PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For protein-based drugs such as insulin to be taken orally rather than injected, bioengineers need to find a way to shuttle them safely through the stomach to the small intestine where they can be absorbed and distributed by the bloodstream.
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A new species of the peculiarly shaped spoon worms has been recently discovered in Japan, and described in the open access journal Zookeys. These animals derive their name from their elongated and spoon-like projection (the proboscis), issuing from the barrel- or sweet potato-like roundish body proper (the trunk).
South Australia's forest industry is being significantly challenged as production levels fall due to declining export competitiveness and accordingly means for improving the industry's competitiveness are being sought. The South Australian State Government's Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy (DMITRE) has invited VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland experts to undertake a study that identifies potential routes by which the increased competitiveness can be achieved.
Engineers from Queen Mary, University of London have developed the world's most precise computer simulation of how red blood cells might travel around the body to help doctors treat people with serious circulatory problems.
Red blood cells have the important task of carrying oxygen around the body but make up less than half of the total blood volume – 45 per cent in men and 40 per cent in women.
ORANGE, Calif. – Chapman University's Walter Piper, Ph.D., has published research this week in a leading science journal that shows animals choose habitat similar to where they were raised rather than that likely to maximize reproductive success. This finding runs counter to current tenets of habitat selection theory.
The paper is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on June 26 and includes co-authors Michael Palmer, Nathan Banfield and Michael Meyer. Dr. Piper's research focuses on his long-term study of loons.
The antibacterial effects of silver are well established. Now, researchers at Yonsei University in Seoul, Republic of Korea, have developed a technique to coat glass with a layer of silver ions that can prevent growth of pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Campylobacter jejuni. The technology could be used to protect medical equipment and be particularly useful for applications in disaster recovery and the military environment.
A new study reveals that all children with Crohn's disease that were examined had a commonly occurring virus – an enterovirus – in their intestines. This link has previously not been shown for this chronic inflammatory intestinal disorder. The findings are being published today in the latest issue of the international journal Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology.
Sumatran tigers, found exclusively on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, are on the brink of extinction. By optimistic estimates, perhaps 400 individuals survive. But the exact the number and locations of the island's dwindling tiger population has been up for debate.
Focusing on parts rather than the whole, when it comes to genome sequencing, might be extremely useful, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine. The research compares several sequencing technologies in the same individual with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), and shows that sequencing the coding regions alone at high depth of coverage can identify the genetic variation behind this disease, and was also able to resolve previous ambiguities.
Scientists at the University of East Anglia have made a major advancement in understanding tissue development that has important implications for cancer.
Findings published today in the Journal of Cell Science show how the protein EB2 is a key regulator of tube-like structures inside cells and critical for normal tissue development and function.
The findings are an important step in the race to find cures for cancers including gut, breast and pancreatic cancer.
Runners who complete one of the world's most challenging ultra-marathons experience less neuromuscular fatigue, muscle damage and inflammation compared to those who run distances half to one quarter as long, according to the results of research published June 26 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Jonas Saugy and colleagues from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
RICHLAND, Wash. -- The blockbuster battles between good and evil are not just on the big screen this summer. A new study that examined food poisoning infection as-it-happens in mice revealed harmful bacteria, such as a common type of Salmonella, takes over beneficial bacteria within the gut amid previously unseen changes to the gut environment. The results provide new insights into the course of infection and could lead to better prevention or new treatments.
Scientists from the University of Sheffield have paved the way for new treatments for a common genetic disorder thanks to pioneering research on zebrafish – an animal capable of mending its own heart.
Charcot Marie Tooth disease (CMT) is the most common genetic disorder affecting the nervous system. More than 20,000 people in the UK suffer from CMT, which typically causes progressive weakness and long-term pain in the feet, leading to walking difficulties. There is currently no cure for CMT.
New research suggests that the rapid rise of antibiotic resistance correlates with oral ingestion of antibiotics, raising the possibility that other routes of administration could reduce the spread of resistance. The manuscript appears online ahead of print in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
From obesity to substance abuse, from anxiety to cancer, genetically modified mice are used extensively in research as models of human disease. Researchers often spend years developing a strain of mouse with the exact genetic mutations necessary to model a particular human disorder. But what if that mouse, due to the mutations themselves or a simple twist of fate, was infertile?