blood pressure, and psychological effects of well-being. However, exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation also is a major risk factor for most skin cancers. That means that, while moderate exposure to sunlight is recommended, there is a fine line to walk [...]
Human genome editing, 3D-printed replacement organs and artificial photosynthesis - the field of bioengineering offers great promise for tackling the major challenges that face our society. But as a new article out today highlights, these developments provide both opportunities and risks in the short and long term. Rapid developments in the field of synthetic biology [...]
Gold nanoparticles could help make drugs act more quickly and effectively, according to new research conducted at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Nanoparticles are microscopic particles that are bigger than atoms but smaller than what the eye can see. They are unique for their large surface area-to-volume ratio and their fairly ubiquitous nature. [...]
Experts from the Biotechnology Group at the University of Leicester led by Professor Sergey Piletsky in collaboration with the spin-off company MIP Diagnostics Ltd have announced the development of polymeric materials with molecular recognition capabilities which hold the potential to outperform natural antibodies in various diagnostic applications In a newly released article "A comparison of [...]
A discovery by an international team of researchers from Princeton University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Humboldt University in Berlin points the way to more widespread use of an advanced technology generally known as organic electronics. The research, published Nov. 13 in the journal Nature Materials ("Beating the thermodynamic limit with photo-activation of n-doping [...]
Millions of Americans suffer from neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Researchers have identified new treatments, such as cerebrolysin, which are promising, but present clinical approaches are ineffective as critical concentrations of the drug dissipate within the body prior to reaching the central nervous system and brain. Researchers addressed this problem by focusing on [...]
The sun is strong, the sky Hollywood-set blue, but the wind is brutal. This is confounding the work of Wade Elmer, chief scientist for the Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. At the CAES farm in Hamden, he and a small contingent of grad students, lab assistants, and other [...]
In certain patients, castrate-resistant or metastatic prostate cancer can spread to the bone. Although many new treatments are available, they can have a hard time reaching the bone and frequently result in missing the metastatic lesions. New study presented at the 2017 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition aims to tackle [...]
Researchers at MIT and Paris Descartes University have developed a new optogenetic technique that sculpts light to target individual cells bearing engineered light-sensitive molecules, so that individual neurons can be precisely stimulated. Until now, it has been challenging to use optogenetics to target single cells with such precise control over both the timing and location [...]
