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Lymphocytes play crucial role in controlling virus shedding in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients

COVID-19 remains stubbornly inconsistent. More than a million people have died and 35 million have been diagnosed, but a large fraction of people infected with the coronavirus--about 45%, according to recent estimates--show no symptoms at all.

15 Oct 2020

Army researchers test alternative ways to measure COVID-19 antibody levels

Researchers with the U.S. Army Futures Command are part of a team that tested alternative ways to measure COVID-19 antibody levels, resulting in a process that is faster, easier and less expensive to use on a large scale. Their method holds promise for accurately identifying potential donors who have the best chance of helping infected patients through convalescent plasma therapy.

15 Oct 2020

Organic compounds released into the air from thawing permafrost

When permafrost thaws due to global warming, not only the greenhouse gases known to all, but also organic compounds are released from the soil. They may have a significant impact on climate change.

15 Oct 2020

Virus-mimicking drugs may overcome immunotherapy resistance in tumors

Researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that a drug that activates the body's natural defenses by behaving like a virus may also make certain stealthy melanoma tumors visible to the immune system, allowing them to be better targeted by immunotherapy.

15 Oct 2020

Innovative machine learning concepts can help develop new drugs

Tandem mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical tool used to characterize complex mixtures in drug discovery and other fields.

15 Oct 2020

Asynt's CondenSyn waterless condenser adopted by TSWG

The CondenSyn waterless condenser from Asynt has been widely adopted by the Technicians Sustainability Working Group operating within the Biomolecular Science and Medicinal Chemistry Division at Nottingham University as part of their drive to make teaching and research greener.

From Asynt 15 Oct 2020

Statins can reduce risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases

According to a study recently published in the eLife journal, cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, may lower cancer risk in humans via a pathway unassociated with cholesterol.

15 Oct 2020

Cornell researchers aim to help vineyard growers identify nutrient deficiencies

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a $676,000 grant to a pair of Cornell University researchers aiming to use high resolution sensors to help vineyard growers identify nutrient deficiencies.

14 Oct 2020

Scientists discover key parameters to better predict cancer-killing effect of neoantigens

Neoantigens, tiny markers that arise from cancer mutations, flag cells as cancerous and could be the key to unlocking a new generation of immunotherapies.

14 Oct 2020

Researchers unravel molecular factors that drive severity of COVID-19

While most COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic or mild, severe complications associated with acute respiratory distress have led to more than one million deaths worldwide in just several months.

14 Oct 2020

Immunotherapy using CAR NKT cells shows promise for treating solid tumors

Natural killer T (NKT) cells, a type of immune cells known for their potent anti-cancer properties in murine tumor models, have been developed into a novel form of immunotherapy to treat patients with cancer.

14 Oct 2020

Treatment using immune system T cells preserves vision of mice with retinoblastoma

A treatment that uses immune system T cells, combined with an immune-boosting drug packaged in an injectable gel, was found to preserve the vision of mice implanted with tissue from a human eye cancer known as retinoblastoma.

13 Oct 2020

New computational biology algorithm may enable more effective cellular therapies

Cellular therapy is a powerful strategy to produce patient-specific, personalised cells to treat many diseases, including heart disease and neurological disorders. But a major challenge for cell therapy applications is keeping cells alive and well in the lab.

13 Oct 2020

Researchers discover a new mechanism to regulate nerve impulses

Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have discovered a new mechanism by which substances can open a certain type of ion channel and in this way regulate nerve impulses.

13 Oct 2020

Dopamine and serotonin found to be involved in perception, cognitive capacities

In first-of-their-kind observations in the human brain, an international team of researchers has revealed two well-known neurochemicals -- dopamine and serotonin -- are at work at sub-second speeds to shape how people perceive the world and take action based on their perception.

13 Oct 2020

Researchers trace neurons in mosquitoes that sense blood's distinctive flavor

It's one of the world's deadliest animals, and it has a taste for human blood: the mosquito. Mosquitoes spread diseases like malaria, dengue, and yellow fever that kill at least a half a million people each year. Now researchers are learning what humans taste like to mosquitoes, down to the individual neurons that sense blood's distinctive, delectable flavor.

13 Oct 2020

Severe cases of COVID-19 resemble systemic lupus erythematosus

Scientists from Emory Health Sciences have been observing an intense stimulation of immune cells in severe cases of COVID-19 disease. This activation of immune cells is similar to acute flares of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)—an autoimmune disease.

13 Oct 2020

Oncopig fulfills the unmet clinical modeling needs for hepatocellular carcinoma

Volume 11, Issue 28 of Oncotarget features "Development and comprehensive characterization of porcine hepatocellular carcinoma for translational liver cancer investigation" by Gaba et, al. which reported that reliable development of Oncopig HCC cell lines was demonstrated through hepatocyte isolation and Cre recombinase exposure across 15 Oncopigs.

12 Oct 2020

Bone destruction caused by too little sugar

Bone marrow cancer is currently an incurable disease that affects about 400 people in Norway every year. Professor Therese Standal at NTNU has now found an important reason for bone destruction in people with this disease.

12 Oct 2020

UroCAD assay shows better sensitivity than urine cytology in detecting bladder cancer

Analysis of DNA copy number variants (CNVs) in the cells exfoliated in urine showed better sensitivity and similar specificity in detecting urothelial carcinoma compared with urine cytology.

12 Oct 2020