Category Biology/Biotechnology

Continued warming of the climate would see a rise in the number and spread of potentially fatal infections caused by bacteria found along parts of the coast of the United States.

Vibrio vulnificus bacteria grow in warm shallow coastal waters and infect a cut or insect bite during contact with seawater. A new study led by the UK’s University of East Anglia (UEA) shows that the number of V. vulnificus infections along the East Coast of the US, a global hotspot for such infections, has gone up from 10 to 80 per year over a 30-year period.

In addition, every year cases occur further north. In the late 1980s, cases were found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the southern Atlantic coast but were rare north of Georgia. Today they can be found as far north as Philadelphia.

It is well known that the microbiomes of athletes are different from of those who are sedentary. To investigate how exercise shapes the gut microbiota in non-athletes, the study assessed information on the type, time and intensity of exercise in relation to microbiomes in a large cohort of middle-aged adults.

Exercise has many benefits – strengthening muscles and bones, preventing disease and extending lifespan. It is also known to change the composition and activity of the trillions of microbes in our guts known as the microbiome.

It is well known that the microbiomes of athletes are different from those who are sedentary. This is not overly surprising according to the author and PhD student Shrushti Shah...

A team of researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have found a drug with the potential for curbing painful hyperinflammation from osteoarthritis, according to results of an animal study.

The findings, published March 22nd in Science Translational Medicine, indicate that a drug compound, R805/CX-011, may modulate an important cell receptor in the body’s immune system, GP130, that signals when antibodies should attack a virus or infection...

Researchers in the Oregon State University College of Engineering have developed a handheld sensor that tests perspiration for cortisol and provides results in eight minutes, a key advance in monitoring a hormone whose levels are a marker for many illnesses including various cancers.

Findings were published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. The material and sensing mechanism in the new device could be easily engineered to detect other specific hormones, the researchers say — for example, progesterone, a key marker for women’s reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes.

“We took inspiration from the natural enzymes used in blood glucose meters sold at pharmacies,” said Larry Cheng, associate professor of electrical engineer...