Category Biology/Biotechnology

A popular Korean skincare ingredient may be far more powerful than anyone realized. Scientists have discovered that madecassic acid—derived from the herb Centella asiatica—can stop antibiotic-resistant bacteria in their tracks, including dangerous strains of Ecoli. By targeting a bacterial protein that humans don’t have, the compound disrupts the microbes’ ability to survive, making it a promising new type of antibiotic.

Madecassic acid is widely known in Korean skincare as a calming “hero ingredient,” but new research suggests it may have a much bigger role to play. Scientists at the University of Kent have found that this plant-derived compound could help fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, one of the most pressing global health threats.

Working with colleagues at Uni...

Diabetes affects more than 40 million people in the United States, according to the American Diabetes Association. For many, the chronic condition means a lifetime of pain as worsening circulation leads to nonhealing ulcers in the extremities, especially the legs and feet.

Chronic inflammation, difficulty in forming nutrient-carrying capillaries, and overzealous immune cells that attack healing tissue all combine to make diabetic foot ulcers one of the most difficult wounds to treat...

Wearable technologies are starting to reshape how people manage health. Continuous glucose monitors that measure blood sugar levels in diabetes patients have already shown the power of tracking an important molecule in real time. The next leap is to track other medically important molecules. However, doing so is far more difficult because most of those molecules are present at much lower concentrations than glucose.

One area such wearable technologies could transform is drug therapy...

Picture this: your brain is a high-performance engine. Over decades, it doesn’t just wear down, it also starts to run hot. Tiny “fires” of inflammation smolder deep within the brain’s memory center, creating a persistent brain fog that makes it harder to think, form new memories or even adapt to new environments, all the while increasing the risk to disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists call this slow burn “neuroinflammaging,” and for decades it was thought to be the inevitable price of growing older. Until now.

A landmark study by researchers at Texas A&M University Naresh K...