Antibiotics can only treat illnesses caused by bacteria. However, there is a common misconception that they can also treat viral conditions, such as colds, bronchitis, and flu. This miseducation of the public, surrounding the use of antibiotics, in addition to improper prescribing from physicians, has lead to increased antibiotic resistance in the population, which threatens […]
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Blocking a survival mechanism could tackle melanoma treatment resistance
The effectiveness of current treatments for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, could be improved by using approaches that wipe out the ‘survival system’ of cancer cells according to a study published in Nature Communications today. Researchers from the Babraham Institute, AstraZeneca and the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre have demonstrated an approach, used […]
Researchers discover previously unidentified mechanisms of obesity-induced insulin resistance
A research team at the LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), has discovered the potentials of a SECISBP2 protein in adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) as a therapeutic biomarker in the treatment of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases and cancers caused by obesity-induced insulin resistance. The findings, […]
New assay detects patients’ resistance to antimalarial drugs from a drop of blood
Antimalarial drugs appear to follow a typical pattern, with early effectiveness eventually limited by the emergence of drug resistance. A report in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics describes a new assay using whole blood that simplifies the genetic analysis of malarial parasites by completely eliminating processing steps. This provides rapid access to critical information associated […]
Leukocytes use their nucleus as a ruler to choose path of least resistance
How do mobile cell types like leukocytes or metastatic cancer cells reach their place of action during immune surveillance or cancer dissemination, respectively? The research group around Michael Sixt at IST Austria has now shown that leukocytes use their nucleus as a ruler to screen their surroundings for the largest pores—and thereby find the path […]
Insecticide resistance genes affect vector competence for West Nile virus
Overuse of insecticides, which leads to the selection of resistant mosquitoes, affects interactions between mosquitoes and the pathogens they transmit. Researchers from the Institut Pasteur (Paris) and its partners have now shown that mechanisms of insecticide resistance, observed in Culex quinquefasciatus vector, impact the transmission of West Nile virus. In recent decades, arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) […]
Scientists have developed a natural antibiotic from wasp venom
Wasp venom contains the solution to combat antibiotic-resistant germs? Wasps are not one of the most popular visitors at activities in the fresh air. Many people have stitches afraid of the pain, or suffer from insect sting Allergy. But it is precisely these uninvited guests could soon save millions of lives. An American research team […]
A gut bacterium as a fountain of youth? Well, let’s start with reversing insulin resistance
Move over Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. There’s a new health-promoting gut bacterium in town, and it’s called Akkermansia muciniphila. You will not find its benefits at the bottom of a yogurt cup. But a new study has identified more than one way to nurture its growth in the gut, and offered evidence that it may maintain—and […]
Understanding drug resistance in ovarian cancer
Work just published in Cancer Research by Drs. Hugo Wurtele and Elliot Drobetsky (Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center- CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal and Université de Montréal) sheds new light on the origins of chemotherapy drug resistance in ovarian cancer. This discovery, made in collaboration with researchers at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montreal (CHUM), Université Laval […]
Mice with access to soil have greater resistance to allergies
When mice live in cages with an added earthen floor, it increases their resistance towards allergic inflammations. Close contact with micro-organisms in the soil triggers anti-inflammatory genes in the mice and stimulates their gut microbiota. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have performed the study, which was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Earlier […]