Category Biology/Biotechnology

In recent years, generating see-through tissue – a process called optical clearing -has become a goal for many researchers in life sciences because of its potential to reveal complex structural details of our bodies, organs, and cells – both healthy and diseased -when combined with advanced microscopy imaging techniques.

“The usefulness of optical clearing techniques can be measured by their ability to gather accurate 3D structural information that cannot be readily achieved through traditional 2D methods,” explains Atsushi Miyawaki. “Here, we achieved this goal using a new procedure, and collected data that may resolve several current issues regarding the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease...

bacterial biofilm

University of Birmingham and NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre (SRMRC) investigated antibacterial activity of acetic acid against key burn wound colonising organisms growing both planktonically and as biofilms.

Burns are a common traumatic injury and prone to becoming infected due to loss of a normal skin barrier. Local infection of the burn wound and subsequent sepsis are key concerns for patients, with sepsis the leading cause of death among patients with burn wounds. Infections of burn wounds are difficult to treat with traditional antibiotics as they do not effectively reach the wound, and the infecting organisms are often highly antibiotic resistant.

Low concentrations of acetic acid can be used to treat biofilms, and thus be used as alter...

A new software tool allows scientists to link different human diseases and traits through the genetic variations they share. Credit: Liuyang Wang, Dennis Ko lab

A new study hints we should be paying attention to omega-6, omega-7 for improving/ worsening Crohn’s. Some research has suggested that omega-3 fatty acids can relieve inflammation. Research has suggested high-fat diets may be linked with Crohn’s disease, but never have the 2 been joined through shared genetics. Certain subtle genetic variations — as small as a single-letter change in the DNA — seem to occur more often in people with Crohn’s disease. Separate lines of work show that specific genetic variations are linked to higher levels of some fatty acids (molecular building blocks of fat) in the bloodstream.

In the new study, res...

Revealing a biological combat strategy worthy of a 5 star general, researchers show how a cell surface receptor can mobilize immune cells to attack, rather than protect, malignant tumors.In most cases, CD4+ T-cells in the immune system, commonly called CD4 or helper T-cells, scan the surface of foreign invaders within the body, including tumor cells, and send out chemical signals to mobilize killer T-cells–which then attack and destroy the threat. However, tumor cells often evade destruction by prompting immature T-cells to become regulatory T-cells, or Tregs. These cells are marked by a protein inside them, Foxp3+, which suppresses the ability of killer T-cells to attack tumors. Protected from the immune system, the tumor can grow unrestrained and spread cancer throughout the body.