Research News

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a Zika vaccine technology that is highly effective and safe in preclinical mouse models. In a pregnant mouse model, the vaccine prevented both the pregnant mothers and the developing fetuses from developing systemic infection. The research is published in Microbiology Spectrum, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Detection of the cancer microenvironment may soon become much easier with the help of a new molecular biosensor recently developed by a team of scientists.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have designed a new method to deliver a vaccine candidate for tuberculosis (TB). It involves using spherical vesicles secreted by bacteria coated on gold nanoparticles which can then be delivered to immune cells. This can potentially trigger an immune response and offer protection against the disease.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin. The details on the events that occur during autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta-cells have been studied extensively yet the mystery of what causes autoimmunity is unknown.

Creating a mutation that inhibits how the bacterial pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted infection, could offer a new way to prevent and treat the disease, according to researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

FDA promotes children clinical trials for drugs, biological products and medical devices. FDA perspective on the ethical considerations for including and protecting children in clinical trials.

And for that purpose, the draft guidance for children who participate in clinical trials is released which intends to assist industry, sponsors and institutional review boards (IRBs).

People who wear reusable contact lenses are nearly four times as likely as those wearing daily disposables to develop a rare sight-threatening eye infection, finds a study led by UCL and Moorfields researchers.

Two new UC Davis Health studies explored how differences in skin composition may lead to dermatological conditions, such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

“Skin does not have a uniform composition throughout the body,” said Emanual Maverakis, professor of dermatology, molecular medical microbiology at UC Davis and senior author on both studies. “Different skin characteristics at different body sites may affect the skin’s susceptibility to certain diseases.”

A new mechanism that slows down and may even prevent the natural ageing of immune cells – one of the nine hallmarks of ageing – has been identified by an international team led by UCL scientists.

Published in Nature Cell Biology, researchers say the discovery in-vitro (cells) and validated in mice was ‘unexpected’ and believe harnessing the mechanism could extend the life of the immune system, allowing people to live healthier and longer, and would also have clinical utility for diseases such as cancer and dementia.