Category Health/Medical

A new shoe insole technology could help diabetic ulcers heal better while walking.
Credit: Purdue University image/Kayla Wiles

Researchers have developed a shoe insole that could help make the healing process more portable for the 15 percent of Americans who develop ulcers as a result of diabetes.
Diabetes can lead to ulcers that patients don’t even feel or notice until the sight of blood. And because ulcers can’t heal on their own, 14 to 24% of diabetics in the U.S. who experience them end up losing their toes, foot or leg.

Purdue University researchers have developed a shoe insole that could help make the healing process more portable for the 15 percent of Americans who develop ulcers as a result of diabetes...

M Makrides, L Duley, SF Olsen. Fish oil and other prostaglandin precursor supplementation during pregnancy for reducing pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, low birth weight and intrauterine growth restriction. Cochrane Review, 2018 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003402

A new Cochrane Review published today has found that increasing the intake of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) during pregnancy reduces the risk of premature births. Premature birth is the leading cause of death for children under 5 years old worldwide, accounting for close to one million deaths annually. Premature babies are at higher risk of a range of long-term conditions including visual impairment, developmental delay and learning difficulties.

“We know premature birth is a critical global he...

Blood sample.
Credit: © praisaeng / Fotolia

Cancer scientists led by principal investigator Dr. Daniel De Carvalho at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre have combined “liquid biopsy,” epigenetic alterations and machine learning to develop a blood test to detect and classify cancer at its earliest stages. The findings describe not only a way to detect cancer, but hold promise of being able to find it earlier when it is more easily treated and long before symptoms ever appear, says Dr. De Carvalho, Senior Scientist at the cancer centre, University Health Network.

“We are very excited at this stage,” says Dr. De Carvalho. “A major problem in cancer is how to detect it early...

Rice University bioengineers use a magnetic field to activate nanoparticle-attached baculoviruses in a tissue. The viruses, which normally infect alfalfa looper moths, are modified to deliver gene-editing DNA code only to cells that are targeted with magnetic field-induced local transduction.
Credit: Laboratory of Biomolecular Engineering and Nanomedicine/Rice University

Experimental therapy could repair mutations that cause genetic diseases. Bioengineers have combined a virus that infects moths with magnetic nanoparticles to create a potential new therapy for inherited genetic diseases like muscular dystrophy, sickle cell, cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy and some forms of cancer.

Rice University bioengineer Gang Bao has combined magnetic nanoparticles with a viral container drawn ...