Category Biology/Biotechnology

The figure shows two views, frontal and lateral, of the image obtained by CT of the lungs of a mouse with fibrosis (grey areas) before and after receiving nano-therapy directed at senescent cells. Credit: Guillem Garaulet and Francisca Mulero, CNIO.

Scientists have designed a drug encapsulation system that selectively targets senescent cells. The study paves the way for therapeutic approaches to eliminate senescent cells in many diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis and cancer.

Senescent cells are damaged cells that do not perform their normal roles anymore but that are not dead -hence they are commonly known as zombi cells. These cells interfere with the functioning of the tissue in which they accumulate...

Salmonella bacteria cause about 1.2 million illnesses a year, but a new Stanford study identified a molecule that offers natural protection against the pathogen.
Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a molecule that serves as natural protection against one of the most common intestinal pathogens. Propionate, a byproduct of metabolism by a group of bacteria called the Bacteroides, inhibits the growth of Salmonella in the intestinal tract of mice, according to the researchers. The finding may help to explain why some people are better able to fight infection by Salmonella and other intestinal pathogens and lead to the development of better treatment strategies.

The researchers determined that propionate doesn’t trigger the immune r...

Obstructing lymphatic vessels (in green) in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease significantly increased the accumulation of harmful plaques in the brain. “What was really interesting is that with the worsening pathology, it actually looks very similar to what we see in human samples in terms of all this aggregation of amyloid protein,” said researcher Jonathan Kipnis, PhD. Credit: Courtesy Kipnis lab

Faulty brain plumbing to blame in Alzheimer’s, age-related memory loss – and can be fixed. By improving the function of the lymphatic vessels, scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have dramatically enhanced aged mice’s ability to learn and improved their memories...

Metallic hydrogen is one of the rarest materials on earth yet it makes up more than 80% of planets like Jupiter. Researchers at the the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics created metallic hydrogen in the lab to study Jupiter’s magnetic field. The research has implications in planet formation and evolution, including how planets both inside and outside our solar system form magnetic shields. (NASA / JPL photo)

Liquid metallic hydrogen is not present naturally on Earth and has only been created in a handful of places. Now scientists are researching the properties of liquid metallic hydrogen to understand how planets both inside and outside our solar system form magnetic shields...