Category Health/Medical

In a potentially game-changing development, scientists with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have revealed a new understanding of sometimes fatal viral infections that affect the heart.

Traditionally, the focus has been on heart inflammation known as myocarditis, which is often triggered by the body’s immune response to a viral infection.

However, a new study led by James Smyth, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, sheds new light on this notion, revealing that the virus itself creates potentially dangerous conditions in the heart before inflammation sets in.

The discovery, now online and set to appear in the March 29 issue of Circulation Res...

A research team led by Professor Yuanliang ZHAI at the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) collaborating with Professor Ning GAO and Professor Qing LI from Peking University (PKU), as well as Professor Bik-Kwoon TYE from Cornell University, has recently made a significant breakthrough in understanding how the DNA copying machine helps pass on epigenetic information to maintain gene traits at each cell division...

A groundbreaking nanosurgical tool — about 500 times thinner than a human hair — could be transformative for cancer research and give insights into treatment resistance that no other technology has been able to do, according to a new study.

The high-tech double-barrel nanopipette, developed by University of Leeds scientists, and applied to the global medical challenge of cancer, has — for the first time — enabled researchers to see how individual living cancer cells react to treatment and change over time — providing vital understanding that could help doctors develop more effective cancer medication.

The tool has two nanoscopic needles, meaning it can simultaneously inject and extract a sample from the same cell, expanding its potential uses...

Biosensing technology developed by engineers has made it possible to create gene test strips that rival conventional lab-based tests in quality. When the pandemic started, people who felt unwell had to join long queues for lab-based PCR tests and then wait for two days to learn if they had the COVID-19 virus or not.

In addition to significant inconvenience, a major drawback was the substantial and expensive logistics needed for such laboratory tests, while testing delays increased the risk of disease spread.

Now a team of bio]medical engineers at UNSW Sydney have developed a new technology offering test strips which are just as accurate as the lab-based detection...