Category Health/Medical

Scientists have developed a material that can mimic cartilage and potentially encourage it to re-grow.

Compared to other types of connective tissue cartilage is not easy to repair. Researchers have developed a bio-glass material that mimics the shock-absorbing and load bearing qualities of real cartilage. It can be formulated to exhibit different properties, and they are now hoping to use it to develop implants for replacing damaged cartilage discs between vertebrae. They believe it also has the potential to encourage cartilage cells to grow in knees, which has previously not been possible with conventional methods.

The bio-glass consists of silica and a plastic or polymer called polycaprolactone...

While folate deficiency is bad for developing fetus, excessive amounts could also be harmful. The researchers found that if a new mother has a very high level of folate right after giving birth ie > 4X what is considered adequate – the risk that her child will develop an autism spectrum disorder doubles. Very high vitamin B12 levels in new moms are also potentially harmful, tripling the risk that her offspring will develop an autism spectrum disorder. If both levels are extremely high, the risk that a child develops the disorder increases 17.6X. Folate, a B vitamin, is found naturally in fruits and vegetables, while the synthetic version, folic acid, is used to fortify cereals and breads in the United States and in vitamin supplements.

Folate is essential in cell growth and promotes neuro...

Verrucosispora maris, the bacteria in which the enzyme was found. Credit: P. Race

Scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Newcastle have uncovered the secret of the ‘Mona Lisa of chemical reactions’ – in a bacterium that lives at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It is hoped the discovery could lead to the development of new antibiotics and other medical treatments. The Diels-Alder reaction, discovered by Nobel Prize-wining chemists Otto Diels and Kurt Alder, is one of the most powerful chemical reactions known, and is used extensively by synthetic chemists to produce many important molecules, including antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs and agrochemicals.

However, there has been much debate and controversy about whether nature uses the reaction to produce its own useful molecules...