Category Biology/Biotechnology

University of Colorado Boulder chemistry researchers have developed a novel way to synthesize and optimize a naturally-occurring antibiotic compound that could one day be used to fight lethal drug-resistant infections such as Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA.

Antibiotic-resistant infections afflict over 2 million people annually and result in over 23,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A 2018 study by the CDC’s European counterpart found that drug-resistant superbugs were responsible for 33,000 deaths across Europe in 2015.

Researchers have previously identified thiopepti...

Technique paves the way for the creation of protein nanomachines and for engineering of new cell functions. Proteins have now been designed in the lab to zip together in much the same way that DNA molecules zip up to form a double helix. The technique, whose development was led by University of Washington School of Medicine scientists, could enable the design of protein nanomachines that can potentially help diagnose and treat disease, allow for the more exact engineering of cells and perform a wide variety of other tasks.

“For any machine to work, its parts must come together precisely,” said Zibo Chen, the lead author of the paper and a UW graduate student in biochemistry...

Skin has a remarkable ability to heal itself. But in some cases, wounds heal very slowly or not at all, putting a person at risk for chronic pain, infection and scarring. Now, researchers have developed a self-powered bandage that generates an electric field over an injury, dramatically reducing the healing time for skin wounds in rats. They report their results in ACS Nano.

Chronic skin wounds include diabetic foot ulcers, venous ulcers and non-healing surgical wounds...

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have developed a novel eye drop that rapidly reduces sight-threatening scarring to the surface of the eye. The surface of the eye (the cornea) is usually transparent, but scars resulting from eye infection or trauma make it opaque causing blurred vision or in extreme cases complete blindness.

Their pre-clinical research, published today (Friday 21 December 2018) in npj Regenerative Medicine, shows that within a matter of days the eye drop speeds healing, reduces scarring and improves corneal transparency compared to the current standard of care for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an e...