by James Ives, M.Psych. (Editor) A new synthetic paper for finger-prick blood tests could provide accurate point-of-care diagnostics for cancer, COVID-19, and other serious diseases. Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology say the innovation allows the detection of important biomarker proteins that might otherwise evade the blood plasma screening process. There are proteins in...
Month: <span>May 2020</span>
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It’s the yeast they can do
UC Riverside engineers are transforming yeast, both the domesticated kind used to make bread and beer and lesser-known wild species, so it can be used in a variety of new ways — including fighting cancer. Yanran Li, a UC Riverside assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering, is working with the yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae...
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Antibody neutralizes SARS and COVID-19 coronaviruses
The neutralizing antibody, called S309, is on an accelerated path toward clinical trials. An antibody first identified in a blood sample from a patient who recovered from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003 inhibits related coronaviruses, including the cause of COVID-19. The antibody, called S309, is now on a fast-track development and testing path at...
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Researchers discover new method of detecting endometrial cancer
In the largest study of its kind, researchers have confirmed a new non-invasive test can be used to help with the early detection of endometrial cancer and at-risk patients. Published in the journal, Cancers, the study signals the next step forward in providing an inexpensive tool for diagnosing patients with endometrial cancer and its common...
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What if we could design powerful drugs without unwanted side effects?
Psychedelics such as LSD and magic mushrooms have proven highly effective in treating depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, but medical use of these drugs is limited by the hallucinations they cause. “What if we could redesign drugs to keep their benefits while eliminating their unwanted side effects?” asks Ron Dror, an associate professor of computer...
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Depression symptoms linked to reduced cognitive control in people with autism
According to a UC Davis study, adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with typical development show similar proactive cognitive control. However, symptoms of depression in individuals with autism were linked to less proactive control. Cognitive control refers to a set of mental processes that coordinate thoughts and behaviors to fit...
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Nanobowls serve up chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells
For decades, scientists have explored the use of liposomes — hollow spheres made of lipid bilayers — to deliver chemotherapy drugs to tumor cells. But drugs can sometimes leak out of liposomes before they reach their destination, reducing the dose received by the tumor and causing side effects in healthy tissues. Now, researchers report in...
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Heat now more lethal than cold for people with respiratory diseases in Spain
Barcelona, 20 May 2020. A new study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the “la Caixa” Foundation, has analysed deaths linked to respiratory disease in Spain between 1980 and 2016. The study, which analysed data on more than 1.3 million deaths, found that the seasonality of temperature-attributable mortality from...
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High blood pressure during and after exercise may be markers for disease later in life
Higher blood pressure during exercise and delayed blood pressure recovery after exercise are associated with a higher risk of hypertension, preclinical and clinical cardiovascular disease and death among middle-aged to older adults. Blood pressure responses to exercise are significant markers of cardiovascular disease and mortality risk in young to middle-aged adults. However, few studies have...
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Most young people with increased suicide risk only display ‘mild to moderate’ mental distress — study
The vast majority of young people who self-harm or experience suicidal thoughts appear to have only mild or moderate mental distress, instead of more obvious symptoms associated with a diagnosable disorder, according to a new study. As such, measures to reduce suicide risk in young people should focus on the whole population, not just those...