Research on preventing and treating Parkinson’s disease with liquorice
Reading Time: 2 minutesDGIST’s research team led by Dr Yun-Il Lee in Well Aging Research Center has identified a new mechanism of inhibition of dopaminergic neuronal apoptosis and suggested the possibility of preventing and treating Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a typical degenerative brain disease caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons in the middle cerebral blood. […]
S’pore University develops microfibre sensor for healthcare
Reading Time: 4 minutesA RESEARCH team from National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a soft, flexible and stretchable microfibre sensor for real-time healthcare monitoring and diagnosis. The novel sensor is highly sensitive and ultra-thin with a diameter of a strand of human hair. It is also simple and cost-effective to mass produce. Wearable and flexible technology has […]
Paraplegic rats walk, regain feeling after human stem cell treatment
Reading Time: 2 minutesENGINEERED tissue containing human stem cells has allowed paraplegic rats to walk independently and regain sensory perception. The implanted rats also show some degree of healing in their spinal cords. The research, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, demonstrates the great potential of stem cells — undifferentiated cells that can develop into numerous different types of […]
How do antibiotics work?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWHEN you’re down sick with a particularly nasty bout of flu, or cough (of the phlegmy kind), the doctor is more likely to prescribe antibiotics as a form of treatment. One thing to know is that antibiotics are given as treatment for infections caused by bacteria. They are not effective against viruses. Antibiotics work by […]
Biotechnology – Cuba narrates its success story
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe Petri Dish Editor-in-Chief MAHALETCHUMY ARUJANAN speaks to HE Ibete Fernandez Hernandez, the Cuban Ambassador to Malaysia and gets a glimpse of the country’s achievements in science despite decades of US blockade on the strong-willed nation. Cuban biotechnology research and industry were born in 1980 when the former President, Fidel Castro saw that need to […]
Ensuring broccoli sprouts retain cancer-fighting compounds
Reading Time: < 1 minuteRAW broccoli sprouts, a rich source of potential cancer-fighting compounds, have become a popular health food in recent years. But conventional heat treatment used to kill bacteria on produce can reduce levels of the broccoli sprouts’ helpful phytochemicals. Now researchers report in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that high-pressure processing could wipe out […]
Chicken eggs with interferon beta whites will drive down costs
Reading Time: 2 minutesBY SETH AUGENSTEIN GENETICALLY modified chickens are laying eggs with interferon beta in their whites, a team of Japanese scientists reports. The three female chickens are producing enough of interferon beta – used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and hepatitis, and virus research – to drive down normally-high costs of making the precious and expensive […]
Fire ant venom may lead to psoriasis treatment
Reading Time: 2 minutesCompounds derived from fire ant venom can reduce skin thickening and inflammation in a mouse model of psoriasis, Emory and Case Western scientists have shown. The results were published recently in Scientific Reports. The findings could lead to new treatments for psoriasis, a common autoimmune skin disease. Topical steroids are now most frequently used for […]
Gene therapy shows promise for reversing blindness
Reading Time: < 1 minuteResearchers from Oxford have shown how it might be possible to reverse blindness using gene therapy to reprogramme cells at the back of the eye to become light sensitive. Most causes of untreatable blindness occur due to loss of the millions of light sensitive photoreceptor cells that line the retina, similar to the pixels in […]
Brazil unleashes GM mozzies to combat diseases
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA new batch of genetically modified mosquitoes was released in Brazil to combat mosquito-borne diseases such as Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya. The GM mosquitoes contain Wolbachia bacterium which interferes with the reproduction of new offsprings, thus eradicating the population and the spread of diseases. According to the head researcher, Luciano Moreira, the effectiveness of the […]