Scientists produce human intestinal lining that re-creates living tissue
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSCIENTISTS have demonstrated how cells of a human intestinal lining created outside an individual’s body mirror living tissue when placed inside microengineered Intestine-Chips, opening the door to personalised testing of drug treatments. The findings have the potential to change how patients are treated for debilitating, inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases with a genetic component, such as Crohn’s […]
Scientists develop biocompatible anti-burn nanofiber bandage
Reading Time: 2 minutesA GROUP of National University of Science and Technology MISiS (NUST MISIS)’s young scientists, for the very first time in Russia, has presented a new therapeutic material based on nanofibers made of polycaprolactone modified with a thin-film antibacterial composition and plasma components of human blood. Biodegradable bandages made from these fibers will accelerate the growth […]
M’sian don gets OBE from QE II
Reading Time: 2 minutesTEO SOO-HWANG, Chief Executive Officer for Cancer Research Malaysia has been awarded an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) from HM Queen Elizabeth II for services to medical research. The Cambridge University graduate was the only Malaysian among 221 Honorary OBE recipients in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List, […]
UKM, the first in Malaysia to produce artificial kidneys
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBY ASMAHANIM AMIR Universitu Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) will emerge as the first university in Malaysia to produce artificial kidneys as an initiative to help treat kidney failure patients. Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronic (IMEN) Director, Prof Dato’ Dr Burhanuddin Yeop Majlis said the research which involves researchers from IMEN and UKM Medical Centre began in […]
QUT grows world-first Panama disease-resistant bananas
Reading Time: 3 minutesQUEENSLAND University of Technology (QUT) researchers have developed and grown modified Cavendish bananas resistant to the devastating soil-borne fungus Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 (TR4), also known as Panama disease. In their world-first GM field trial conducted in heavily TR4-infested soil, one Cavendish line transformed with a gene taken from a wild banana remained completely […]
Bridging the gap between academia and industry
Reading Time: 3 minutesTO create a bridge between academia and the industry, Monash University Malaysia launched its subsidiary, Monash Malaysia R&D Sdn Bhd (MMR&D) in a recently hosted event titled ‘University Industry Collaboration: A Catalyst in Powering an Innovation Economy’. As an approved R&D status company by Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), MMR&D strives to influence and impact organisations […]
Biotech boosts farmers welfare, boosts poverty reduction
Reading Time: < 1 minuteN CHANDRASEKHARA RAO (pix) from the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi discussed the impact of biotechnology on farmers’ welfare and poverty reduction in his paper published in the Agricultural Economics Research Review. “The peer-reviewed research findings suggest higher yields, higher net income and lower chemical use with conservation tillage. The most recent meta-analysis estimated 22 percent […]
S’pore scientists in major breakthrough
Reading Time: 3 minutesProgress achieved in treating fibrotic diseases RESEARCHERS from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) and the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) have discovered that a critical protein, known as interleukin 11 (IL11) is responsible for fibrosis and causes organ damage. While it is surprising that the importance of IL11 has been overlooked and misunderstood for so long, […]
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. […]
Large US study reports no link between glyphosate and cancer
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA LARGE, prospective cohort study conducted among agricultural workers, farmers and their families in Iowa and North Carolina in the United States reports that there are no associations between glyphosate use and overall cancer risk or with total lymphohematopoietic cancers, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and multiple myeloma. The long-term study updated the previous evaluation of […]