Category Biology/Biotechnology

Researchers of the Hubrecht Institute (KNAW — The Netherlands) and the Max Planck Institute in Münster (Germany) have revealed how an essential protein helps to activate genomic DNA during the conversion of regular adult human cells into stem cells. Their findings are published in the Biophysical Journal.

Signalling in the cell to start or stop reading DNA happens through proteins called transcription factors. Identity changes happen naturally during development as cells transition from an undesignated cell to a specific cell type...

Researchers have uncovered a novel potential antiviral drug target that could lead to treatments protecting against a host of infectious diseases. As the coronavirus outbreak shows, viruses are a constant threat to humanity. Vaccines are regularly developed and deployed against specific viruses, but that process takes a lot of time, doesn’t help everyone who needs protection, and still leaves people exposed to new outbreaks and new viruses.

Now, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have uncovered a novel potential antiviral drug target that could lead to treatments protecting against a host of infectious diseases – creating a pan, or u...

Bioengineers from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have developed a prototype patch that does the same job as crucial aspects of heart tissue. Their patch withstands the mechanical demands and mimics the electrical signalling properties that allow our hearts to pump blood rhythmically round our bodies.

Their work essentially takes us one step closer to a functional design that could mend a broken heart.

One in six men and one in seven women in the EU will suffer a heart attack at some point in their lives. Worldwide, heart disease kills more women and men – regardless of race, than any other disease.

C...

Chronic and non-healing wounds – one of the most devastating complications of diabetes and the leading cause of limb amputation – affects millions of Americans each year. Due to the complex nature of these wounds, proper clinical treatment has been limited.

For the first time, faculty in the biomedical engineering department – a shared department with the UConn School of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, and School of Engineering – designed a wirelessly-controlled, or “smart,” bandage and corresponding smartphone-sized platform that can precisely deliver different medications to the wound with independent dosing.

This bandage, developed by Dr...