Scientists Create Antibiotic Spider Silk for Drug Delivery, Wound Healing
January 4th 2017A chance meeting between a spider expert and a chemist has led to the development of antibiotic synthetic spider silk. After five years' work an interdisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Nottingham has developed a technique to produce chemically functionalized spider silk that can be tailored to applications used in drug delivery, regenerative medicine and wound healing.
Infant's Prolonged Infection Reveals Mutation That Helps Bacteria Tolerate Antibiotics
January 3rd 2017The quest to understand a prolonged infection in an infant being treated for leukemia has led to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital discovery of a mutation that allows bacteria to tolerate normally effective antibiotic therapy. The report appears today in the scientific journal mBio.
Can Bacteria Help Stop the Spread of Disease?
December 30th 2016Mosquitoes kill an estimated 700 000 people a year. If infected with viruses that cause diseases like chikungunya, dengue and Zika, mosquitos can transmit them to humans in one bite. Researchers have now pilot-deployed a new technique to control diseases transmitted by mosquitoes by making use of nature. It is one of the new tools WHO recommends for pilot deployment as a response to Zika virus.