Microneedle patch. Credit: Zhen Gu, UNC and NC State

Microneedle skin patch that delivers fat-shrinking drug locally could be used to treat obesity and diabetes. Researchers have devised a medicated skin patch that can turn energy-storing white fat into energy-burning brown fat locally while raising the body’s overall metabolism. White fat stores excess energy in large triglyceride droplets. Brown fat has smaller droplets and a high number of mitochondria that burn fat to produce heat. Newborns have a relative abundance of brown fat, which protects against exposure to cold temperatures. But by adulthood, most brown fat is lost.

For years, researchers have been searching for therapies that can transform an adult’s white fat into brown fat – browning – which can happen naturally when the bod...

Figure shows presence of colonic tumors (MRS/AOM+DSS panel) by positron emission tomography imaging. Tumor activity is significantly diminished in the presence of the histamine-producing probiotic (L. reuteri 6475/AOM+DSS).

Histamine-producing probiotic reduces inflammation and suppresses colon tumors in mice by supplying missing enzyme, according to report. In an innovative approach to colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention and treatment, scientists are studying ways to replace missing metabolites in patients prone to gut inflammation and CRC. A new study in The American Journal of Pathology describes how administration of histamine-producing gut microbes to mice lacking the enzyme histidine decarboxylase (HDC) reduced inflammation and tumor formation...

Researchers from the University of Houston have reported a breakthrough in stretchable electronics that can serve as an artificial skin, allowing a robotic hand to sense the difference between hot and cold.
Credit: University of Houston

UH researchers discover new form of stretchable electronics, sensors and skins, allowing a robotic hand to sense the difference between hot and cold, while also offering advantages for a wide range of biomedical devices. The work, reported in the journal Science Advances, describes a new mechanism for producing stretchable electronics, a process that relies upon readily available materials and could be scaled up for commercial production.

Cunjiang Yu, Bill D...