Category Biology/Biotechnology

If you have a well for your drinking water, you might consider testing it for arsenic (regularly). Included as one of the many contaminants that are typically part of a ‘standard’ well water test, arsenic is something that you really want to know about – especially since you ‘might’ be slowly poisoning yourself without even knowing it…

More than 140 million people worldwide and 4 million Americans chronically ingest arsenic in their drinking water. The 21st most abundant metal in Earth’s crust, arsenic is naturally present in soil and bedrock-walled wells and has no odor, color or taste...

David Bello, M.D., listens to the heart of a patient at Orlando Health using a new device called HeartBuds, a smartphone and an app. Credit: Orlando Health

“They not only detect sounds inside the body just as well – or better – than traditional stethoscopes, but they are more sanitary,” said David Bello, MD, developer of HeartBuds. “And because they incorporate smartphone technology, we can now record, store and share those sounds as well. This could change the way we approach patient exams in the future.”

The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by French physician René Laennec, and has essentially been unchanged since. But on the eve of its 200th anniversary, the emergence of this new technology could mark the beginning of the end for this medical mainstay.

With HeartBuds, doctors use a sma...

This is human coronavirus 229E being inactivated on copper. Credit: University of Southampton

These viruses are linked to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome). Animal coronaviruses that ‘host jump’ to humans, eg SARS and MERS, result in severe infections with high mortality. The Southampton researchers found a closely-related human coronavirus – 229E – can remain infectious on common surface materials for several days, but is rapidly destroyed on copper.

Coronavirus 229E, which produces a range of respiratory symptoms from the common cold to more lethal outcomes such as pneumonia, can survive on surface materials including ceramic tiles, glass, rubber and stainless steel for at least five days...

Pregnant woman and doctor (stock image). A new, simple and safe DNA blood test could spell the end of invasive amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling. Credit: © Dmitriy Melnikov / Fotolia

The new, simple and safe DNA blood test could spell the end of invasive amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling. The research is the result of a collaboration between Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust and Plymouth University. The DNA test costs pence and is non-invasive – as opposed to the traditional amniocentesis test that is available on the NHS, involves a needle and carries a minor (1%) risk of miscarriage.

The test developed can be carried out on mothers at risk of X-linked genetic recessive diseases including haemophilia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy and mothers at risk of haemolytic disease...