Category Biology/Biotechnology

People suffering from a fear of heights experience the anxiety also in virtual reality – even though they are aware that they are not really in a dangerous situation. Credit: VTPlus

It is possible to unlearn fears. And this works even better when a specific region of the brain has previously been stimulated magnetically. This has been shown by researchers from the Würzburg University Hospital in a new study. Nearly 1 in 7 Germans suffer from an anxiety disorder. Some panic upon boarding an aircraft, others find it impossible to enter a room with a spider on the wall and again others prefer the staircase over the elevator – even to get to the tenth floor – because riding in elevators elevates their heart rate.

What sounds like funny anecdotes is often debilitating for the sufferers...

By coating gold nanoparticles in thin layers of platinum, only a few atoms thick, Xiaohu Xia’s team was able to increase the sensitivity of test strips that detect prostate-specific antigen (PSA).
Credit: Xiaohu Xia/Michigan Tech

Identifying minute concentrations is the greatest challenge of test strips that have been developed to detect everything from cancer to infectious diseases to heart problems. The actual stripe on the paper simply isn’t sensitive enough to change color for a human eye to easily see it at concentrations that make a life-changing difference. Some nanoparticle bling could change that. And it would not greatly impact the cost of current test strips.

Gold nanoparticles have been used widely for decades for in vitro diagnostics to make medical care and treatment decisions...

Spiders fed graphene produce stronger and tougher silk.
Credit: F. Tomasinelli

Natural spider silk has excellent mechanical properties. Researchers from the Graphene Flagship have found a way to boost the strength of spider’s silk using graphene-based materials, paving the way for a novel class of high-performance bionic composite.

Researchers from the Graphene Flagship have demonstrated that graphene-based materials can be used to boost the properties of spider’s silk. The silk — produced naturally by the spiders, incorporating graphene and carbon nanotubes (rolled up graphene sheets) introduced in their environment – had enhanced mechanical properties of up to 3X the strength and 10X the toughness of the unmodified silks.

Artificially modified biological materials are an expanding area of...

Microneedle patch. Credit: Zhen Gu, UNC and NC State

Microneedle skin patch that delivers fat-shrinking drug locally could be used to treat obesity and diabetes. Researchers have devised a medicated skin patch that can turn energy-storing white fat into energy-burning brown fat locally while raising the body’s overall metabolism. White fat stores excess energy in large triglyceride droplets. Brown fat has smaller droplets and a high number of mitochondria that burn fat to produce heat. Newborns have a relative abundance of brown fat, which protects against exposure to cold temperatures. But by adulthood, most brown fat is lost.

For years, researchers have been searching for therapies that can transform an adult’s white fat into brown fat – browning – which can happen naturally when the bod...