Category Biology/Biotechnology

Boosting the Immune System’s Appetite for Cancer

Brain Tumor
UTSW
Brain Tumor

Immunotherapy combo that encourages immune cells to consume tumors could lead to long-term remission for glioblastoma. A combination of immunotherapy agents that encourages some immune cells to eat cancer cells and alert others to attack tumors put mice with a deadly type of brain cancer called glioblastoma into long-term remission, a new study led by UT Southwestern scientists suggests. The finding, published online March 20, 2020, in Nature Communications, could lead to new therapies that may significantly extend survival for human glioblastoma patients, which stands at an average of 15 months after diagnosis even with current state-of-the-art therapies.

The immune system has two branches: innate immunity, an evolutionarily older system that continually scans the b...

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‘Designer Virus’ is first new Oral Polio Vaccine in 50 years

Transmission electron micrograph of poliovirus type 1
Transmission electron micrograph of poliovirus type 1. Image by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Phase 1 trial shows promise for completion of stalled eradication effort; offers lessons for COVID-19 vaccine development. Virologists report promising Phase 1 clinical results for the first new oral polio vaccine in 50 years, which they have designed to be incapable of evolving the ability to cause disease in humans.

Before being halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a relentless vaccination campaign had nearly succeeded in eradicating polio from the world...

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The best material for Homemade Face Masks may be a combination of 2 Fabrics

Researchers report that a combination of cotton with natural silk or chiffon can effectively filter out aerosol particles – if the fit is good.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear masks in public. Because N95 and surgical masks are scarce and should be reserved for health care workers, many people are making their own coverings. Now, researchers report in ACS Nano that a combination of cotton with natural silk or chiffon can effectively filter out aerosol particles – if the fit is good.

SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is thought to spread mainly through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks or breathes...

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Diagnostic Biosensor quickly detects SARS-CoV-2 from Nasopharyngeal Swabs

An artist’s rendering above shows a new test that quickly detects SARS-CoV-2 (spheres) through binding to antibodies (Y-shapes) on a field-effect transistor.
Adapted from ACS Nano 2020, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c02823

Researchers have developed a field-effect transistor-based biosensor that detects SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swabs from patients with COVID-19, in less than one minute.

According to many experts, early diagnosis and management are critical for slowing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Therefore, the race is on to develop diagnostic tests for the virus that are faster, easier and more accurate than existing ones...

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