Category Biology/Biotechnology

Ovarian cancer cells under nano-focus (2 micron scale), showing FY26, zinc and calcium.
Credit: University of Warwick

Researchers have witnessed – for the first time – cancer cells being targeted and destroyed from the inside, by an organo-metal compound discovered by the University of Warwick. Professor Peter J. Sadler, and his group in the Department of Chemistry, have demonstrated that Organo-Osmium FY26 kills cancer cells by locating and attacking their weakest part. This is the first time that an Osmium-based compound – which is 50X more active than the current cancer drug cisplatin – has been seen to target the disease...

A zebrafish model of Dravet syndrome, a severe form of pediatric epilepsy, may help scientists quickly find drugs for the devastating disease. Credit: Image courtesy of Scott Baraban, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco

A study in the journal Brain describes what could be considered a direct “aquarium-to-bedside” approach, taking a drug discovered in a genetic zebrafish model of epilepsy and testing it, with promising results, in a small number of children with the disease. The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. “This is the first time that scientists have taken a potential therapy discovered in a fish model directly into people in a clinical trial,” said Vicky Whittemore, Ph.D...

Prebiotics beneficially nourishes the good bacteria already in the large bowel or colon. NB Cooking fruits and vegetables reduces the concentration of prebiotic by significant amounts.

Prebiotic fibers can help to protect beneficial gut bacteria and restore healthy sleep patterns after a stressful event. Probiotics are well known to benefit digestive health, but prebiotics are less well understood. Prebiotics are certain types of non-digestible fibers that probiotic bacteria feed on, such as the fibers found in many plant sources like asparagus, oatmeal, and legumes. Certain bacteria also feed on nonfibers such as the protein lactoferrin, which also acts like a prebiotic and is found in breast milk...