The study primarily includes industrial workers and employees in jobs with a lot of physical activity, such as nurses, cleaners and people in service professions who are required to stand a lot. Moving more and sitting less has been the ongoing mantra, but this study comes to some different conclusions. “Regular physical activity is still...
Month: <span>June 2020</span>
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Exploiting viruses to attack cancer cells
An adenovirus is now better able to target and kill cancer cells due to the addition of an RNA stabilizing element. Hokkaido University scientists have made an adenovirus that specifically replicates inside and kills cancer cells by employing special RNA-stabilizing elements. The details of the research were published in the journal Cancers. Much research in...
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Biophysicists reveal how optogenetic tool works
An international research team has for the first time obtained the structure of the light-sensitive sodium-pumping KR2 protein in its active state. The discovery provides a description of the mechanism behind the light-driven sodium ion transfer across the cell membrane. The paper came out in Nature Communications. KR2 is a member of a very large...
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Sugars could be the key to an earlier, more accurate test for prostate cancer
A new type of test that uses complex sugars to detect prostate cancer earlier and with greater accuracy is being developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham. The test works by identifying sugars, known as glycans, in blood. These sugars are attached to protein molecules called PSA and are known to undergo distinct but...
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New gut-brain link: how gut mucus could help treat brain disorders
by RMIT University Mucus is the first line of defence against bad bacteria in our gut. But could it also be part of our defence against diseases of the brain? Bacterial imbalance in the gut is linked with Alzheimer’s disease, autism and other brain disorders, yet the exact causes are unclear. Now a new research...
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What the phase 1 trials of the first COVID-19 vaccine really mean
by Sanjay Mishra, The Conversation Rather than provide a vaccine made from viral proteins, Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is composed of synthetic viral mRNA. These molecules are injected into people and cellular protein-making machines, called ribosomes, read and translate the mRNA. It’s these proteins that then trigger an immune response. Credit: The Conversation, CC BY-SA Early morning on...