Category Biology/Biotechnology

Medical researchers have developed a novel way for a drug to zero in on damaged nerves and cells inside the ear. Credit: © Pixsooz / Fotolia

Researchers at USC and Harvard have developed a new approach to repair cells deep inside the ear – a potential remedy that could restore hearing for millions of elderly people and others who suffer hearing loss. The lab study demonstrates a novel way for a drug to zero in on damaged nerves and cells inside the ear. It’s a potential remedy for a problem that afflicts two-thirds of people over 70 years and 17% of all adults in the United States.

“What’s new here is we figured out how to deliver a drug into the inner ear so it actually stays put and does what it’s supposed to do, and that’s novel,” said Charles E...

A microscopic view showing where bacteria has been eaten away by the NanoZymes. Credit: Dr. Chaitali Dekiwadia/RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility

Artificial enzymes could be used in hospitals and toilets. Researchers from RMIT University have developed a new artificial enzyme that uses light to kill bacteria. The artificial enzymes could one day be used in the fight against infections, and to keep high-risk public spaces like hospitals free of bacteria like E. coli and Golden Staph.

E. coli can cause dysentery and gastroenteritis, while Golden Staph is the major cause of hospital-acquired secondary infections and chronic wound infections...

Ixodes scapularis ticks transmit the pathogens of Lyme disease, resulting a multisystem illness in a variety of animals and humans. The image shows bottom side a live Ixodes tick as seen under a confocal immunofluorescence microscope. Credit: Dr. Utpal Pal, University of Maryland

Findings have major implications for tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease. Researchers have uncovered a mechanism by which the bacteria that cause Lyme disease persist in the human body and fight the body’s early, innate immune responses. Dr. Utpal Pal, Professor in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Maryland (UMD), has been studying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria throughout his 12 years with UMD, and his work has already produced the protein marker used to identify this bacterial infection in the body...

A molecular model of a peptoid nanosheet that shows loop structures in sugars (orange) that bind to Shiga toxin (shown as a five-color bound structure at upper right). Credit: Berkeley Lab

Molecular foundry-designed 2D sheets mimic the surface of cells. Researchers have developed a process for creating ultrathin, self-assembling sheets of synthetic materials that can function like designer flypaper in selectively binding with viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. In this way the new platform, developed by a team led by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), could potentially be used to inactivate or detect pathogens.

The team, which also included researchers from New York University, created the synthesized nanosheets at Berkel...