Lab Automation and Bioinformatics News and Research

Latest Lab Automation and Bioinformatics News and Research

Researchers report a potential cancer drug that targets mitochondrial function

A newly developed compound starves cancer cells by attacking their "power plants" - the so-called mitochondria. The new compound prevents the genetic information within mitochondria from being read.

23 Dec 2020

Scientists discover molecular defects associated with rare genetic disorder in children

Damien D'Amours and his team at the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology needed three years to discover the molecular defects associated with the LIC Syndrome, a serious genetic disorder that affects young children and result in acute respiratory distress, immune deficiency and abnormal chromosomes.

23 Dec 2020

Scientists find master switch that adjusts gene activity to match nutrient levels in roundworms

Transforming a fertilized egg into a fully functional adult is a complicated task. Cells must divide, move, and mature at specific times. Developmental genes control that process, turning on and off in a choreographed way.

23 Dec 2020

Researchers design effective material to speed up the production of hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen is a sustainable source of clean energy that avoids toxic emissions and can add value to multiple sectors in the economy including transportation, power generation, metals manufacturing, among others.

22 Dec 2020

Research sheds new light on immune system interactions with cancer

Cancers like melanoma are hard to treat, not least because they have a varied bag of tricks for defeating or evading treatments.

22 Dec 2020

Scientists observe detailed images of spike proteins in coronavirus

Coronaviruses, similar to the one that causes COVID-19 infection, are embedded with protein “spikes” that attach to receptors on their victims’ cells.

21 Dec 2020

Study demonstrates drug repurposing can be used to treat genetic diseases

A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago describes a potential technique of using drug repurposing for the treatment of genetic diseases.

18 Dec 2020

New method boosts the extraction of vegetable oil from plants

Vegetable oils provide significant health benefits, like reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and lowering cholesterol levels.

18 Dec 2020

Researchers investigate microbiome-mediated therapies for aging and health span

Texas Biomedical Research Institute Associate Professor Corinna Ross, PhD, is a principal investigator on a $3.38 million National Institutes of Health multi-investigator grant to study "microbiome-mediated therapies for aging and healthspan" in marmosets, which are small monkeys native to South America and are becoming increasingly more important in aging and infectious disease research.

18 Dec 2020

New model shows how the brain uses "gating" phenomenon to control information

Getting computers to "think" like humans is the holy grail of artificial intelligence, but human brains turn out to be tough acts to follow. T

17 Dec 2020

New study targets small proteins in Salmonella to combat the pathogen

Salmonella is a type of bacteria that causes food poisoning upon infection, with acute diarrhea.

17 Dec 2020

Scientists identify new target to deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumor cells

With the evolution of cancer, the quest for identifying efficient treatment techniques for cancer patients has remained challenging.

17 Dec 2020

ECSIT protein can shed light on the origin of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have found how a protein governs the behavior of proteins associated with the activity in mitochondria, which is impacted in Alzheimer's disease.

17 Dec 2020

Study may lead to new treatments for certain types of disease

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found a new way to prevent some tumours from repairing their own DNA, a function that is essential for cancer cell survival. This discovery could lead to much needed new treatments for certain types of the disease.

17 Dec 2020

Biochemical methods reveal signal transduction mystery inside human pathogen

In order to adapt to the changing environment, bacteria must quickly transform extracellular information into appropriate intracellular reactions. Two component system (TCS) is the main signal transduction protein in prokaryotic cells to transform environmental stimuli into cellular responses.

16 Dec 2020