Category Biology/Biotechnology

Blood sample for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) test. (stock image) Credit: © jarun011 / Fotolia

Epstein-Barr virus may affect health in more ways than known. A far-reaching study conducted by scientists at Cincinnati Children’s reports that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) – best known for causing mononucleosis – also increases the risks for some people of developing seven other major diseases. Those diseases are: systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), celiac disease, and type 1 diabetes. Combined, these seven diseases affect nearly 8 million people in the U.S.

Study results published April 12 in the journal Nature Genetics...

Vertical graphene flakes form a protective surface that makes it impossible for bacteria to attach. Instead, bacteria are sliced apart by the sharp graphene flakes and killed. Human cells volume is typically 15,000 times larger. So, what constitutes a deadly knife attack for a bacterium, is therefore only a tiny scratch for a human cell. Coating implants with a layer of graphene flakes can therefore help protect the patient against infection, eliminate the need for antibiotic treatment, and reduce the risk of implant rejection. The osseointegration – the process by which the bone structure grows to attach the implant — is not disturbed. In fact, the graphene has been shown to benefit the bone cells. Credit: Yen Strandqvist/Chalmers University of Technology

A tiny layer of graphene flakes b...

Dinosaur fossil (stock image). Credit: © ramirezom / Fotolia

It is commonly understood that the dinosaurs disappeared with a bang – wiped out by a great meteorite impact on the Earth 66 million years ago. But their origins have been less understood. In a new study, scientists from MUSE – Museum of Science, Trento, Italy, Universities of Ferrara and Padova, Italy and the University of Bristol show that the key expansion of dinosaurs was also triggered by a crisis – a mass extinction that happened 232 million years ago. evidence is provided to match the two events – the mass extinction, called the Carnian Pluvial Episode, and the initial diversification of dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs had originated much earlier, at the beginning of the Triassic Period, some 245 million years ago, but they remained...

Beer (stock image). Credit: © Amy Laughinghouse / Fotolia

Even moderate alcohol drinking linked to heart and circulatory diseases, study finds. Regularly drinking more than the recommended UK guidelines for alcohol could take years off your life, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. Part-funded by the British Heart Foundation, the study shows that drinking more alcohol is associated with a higher risk of stroke, fatal aneurysm, heart failure and death.

The authors say their findings challenge the widely held belief that moderate drinking is beneficial to cardiovascular health, and support the UK’s recently lowered guidelines...