Category Biology/Biotechnology

Researchers report the discovery that a protein called ‘Runx3’ programs killer T cells to establish residence in tumors and infection sites. During infection or tumor growth, CD8+ T cells rapidly multiply within the spleen and lymph nodes and acquire the ability to kill diseased cells. Some of these killer T cells then migrate where required to vanquish the germs or cancers.

But how do killer T cells “learn” to leave their home base and amass within specific tissues like the skin, gut, and lung, or solid tumors? Finding the factors that cause T cells to function beyond the lymphoid system and in sites of infection or cancer has...

Read More

Testing for drug use and disease in humans could soon be much simpler, thanks to new Swedish research. Whereas drug tests currently rely on blood or urine samples, researchers from the University of Gothenburg have identified a method for drug testing by analysing various compounds in exhaled breath. They demonstrate how collecting and analysing externally-produced compounds in the lining fluid of the airways allows for non-invasive testing and monitoring.

Dr Göran Ljungkvist said: “Exhaled breath contains particles carrying non-volatile substances. The main components, lipids and proteins, are derived from the respiratory tract lining fluid...

Read More

Study in mice reveals an oxytocin-fueled brain circuit that regulates social recognition. The results shed light on brain’s ability to sort out confusion by reconciling conflicting social stimuli. How do we recognize others? How do we know friend from foe, threat from reward? How does the brain compute the multitude of cues telling us that Susan is not Erica even though they look alike? The complexity of social interactions – human as well as mammalian – has mystified brain researchers for decades.

Now a new study conducted in mice by regenerative neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Massachusetts G...

Read More

MIT researchers have discovered a way to make bacteria more vulnerable to quinolones, which include ciprofloxacin and are often used to treat infections such as E coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The new strategy overcomes a key limitation of these drugs, which is that they often fail against infections that feature a very high density of bacteria...

Read More