Author: Maryam Hadadi

A synthetic ‘virus’ that kills bacteria on first contact has been developed by UCL and National Physical Laboratory researchers (NPL). The study, published in Nature Communications, shows how newly designed proteins can be used to build tiny hollow shells that emulate the outer structures of naturally occurring viruses. The synthetic virus ‘drones’ recognise bacterial cells before targeting and destroying their most vulnerable part – their membrane. “We used high-resolution and…

Rendering of DNA. Credit: © polesnoy / Fotolia In a scientific first, researchers at the Gladstone Institutes turned skin cells from mice into stem cells by activating a specific gene in the cells using CRISPR technology. The innovative approach offers a potentially simpler technique to produce the valuable cell type and provides important insights into the cellular reprogramming process. “This is a new way to make induced pluripotent stem cells…

  In experiments, researchers used light to control yeast. Credit: Sameer Khan/Fotobuddy Scientists have recently learned how to use light to control specific groups of neurons to better understand the operation of the brain, a development that has transformed areas of neuroscience. Researchers at Princeton University have now applied a similar method to controlling the metabolism, or basic chemical process, of a living cell. In a series of experiments, they…

Yeast in petri dish. (stock image) Credit: © sinhyu / Fotolia Stanford University bioengineers have figured out a way to make noscapine, a non-narcotic cough suppressant that occurs naturally in opium poppies, in brewer’s yeast. The researchers inserted 25 foreign genes into the one-celled fungus to turn it into an efficient factory for producing the drug. Many of the inserted genes came from the poppy, but several came from other…

Ruike Zhao, a postdoc in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, says kirigami-patterned adhesives may enable a whole swath of products, from everyday medical bandages to wearable and soft electronics. Credit: MIT; Image courtesy of researchers; Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license Scraped up knees and elbows are tricky places to securely apply a bandage. More often than not, the adhesive will peel away from the skin with just a…

By reclassifying tumors, scientists are finding a path to genuine cancer cures. Here’s an overview of the most promising technologies in immuno-oncology. Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of T lymphocyte cells (smaller round cells) attached to a cancer cell. Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL/Getty Images.   Oncology is leading the way in the development of personalized medicines. Over the past two decades, the field has started to move from chemotherapy and radiation…