Lab Automation and Bioinformatics News and Research

Latest Lab Automation and Bioinformatics News and Research

Compound in pickled capers can activate proteins required for bodily processes

A compound commonly found in pickled capers has been shown to activate proteins required for normal human brain and heart activity, and may even lead to future therapies for the treatment of epilepsy and abnormal heart rhythms.

14 Jul 2020

Fully automated chip can quickly and reliably determine patients’ blood type

Blood transfusion, if performed promptly, is a potentially life-saving intervention for someone losing a lot of blood. However, blood comes in several types, some of which are incompatible with others.

14 Jul 2020

A fine balance between maintaining immunity and longevity

As we age, the immune system gradually becomes impaired. One aspect of this impairment is chronic inflammation in the elderly, which means that the immune system is constantly active and sends out inflammatory substances.

13 Jul 2020

USC scientists may have found a path to extend human life

Scientists at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences may have found the beginnings of a path toward increasing human lifespan.

13 Jul 2020

New mutation in common flu subtype helps evade immune response

Strains of a common subtype of influenza virus, H3N2, have almost universally acquired a mutation that effectively blocks antibodies from binding to a key viral protein, according to a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

13 Jul 2020

Researchers discover promising drug candidate for treatment of brain disorders

Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) discovered a novel chemical compound, which has the potential to became a new drug for the treatment of core symptoms of brain disorders like Down syndrome and autism.

13 Jul 2020

New drug enables the immune system to attack ovarian cancer, TGen study shows

A drug known as SP-2577 could help enable the body's own immune system to attack ovarian cancer, according to a study led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute, an affiliate of City of Hope.

13 Jul 2020

Scientists report detailed proteomic analysis of human lung adenocarcinoma

A team of Chinese scientists from the State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, National Center for Protein Sciences (Beijing), National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, recently reported a comprehensive proteomic analysis based on 103 Chinese patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), a leading cause of death among all types of cancer worldwide.

10 Jul 2020

New start-up to exploit novel drug-transporting technology

Researchers from IRB Barcelona, the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute - Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (SJD) have set up Gate2Brain, a company based on a novel technology developed at IRB Barcelona to transport drugs into the brain.

10 Jul 2020

Expansion stress promotes immunosuppression and enhances growth of breast cancer cells

Expansion stress can have an alarming impact on breast cancer cells by creating conditions that could lead to dangerous acceleration of the disease, an interdisciplinary team of University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers has found.

10 Jul 2020

Structural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein offers clues about the virus' evolution

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have characterized the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as well as its most similar relative in a bat coronavirus. The structures provide clues about how the spike evolved and could help inform vaccine design.

10 Jul 2020

Preventing immune cell reprogramming could be a new way to stop breast cancer metastasis

Natural killer cells, a type of immune cell, are known to limit metastasis by inducing the death of cancer cells. But metastases still form in patients, so there must be ways for cancer cells to escape.

10 Jul 2020

SOAT1 enzyme offers a promising therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer

Researchers from CSHL have discovered that the growth of pancreatic cancer cells can be stopped by disrupting the way cholesterol is stored by the cells.

8 Jul 2020

Scientists discover role of surface diffusion in protein transport

Many of the most promising medicines under development are proteins, often antibodies, to help patients fight disease. These proteins must be purified as part of the manufacturing process -- a task that can be tricky and result in costly waste.

8 Jul 2020

Animal proteins more effective than plant proteins in building aging muscles

On a gram for gram basis, animal proteins are more effective than plant proteins in supporting the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass with advancing age, shows research presented this week at The Physiological Society's virtual early career conference Future Physiology 2020.

8 Jul 2020

New assay helps study adhesion of cells

Fluorescent tagging is a powerful way of analyzing communications between cells. This method enables the analysis of numerous cell populations.

7 Jul 2020

Study shows how motor proteins function in their native crowded cell environments

Several diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, have been associated with the defective functioning of motor proteins involved in cell transport.

From New York University (NYU) 7 Jul 2020

Cornell pathologists identify new fungal pathogen that causes bitter rot disease in apples

In a study of New York state apple orchards, Cornell University plant pathologists have identified a new fungal pathogen that causes bitter rot disease in apples. In addition, a second related fungus known to cause rot disease in other fruits was found for the first time in apples.

7 Jul 2020

BU researchers develop new way to better understand human cell communication

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have developed and implemented a new way to better understand how human cells communicate with each other, how this communication is disrupted in human diseases and how this can be corrected pharmacologically.

7 Jul 2020

Organoids reveal inflammatory processes that play a role in infectious diseases

Research is employing mini-organs to model the digestive tract in the laboratory setting. These supposed organoids shed light on the inflammatory processes.

6 Jul 2020