Latest Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare News

Coffee consumption linked to reduced risk of autoimmune liver disease

Research presented today at Digestive Disease Week explores new discoveries in liver disease research, with findings about the impact of coffee on autoimmune disease and palliative care for cirrhotic patients. read more

Why does old schizophrenia medicine work on antibiotics-resistant bacteria?

In 2008, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark showed that the drug thioridazine, which has previously been used to treat schizophrenia, is also a powerful weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as staphylococci (Staphylococc...

Promising doped zirconia

read more

Reclaimed water as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes

Bacteria evolve faster than other organisms, partly because bacterial populations grow fast and hold enormous genetic diversity, and partly because many bacteria are capable of sharing their genes with each other, for example, genes that confer resis...

Asian lady beetles use biological weapons against their European relatives

Once introduced for biological pest control, Asian lady beetle Harmonia axyridis populations have been increasing uncontrollably in the US and Europe since the turn of the millennium. The species has been proliferating rapidly in Germany; conservatio...

Sea level: One-third of its rise comes from melting mountain glaciers

How much all glaciers contribute to global sea-level rise has never been calculated before with this accuracy. An international group of researchers involving two geographers from the University of Zurich has confirmed that melting of glaciers caused...

Can math models of gaming strategies be used to detect terrorism networks?

Philadelphia, PA— The answer is yes, according to a paper in the SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics. In a paper published in the journal last month, authors Anthony Bonato, Dieter Mitsche, and Pawel Pralat describe a mathematical model to disrupt...

Carbon in a twirl: The science behind a self-assembled nano-carbon helix

This news release is available in German. read more

Light cast on lifestyle and diet of first New Zealanders

A University of Otago-led multidisciplinary team of scientists have shed new light on the diet, lifestyles and movements of the first New Zealanders by analysing isotopes from their bones and teeth.read more

'Fish thermometer' reveals long-standing, global impact of climate change

Climate change has been impacting global fisheries for the past four decades by driving species towards cooler, deeper waters, according to University of British Columbia scientists. In a Nature study published this week, UBC researchers used temper...

Community groups and neonatal mortality in Vietnam

Community groups in rural Vietnam comprised of local health workers, politicians and laywomen (Maternal and Newborn Health Groups) set up to tackle challenges to maternal and neonatal health may reduce the neonatal death rate after three years and in...

Non-communicable diseases account for half of adult female deaths in rural Bangladesh

read more

Pitt chemists demonstrate nanoscale alloys so bright they could have potential medical applications

PITTSBURGH—Alloys like bronze and steel have been transformational for centuries, yielding top-of-the-line machines necessary for industry. As scientists move toward nanotechnology, however, the focus has shifted toward creating alloys at the nanom...

Cell and environment: But what does it do?

Although we know the tool's general purpose, it can sometimes be difficult to tell if a specific pair of precision tweezers belongs to a surgeon or a master jeweler. It is now easier to solve similar conundrums about a type of protein that allows cel...

Improving memory in Alzheimer's Disease mice

A novel drug candidate, J147, is able to reverse memory deficits and improve several aspects of brain function in mice with advanced symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD), finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal Alzheimer's Research &am...

Higher child marriage rates associated with higher maternal and infant mortality

Countries in which girls are commonly married before the age of 18 have significantly higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, report researchers in the current online issue of the journal Violence Against Women. read more

The mechanism that puts the curl in the curling stone revealed

Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden can now reveal the mechanism behind the curved path of a curling stone. The discovery by the researchers, who usually study friction and wear in industrial and technical applications, is now published in...

Solar panels as inexpensive as paint? It's possible due to research at UB, elsewhere

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Most Americans want the U.S. to place more emphasis on developing solar power, recent polls suggest. A major impediment, however, is the cost to manufacture, install and maintain solar panels. Simply put, most people and businesses...

Environmental significance of chiral persistent organic pollutants

read more

Flexible echolocation behavior of fishing bats during natural hunting situations

It has been known for some time that fishing bats use echolocation to detect and classify acoustical cues from insects along and above water surfaces, and also to detect small water-dwelling prey breaking the water surface for a very short time. read...

The stimulant Methylphenidate 'normalizes' kids with ADHD

The stimulant drug methylphenidate "normalizes" activation of several brain areas in young patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a review of studies published in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.read more

Elevated cadmium levels in urine linked to liver disease

People with higher levels of cadmium in their urine appear to be nearly 3.5 times more likely to die of liver disease than those with lower levels, according to a study by Johns Hopkins scientists. They haven't found that cadmium causes liver disease...

Axon Axoff: How nerve wiring self-destructs

Many medical issues affect nerves, from injuries in car accidents and side effects of chemotherapy to glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. The common theme in these scenarios is destruction of nerve axons, the long wires that transmit signals to other pa...

Comprehensive list of genes required by innate system to defend sex cells

Two teams of investigators published studies revealing many previously unknown components of an innate system that defends sex cells – the carriers of inheritance across generations – from the ravages of transposable genetic elements. read more

Epigenome: Control chart of stem cells that mimic early human development

Scientists know that control mechanisms known collectively as "epigenetics" play a critical role in human development, but not how alterations in this extra layer of biochemical instructions in DNA contribute to development. In the first comprehensi...