Category Health/Medical

The molecule (yellow) blocks human NMT (blue), essential for the virus to assemble the capsid ‘shell’ that encloses its RNA genome (green)

Researchers have lab-tested a molecule that can combat the common cold virus by preventing it from hijacking human cells. Early lab-based tests with human cells have shown the molecule’s ability to completely block multiple strains of cold virus, and the team hope to move to animal and then human trials. The results of initial tests are published today in the journal Nature Chemistry.

The common cold is caused by a family of viruses with hundreds of variants, making it nearly impossible to become immune to or vaccinate against all of them. On top of that, the viruses evolve rapidly, meaning they can quickly gain resistance to drugs...

Nori sheets. Credit: © StockphotoVideo / Fotolia

Scientists working with laboratory mice have shown that it’s possible to favor the engraftment of one gut bacterial strain over others by manipulating the mice’s diet. The researchers also have shown it’s possible to control how much a bacterium grows in the intestine by calibrating the amount of a specific carbohydrate in each mouse’s water or food.

Gut bacteria thrive on the food we eat. In turn, they provide essential nutrients that keep us healthy, repel pathogens and even help guide our immune responses...

Computer-designed customized regenerative heart valve. Credit: Image adapted from figure in publication

Cardiovascular tissue engineering aims to treat heart disease with prostheses that grow and regenerate. Now, researchers have successfully implanted regenerative heart valves, designed with the aid of computer simulations, into sheep for the first time. Tissue engineering, which involves growing replacement parts in the laboratory, forms a key part of this research. The parts can be used to replace defective cells and tissues in the body and restore their normal functioning. The bioengineered replacements have significant advantages over the artificial implants currently in use: They do not cause immune reactions in the patient’s body, and they can grow and regenerate themselves.

An inte...

Zebrafish-Based Discovery of Antiseizure Compounds from the Red Sea: Pseurotin A2 and Azaspirofuran A

New treatments for epilepsy are sorely needed because current medications don’t work for many people with the disease. To find new leads, researchers have now turned to the sea – a source that has been largely untapped for prospective drugs. 2 metabolites produced by a fungus from the Red Sea look promising. “Epilepsy” covers a spectrum of brain disorders with symptoms ranging from mildly odd sensations to seizures, loss of consciousness and death. Worldwide, the condition affects 50 million people, according to the World Health Organization. Current treatments work in only about 70% of those who try them.

Marcel Jaspars, Peter A. M...