Category Health/Medical

The Cas13a enzyme causes collateral RNA damage that is the heart of a new diagnostic system, SHERLOCK, that can detect minute quantities of virus and much more

Researchers have created a version of CRISPR-Cas that can be used to diagnose infections, such as Zika and dengue, with a high level of sensitivity. The advancement could help facilitate rapid detection and diagnosis of many other pathogens, too. While some methods exist for detecting genetic sequences, they have trade-offs among sensitivity, specificity, simplicity, cost, and speed. In the search for a more effective method, Feng Zhang, Jonathan S. Gootenberg and colleagues turned to a CRISPR-Cas system that targets RNA.

Binding the target RNA activates this particular Cas enzyme to promiscuously cleave nearby RNA...

Integrated electrokinetically driven microfluidic devices with pH-mediated solid-phase extraction coupled to microchip electrophoresis for preterm birth biomarkers. ELECTROPHORESIS, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/elps.201700054

With help from a palm-sized plastic rectangle with a few pinholes in it, Brigham Young University researchers are hoping to minimize the problem of premature deliveries. The small chip – integrated microfluidic device, predicts with up to 90% accuracy, a woman’s risk for a future preterm birth. “It’s like we’re shrinking a whole laboratory and fitting it into one small microchip,” said BYU chemistry Ph.D. student Mukul Sonker.

In the US alone, a half million babies are born preterm; worldwide, the number is an estimated 15 million...

Some of pharmacologically active constituents of avocado.

A new review investigates the effects of avocados on different components of metabolic syndrome, which is a clustering of risk factors including high blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index. These risk factors lead to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

According to studies reported in the literature, avocados have the most beneficial effects on lipid profiles, with changes to LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and phospholipids. The peel, seed, flesh, and leaves of avocados have differing effects on components of metabolic syndrome.

“Avocado is a well-known source of carotenoids, minerals, phenolics, vitamins, and fatty acids,” wrote the authors of ...

Twenty-four h post-exposure change of heart rate variability (HRV) associated with PM2.5, and the intervention effect of B vitamin supplementation.

B vitamins can mitigate the impact of fine particle pollution on cardiovascular disease, according to new research at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Healthy non-smokers who took vitamin B supplements nearly reversed any negative effects on their cardiovascular and immune systems, weakening the effects of air pollution on heart rate by 150%, total white blood count by 139%, and lymphocyte count by 106%.

The study initiates a course of research for developing preventive pharmacological interventions using B vitamins to contain the health effects of air pollution...