Biology

This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. Doctors have some medications they can use to treat the effects of COVID-19, but developing a drug that targets the virus itself is a complex and costly procedure. More than a year into the pandemic only one antiviral treatment — remdesivir — is currently recommended for use in the U.S., and experts say it is not nearly effective enough.

With the cold, the curfew and, hopefully, those months of COVID-19 confinement finally behind us, Quebecers are looking forward to a carefree summer in the great outdoors. Campgrounds and cottages are booked solid, and kids’ camps are getting ready to open. Since travel abroad is still restricted, we’ve been encouraged to discover the natural beauty of our own region. Walking in nature is good for us, we’re told, and the risk of transmitting the coronavirus is much lower outdoors.

Verona Pharma has clinched a $219 million deal to market its “first-in-class” drug, ensifentrine, targeting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in China. This week, the British clinical-stage biotech firm with U.S. headquarters in Raleigh announced it has entered into an agreement granting Nuance Pharma, a Shanghai-based specialty pharmaceutical company, the rights to develop and commercialize ensifentrine in Greater China. That includes mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Summer picnics and barbecues are only a few weeks away! As excited as you are to indulge this summer, Escherichia coli bacteria are eager to feast on the all-you-can-eat buffet they are about to experience in your gut. However, something unexpected will occur as E. coli cells end their journey...

Polymetallic nodules and crusts cover many thousands of square kilometers of the world's deep-sea floor. They contain valuable metals and rare earth elements and are therefore of great economic interest. To date, there is no market-ready technology for deep-seabed mining. But it is already clear that interventions in the seabed have a massive and lasting impact on the areas affected. This is also confirmed by a study now published by Tanja Stratmann from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, and researchers from the Senckenberg am Meer Institute in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, and the Dutch research institute NIOZ.

This targeted control of phages provides entirely new biotechnological and therapeutic approaches, e.g. for phage therapies. The results produced in the context of an ERC grant have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The human body and its microbiota harbor a large amount of phages. These...

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is protective against several SARS-CoV-2 variants that have emerged, according to new research presented in the journal mBio, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. While this is good news, the study also found that the only approved monoclonal antibody therapy for SARS-CoV-2 might be less effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants in laboratory experiments.

We have a global dependence on fossil fuels that is hard to break. Petrochemicals, which are derived from fossil fuels, are used in everyday products. When you reach for a plastic cup or put on spandex clothing, you are wearing items made from petrochemicals. Using petrochemicals in everyday products has...

Scientists have found a new way to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The new approach disarms their natural defense mechanism, making existing antibiotics more lethal. The study, conducted in lab dishes and mice, offers a promising strategy for taking down so-called superbugs without needing to make brand-new antibiotics. "You want to make...

As virus particles, phages infect bacteria in order to ensure their own progress. Credit: © Thomas Böttcher. Bacteriophages are still a relatively unknown component of the human microbiome. However, they can play a powerful role in the life cycles of bacteria. Biochemist Thomas Böttcher from the University of Vienna and PhD student Magdalena Jancheva were able to show for the first time how Pseudomonas bacteria use a self-produced signal molecule to selectively manipulate phages in a competing bacterial strain to defeat their enemy. This targeted control of phages provides entirely new biotechnological and therapeutic approaches, e.g. for phage therapies. The results produced in the context of an ERC grant have been published in the "Journal of the American Chemical Society".

This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. Laser beams, ultrasound, electromagnetic pulses, mild alternating and direct current stimulation and other methods now allow access to, and manipulation of, electrical activity in the brain… Billionaires Elon Musk of Tesla and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook are leading the charge, pouring millions of dollars into developing brain-computer interface (BCI) technology.

This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. Over the past decade, producers have skillfully persuaded consumers to pay four times the price for a dozen eggs that are marketed as good for you (organic) or as much as seven times the cost for eggs raised under conditions considered better for the animals that laid them (pasture-raised and hand-harvested).

At the venice architecture biennale 2021, ecoLogicStudio unveils the ‘Bit.Bio.Bot’ exhibition, educating visitors on domestic microalgae cultivation and encouraging them to grow it inside their own homes. created along with the synthetic landscape lab at innsbruck university and the urban morphogenesis lab at the bartlett UCL, the exhibition takes shape as an urban laboratory combining advanced architecture with microbiology. the project generates an artificial habitat, which actively showcases how cultivating algae in today’s urban sphere could facilitate air purification, carbon dioxide removal, access to sustainable food and alternative protein sources, as well as the establishment of a deeper connection between humans and nature.

Pasta is a wholesome meal that fits the definition of comfort food for many. You can add dollops of cheese to it or make it a spicy dish with plenty of pepper flakes and a bit of garlic. The best part? It's an easy dish that's accessible to both beginners and experienced home chefs. What's more, there are plenty of useful tips on the internet to make it easy for you to prepare a fresh batch of scrumptious pasta.

This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on [May 12] recommended the use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds. That paves the way for younger adolescents to begin receiving shots that public health officials say are key to school reopenings and, more importantly, stamping out the pandemic.

MarketResearch.Biz has a field research report titled “Global Microbiology Testing Market” in its database. This is a recent study that includes the current impact of COVID-19 as well as the Microbiology Testing market’s performance in the upcoming years. With the help of the segmentation, the Microbiology Testing Market Report provides important information about the Microbiology Testing Market. A variety of factors, including regional market perceptions, regional strategic approaches, country-level assessments, competitive structures, stock market analysis, and high-end covered companies, are discussed in the Microbiology Testing Market Research Report.

The objective of this study is to test how certain signs and symptoms related to COVID-19 in children predict the positivity or negativity of the SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal swab in children. Methods. We review the data of children who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 for a suspected infection. We compared the clinical...