Category Biology/Biotechnology

Researchers from ETH Zurich and the National University of Singapore have developed a new kind of bandage that helps blood to clot and doesn’t stick to the wound. This marks the first time that scientists have combined both properties in one material.

“We did not actually plan this, but that is just how science works sometimes: you start researching one thing and end up somewhere else,” says ETH Professor Dimos Poulikakos...

Discovery of cellular mechanisms could open door to more effective anti-aging therapies. Scientists have identified synergistic cellular pathways for longevity that amplify lifespan fivefold in C. elegans, a nematode worm used as a model in aging research...

Using a computer algorithm, scientists at Uppsala University have identified a promising new treatment for neuroblastoma. This form of cancer in children, which occurs in specialised nerve cells in the sympathetic nervous system, may be life-threatening. In the long term the discovery, described in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications, may result in a new form of treatment for children in whom the disease is severe or at an advanced stage.

The new treatment is based on activating a receptor protein, CNR2 (cannabinoid receptor 2), in the nervous system...

A new study finds that the pleasure center of the brain and the brain’s biological clock are linked, and that high-calorie foods – which bring pleasure – disrupt normal feeding schedules, resulting in overconsumption.

During the years 1976 through 1980, 15% of U.S. adults were obese. Today, about 40% of adults are obese. Another 33% are overweight.

Coinciding with this increase in weight are ever-rising rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and health complications caused by obesity, such as hypertension...