Research News

Caption  In experiments with mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have slowed the growth of transplanted human prostate and pancreatic cancer cells by introducing bone marrow cells with a specific gene deletion to induce a novel immune response. Credit  Alan Friedman, M.D.

In experiments with mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have slowed the growth of transplanted human prostate and pancreatic cancer cells by introducing bone marrow cells with a specific gene deletion to induce a novel immune response.

An artificial intelligence (AI) device that has been fast-tracked for approval by the Food and Drug Administration may help identify newborns at risk for aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity (AP-ROP). AP-ROP is the most severe form of ROP and can be difficult to diagnose in time to save vision. The findings of the National Eye Institute-funded study published online February 7 in Ophthalmology.

To stop the spread of disease, it could be used to coat phone screens and keyboards, as well as the inside of catheters and breathing tubes, which are a major source of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs).

The fight against Malaria could get easier with a joint team of scientists from Department of Biotechnology’s Bhubaneswar-based Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) and Bengaluru-based Jigsaw Bio Solutions, coming up with a method that promises to overcome the problem of inadequate identification of asymptomatic carriers of the disease.

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have made a breakthrough that may eventually lead to improved therapeutic options for people living with asthma. The researchers have uncovered a critical role for a protein (Caspase-11), which had previously never been implicated in the disease.

The nematode roundworm c. elegans. / Gill lab

In a discovery that may further the understanding of diabetes and human longevity, scientists at Scripps Research have found a new biological mechanism of insulin signaling. Their study, involving the roundworm C. elegans, reveals that a “decoy” receptor is at work in binding to insulin molecules and keeping them from sending signals for increased insulin production.

Using a machine-learning algorithm, MIT researchers have identified a powerful new antibiotic compound. In laboratory tests, the drug killed many of the world’s most problematic disease-causing bacteria, including some strains that are resistant to all known antibiotics. It also cleared infections in two different mouse models.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found evidence that specific immune cells may play a key role in the devastating effects of cerebral malaria, a severe form of malaria that mainly affects young children. The results, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest that drugs targeting T cells may be effective in treating the disease. The study was supported by the NIH Intramural Research Program.

Favipiravir has shown potential in treating the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Drug Regulatory Body in China announced that they have approved clinical trials of the antiviral favilavir for use in the treatment of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, reported by UPI.