News

Researchers have developed a molecule of pharmaceutical interest from a protein found in rattlesnake venom. The molecule, now called PEG-rCollinein-1, is a possible drug candidate to modulate blood clotting.

Researchers found that the same type of antibody can neutralize Zika and dengue viruses in two different ways — one where it binds to the virus and deactivates it, which is the traditional way we think about antibody activity, and the other where it burrows in and distorts the virus.

A new study has confirmed a link between altered DNA repair and increased DNA damage associated with spinocerebellar ataxia type 7, a debilitating and sometimes deadly neurodegenerative condition causing movement disorders.

Cancer biologist Yibin Kang has been investigating the gene MTDH, which enables cancer in two ways. He has found a way to disable the gene in both mice and in human tissue, with a targeted experimental therapy.

Researchers have discovered that the protein α-endosulfine (ENSA) is involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, and that eliminating ENSA entirely or using drugs to block its function reduced physical changes in the brain associated with the disease and improved memory.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an imaging drug known as Cytalux (pafolacianine). The injectable drug illuminates cancer tissue, allowing for greater precision during surgery.

It’s hard to imagine viruses as something other than hostile enemies to be vanquished, but in a recent review article, researchers describe a class of viruses that act to combat rather than cause deadly disease.

Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new and potentially more effective way to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) into cells. Their approach involves packing mRNA inside nanoparticles that mimic the flu virus—a naturally efficient vehicle for delivering genetic material such as RNA inside cells.

Virginia Tech researchers discovered that the bacterium that causes Lyme disease has a highly unusual modification in its protective molecular bag – its peptidoglycan, which is common to all bacteria.

Researchers have compared the genetic expression profiles of a nonlethal canine tumor and the rare, devastating human oral tumor it resembles, laying the groundwork for potential translational medicine in the future.