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Study shows promising results for treating muscular dystrophies with umbilical cord-derived MSCs

Results of a compassionate-use study released in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine show promising results for treating muscular dystrophies with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from Wharton's jelly (WJ), a substance found in the umbilical cord.

28 Jul 2021

Natto, a Japanese fermented soybean dish, may hold the key to COVID-19 treatment

Natto is a fermented soybean dish usually served by the Japanese for breakfast. Although it actually originated at the turn of the last millennium, it could be the key to a modern problem—COVID-19—reports a new cell-culture-based study.

23 Jul 2021

Specific subset of fibroblast cells could provide protection from debilitating lung disease

Single-cell RNA sequencing has revealed a subset of cells that could provide protection from a rare, but severely debilitating and fatal, lung disease.

16 Jul 2021

Study on memory T cells of COVID-19 convalescent patients could power effective vaccine strategies

Researchers have discovered that a majority of the COVID-19 convalescent patients develop and maintain T cell memory for more than 10 months.

7 Jul 2021

New airway model boosts COVID-19 research

A research team has successfully built a model of lung cells that can be used to simulate how COVID-19 infects the airways.

22 Jun 2021

Fluorescence microscopy and deep learning predict viral infections

Researchers have now used fluorescence images from live cells to train an artificial neural network to reliably detect cells that are infected by herpes viruses.

22 Jun 2021

Inhibition of necroptosis may be a new therapeutic approach to treating COPD

Research shows that inhibiting necroptosis, a form of cell death, could be a novel therapeutic approach for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an inflammatory lung condition, also known as emphysema, that makes it difficult to breathe.

21 Jun 2021

Study decodes the activation mechanism of immune cells

Chemokines are small proteins that adhere to these chemokine receptors and regulate the behavior and movement of white blood cells.

17 Jun 2021

AI model helps predict which viruses are likely to spread from animals to humans

A new model that applies artificial intelligence to carbohydrates improves the understanding of the infection process and could help predict which viruses are likely to spread from animals to humans. This is reported in a recent study led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg.

16 Jun 2021

Single mutation leads to rare genetic muscle disease

The origin of rare, severe muscle disease has been uncovered by an international team of researchers headed by the University of Bonn (Germany).

16 Jun 2021

Kirigami-inspired stent could deliver drugs to tubular organs

Inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of folding and cutting paper to create three-dimensional structures, MIT engineers and their collaborators have designed a new type of stent that could be used to deliver drugs to the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, or other tubular organs in the body.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 15 Jun 2021

COVID-19 spread varies seasonally, but warmer conditions are not enough to prevent transmission

New research shows transmission of the virus behind COVID-19 varies seasonally, but warmer conditions are not enough to prevent transmission.

10 Jun 2021

Study reveals how coronavirus aerosols flow through the lower lungs

When we inhale isolated coronavirus particles, more than 65% reach the deepest region of our lungs where damage to cells can lead to low blood oxygen levels, new research has discovered, and more of these aerosols reach the right lung than the left.

8 Jun 2021

Global land-use changes are creating “hot spots” favorable for new coronaviruses

Global land-use changes -- including forest fragmentation, agricultural expansion and concentrated livestock production -- are creating "hot spots" favorable for bats that carry coronaviruses and where conditions are ripe for the diseases to jump from bats to humans, finds an analysis published this week by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan) and Massey University of New Zealand.

2 Jun 2021

Novel drug is highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19 in mice

The drug diABZI -- which activates the body's innate immune response -- was highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19 in mice that were infected with SARS-CoV-2,

31 May 2021

Light-controlled on/off switch can help reset the biological clock

The biological clock is present in almost all cells of an organism. As more and more evidence emerges that clocks in certain organs could be out of sync, there is a need to investigate and reset these clocks locally.

26 May 2021

New method helps tests large groups for SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the Vienna BioCenter designed a testing protocol for SARS-CoV-2 that can process tens of thousands of samples in less than 48 hours. The method, called SARSeq, is published in the journal Nature Communications and could be adapted to many more pathogens.

25 May 2021

Researchers discover dramatic changes in the chemistry and composition of Sargassum

For centuries, pelagic Sargassum, floating brown seaweed, have grown in low nutrient waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, supported by natural nutrient sources like excretions from fishes and invertebrates, upwelling and nitrogen fixation.

24 May 2021

New iron-nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst could reduce harmful air pollutants

Our reliance on fossil fuels as a primary energy source has pushed air pollution to an all-time high, resulting in several environmental and health concerns. Among the major pollutants, nitrogen oxide (NOx) accumulation can cause severe respiratory diseases and imbalance in the Earth's nitrogen cycle. Reducing NOx accumulation is, therefore, an issue of utmost importance.

21 May 2021

Microbial seasonality has a significant impact on global carbon emissions

The climate where we live affects our energy intake as humans.

11 May 2021