Feed aggregator

mRNA can be used to produce much more than just vaccines. Around 50 different procedures for the treatment of diseases including cancer are already being studied in clinical trials. Scientists from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, with the support of neutron researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich, have now discovered how the subcutaneous administration of mRNA can be improved. The goal is for chronically ill patients to be able to self-administer the medication on a regular basis.

The successful treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis requires clarification in advance as to which antibiotics the pathogens are resistant to. Classic testing is very time-consuming and delays the start of therapy. Researchers from the Research Center Borstel and the DZIF have now prepared a catalogue of all mutations in the genome of tuberculosis bacteria and on the basis of a genome sequencing can quickly and cheaply predict which medicines are most effective for tuberculosis treatment.

Impaired bone health is among the most significant long-term consequences of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).To address this serious problem, the International Osteoporosis Foundation Working Group on Cancer and Bone Disease has published an Executive Summary which outlines major factors affecting bone health in HSCT patients, and provides expert guidance for the monitoring, evaluation and treatment of bone loss in these patients.

In a new report, ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, examines the potential of technical and policy measures to tackle science disinformation and calls for improved European exchange and coordination in this field.

The world's leading experts on natural hazards identified 47 problems that hinder the successful prevention and elimination of the consequences of the tsunami. Based on the carried out analysis, researchers have outlined directions for further scientific research.

In a number of biological processes, iron-sulfur clusters play a vital role, where they act as cofactors to enzymes. Research published in Angewandte Chemie now shows that cubic clusters can support unusual bonding states. This study shows that the cluster copes well with a multiple bond between iron and nitrogen--a structural motif that may be involved in biological nitrogen fixation.

Freiburg researchers explain an evolutionary step in the symbiosis between plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Symptoms of health anxiety are common already during childhood and adolescence - and if the children do not receive the correct help, the anxiety can become a permanent problem with serious personal and socio-economic consequences. This is shown by a new research result from Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen.

A team of researchers led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a device that offers a quicker and less invasive way to seal tears and holes in blood vessels, using an electrically-activated glue patch applied via a minimally invasive balloon catheter.

Migratory waterbirds are particularly exposed to the effects of climate change at their breeding areas in the High Arctic and in Africa, according to a new study published in Bird Conservation International. The research team came to this conclusion after modelling climatic and hydrological conditions under current and future climate scenarios (in 2050) and comparing the impact on the distribution of 197 of the 255 waterbird species listed under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA).

Scientists are warning that drinking water supplies in parts of rural West Africa are being contaminated by lead-containing materials used in small community water systems such as boreholes with handpumps and public taps.

In material physics understanding how systems interact across the interfaces separating them is of central interest. But can physical models clarify similar concepts in living systems, such as cells? Physicists (UNIGE/ UZH) used the framework of disordered elastic systems to study the process of wound healing - the proliferation of cell fronts which eventually join to close a lesion. Their study identified the scales of the dominant interactions between cells which determine this process.

Over 400 common disinfectants currently in use could be made safer for people and the environment and could better fight the COVID-19 virus with the simple application of UVC light, a new study from the University of Waterloo shows.

In advance of a wildfire season projected to be among the worst, the American Thoracic Society has released a report that calls for a unified federal response to wildfires that includes investment in research on smoke exposure and forecasting, health impacts of smoke, evaluation of interventions, and a clear and coordinated communication strategy to protect public health.

A study presented at the ESMO Breast Cancer 2021 Virtual Congress has shown that breast cancer survivors differ widely in the burden of symptoms they experience after the end of treatment and thereby revealed an unmet need for tailored approaches to follow-up care.

An investigation led by the INc-UAB, carried out from the study of a drug that modifies memory of fear, shows for the first time that the neural processes and behaviours related to the formation of memory can be opposite between male and female mice. The drug reduces the ability to remember aversive events in male mice and increases this ability in female mice. The study emphasizes the need for more research that includes females.

Customised medicines could one day be manufactured to patients' individual needs, with University of East Anglia (UEA) researchers investigating technology to 3D 'print' pills.

Scientists at the Krembil Brain Institute, part of University Health Network (UHN), in collaboration with colleagues at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), have used precious and rare access to live human cortical tissue to identify functionally important features that make human neurons unique. This experimental work is among the first of its kind on live human neurons and one of the largest studies of the diversity of human cortical pyramidal cells to date.

Volunteer firefighters -- who comprise more than 65 percent of the U.S. fire service -- have higher levels of "forever chemicals," per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in their bodies than the general public, according to a Rutgers study. It is the first study to evaluate volunteer firefighters' exposure to PFAS.

New research has shown that COVID-19 infections in healthcare workers during the first wave of the pandemic provided an accurate sample of the general population, suggesting that data from healthcare workers could be used to estimate the severity of future viruses more quickly.