Category Health/Medical

Chiral molecule. Credit: Palitel and Naaman

A new study published in Science by Professors Yossi Paltiel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ron Naaman from the Weizmann Institute of Science describes a breakthrough technology with the power to create drugs with fewer unwanted side effects. The most important molecules in biology are chiral molecules. “Chiral,” the Greek word for “hand,” describes molecules that look almost exactly alike and contain the same number of atoms but are mirror images of one another – i.e. some “left-handed” and others are “right-handed.” This different “handedness” is crucial and yields different biological effects.

Understanding chiral differences was made painfully clear by the drug thalidomide...

Artificial cells (false-color image) in a range of structures. Credit: Imperial College London

Researchers have used lasers to connect, arrange and merge artificial cells, paving the way for networks of artificial cells that act like tissues. The team say that by altering artificial cell membranes they can now get the cells to stick together like ‘stickle bricks’ – allowing them to be arranged into whole new structures.

Biological cells can perform complex functions, but are difficult to controllably engineer. Artificial cells, however, can in principle be made to order...

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...