Synthetic biology involves creating artificial replica that mimic the building blocks of living systems. It aims at recreating biological phenomena in the laboratory following a bottom-up approach. Today scientists routinely create micro-compartments, so called vesicles, such as liposomes and polymersomes. Their membranes can host biochemical processes and are made of self-assembled lipids or a particular type of polymers, called block copolymers, respectively.
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A high-tech version of an old-fashioned balance scale at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has just brought scientists a critical step closer toward a new and improved definition of the kilogram. The scale, called the NIST-4 watt balance, has conducted its first measurement of a fundamental physical quantity calledPlanck's constant to within 34 parts per billion - demonstrating the scale is accurate enough to assist the international community with the redefinition of the kilogram, an event slated for 2018.
In a proof-of-principle study, a team of physicians and bioinformatics experts at Johns Hopkins reports they were able to diagnose or rule out suspected brain infections using so called next-generation genetic sequencing of brain tissue samples.
Boston (June 20, 2016) - Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have announced the results of a study that may change how nutrition therapy is delivered to overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The "Nutrition Pathway Study" compared three models of nutrition therapy and found that a highly structured nutrition plan provides the most significant impact on A1C, body weight and lipid profiles. The study results were presented at the American Diabetes Association's 76th Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, Louisiana.
WORCESTER, MA - Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) have performed the first CRISPR/Cas9 screen to discover human proteins that Zika virus needs for replication. This work, led by Abraham Brass, MD, PhD, assistant professor in microbiology & physiological systems, reveals new leads that may be useful for halting Zika, dengue and other emerging viral infections. The study appears online in the journal Cell Reports.
The United States stands to gain more from both strengthening global institutions and rules, such as those governing trade, direct investment, and development assistance as well as engaging with the world's rising powers than from pulling back, a new RAND Corporation study argues.
The country is likely to remain the world's largest economy for many years, and can benefit from strengthening its leadership role in the international economic structures that it helped create, according to researchers.
Even with this winter's strong El Niño, the Sierra Nevada snowpack will likely take until 2019 to return to pre-drought levels, according to a new analysis led by UCLA hydrology researchers.
Additionally, they suggest their new method, which provided unprecedented detail and precision, could be useful in characterizing water in the snowpack in other mountains, including ranges in western North America, the Andes or the Himalayas. These areas currently have much less on-site monitoring than in the Sierra Nevada.
Israel Science Foundation, Human Frontier Science Program, Jacob Blaustein Center for Scientific Cooperation, and the Society of Experimental Biology
June 21, 2016 - A simple model consisting of four risk factors can help surgeons to predict the risk of complications after surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM)--a common condition causing compression of the spinal cord in the neck, reports a study in the July issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, published by Wolters Kluwer.
Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent, disabling and expensive public health crises in the United States. It affects more than 100 million Americans, with annual costs estimated at $635 billion, says a 2014 report from the American Pain Society.
CHAPEL HILL, NC -- With no laboratory test available to diagnose functional gastrointestinal disorders, proper diagnostic criteria are critical for clinicians to make an accurate determination of what ails their patients.
A special communication article published online by JAMA Pediatrics explores whether new paradigms in child health may emerge because of Zika virus.
DNA may be the blueprint of life, but it's also a molecule made from just a few simple chemical building blocks. Among its properties is the ability to conduct an electrical charge, making one of the hottest areas in engineering a race to develop novel, low-cost nanoelectronic devices.
Between a third and half (43%) of the UK population--roughly 28 million adults--lives with chronic pain, finds an analysis of the available evidence, published in the online journal BMJ Open.
This proportion is likely to rise as the population ages, warn the researchers, who add that chronic pain is a major cause of disability and distress among those affected by it.
The risk of birth defects among twins may be higher among mums who haven't used fertility treatment--which is known to increase the chances of a twin birth--than among those who have used it, finds US research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.