Bacteria from the digestive system seem to have the potential to cause damage to pancreatic cells, increasing the risk of malignant tumours. Now for the first time, live bacteria from cystic pancreatic lesions that are precursors to pancreatic cancer, have been analysed by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The study, which is published in Gut Microbes, can lead to prophylactic […]
The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is resistant to all antibiotics on the market. Therefore, there is a great need for new therapeutic approaches. In order to find them, it helps to understand how the germ reacts to active substances. Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have studied how different drugs affect the difficult-to-treat bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. According to the World Health Organisation, new […]
Phages are viruses that infect bacteria and can also be used to treat human infections. However, as with antibiotics, bacteria can readily evolve resistance to phage attack, highlighting a key limitation to the use of phages as therapeutics. Now, researchers from Yale University have shown that the naturally occurring phage A1-1 kills Shigella flexneri, a major cause of dysentery in sub-Saharan […]
First microfluidic organ-on-a-chip model of the disease could help bring much needed drugs, and personalized medicine approaches to patients. The inherited progressive disorder cystic fibrosis (CF) causes severe damage to the lungs, and other tissues in the body by affecting the cells that produce mucus, sweat, and digestive juices. In individuals carrying mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator […]
The intestine is essential for maintaining our energy balance and is a master at reacting quickly to changes in nutrition and nutrient balance. It manages to do this with the help of intestinal cells that among other things are specialized in the absorption of food components or the secretion of hormones. In adult humans, the intestinal cells regenerate every five […]
Malaria, a pathogen transmitted into blood by mosquitoes in tropical climates, is typically thought of as a blood and liver infection. However, in a newly published study, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have detected antibodies primarily made in response to infections in the mucous membranes — in such areas as the lungs, intestines, or vagina […]
A multi-disciplinary project driven by EMBL Australia researchers at Monash University and Harvard University has found a way to make antibiotics more effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria — also known as ‘superbugs. Antimicrobial resistance to superbugs has been evolving and is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity, according to the World Health Organization. This new research […]
The Translational Genomics Research Institute Findings of a nationwide study led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest that a family’s socio-economic status (SES) may influence children’s composition of gut microbiome — the mix of microscopic organisms within the digestive tract. SES includes economic resources such as education, income and occupation, and are […]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT engineers, in collaboration with scientists at Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, have developed a new way to grow tiny replicas of the pancreas, using either healthy or cancerous pancreatic cells. Their new models could help researchers develop and test potential drugs for pancreatic cancer, which is currently one of the most difficult types of cancer […]
Research from APC Microbiome Ireland (APC) at University College Cork (UCC) published in the leading international scientific journal Nature Aging introduces a novel approach to reverse aspects of aging-related deterioration in the brain and cognitive function via the microbes in the gut. As our population ages one of the key global challenges is to develop strategies to maintain healthy brain function. This […]
Recent Comments