Category Biology/Biotechnology

Sub-micron silica particles can be prepared to deliver important compounds into damaged teeth through tubules in the dentine. The tiny particles can be bound to compounds ranging from calcium tooth building materials to antimicrobials that prevent infection.

Professor Damien Walmsley, from the School of Dentistry at the University of Birmingham, explained, “The dentine of our teeth have numerous microscopic holes, which are the entrances to tubules that run through to the nerve. When your outer enamel is breached, the exposure of these tubules is really noticeable. If you drink something cold, you can feel the sensitivity in your teeth because these tubules run directly through to the nerve and the soft tissue of the tooth.”

“Our plan was to use target those same tubules with a multi...

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...