Good news for public health: Bioengineering researchers from the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, have developed and patented a nanoparticle that can deliver vaccines more effectively, with fewer side effects, and at a fraction of the cost of current vaccine technologies.
A human peptide that acts as a natural antibiotic against invading microbes can also bind to the body’s own DNA and trigger an immune response in the absence of an infection, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in an early online publication in Nature.
At least 160 people have died in an outbreak of the highly lethal haemorrhagic Ebola virus in the centre of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported, announcing that it is rushing medical and supplies to the region to try to contain the disease.
Health & Govt. officials in Peru have closed 40 of the country”s blood banks after at least four people were infected with HIV from blood transfusions in a public hospital.
Immune system police are as good at recognizing bad guys, such as bacteria and viruses, as they are our own tissue, researchers say.
Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL, Swiss Exchange: CRX) announced that its researchers have discovered a monoclonal antibody that is active against H5N1 avian influenza. The studies will be presented at the 5th International Bird Flu Summit scheduled for September 27 and 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dr. Bill Clemmer, a missionary based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is working with international agencies in an effort to confront an outbreak of the Ebola virus in that country.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME (myalgic encephalitis), is linked to a stomach virus, suggests research published ahead of print in Journal of Clinical Pathology.
Brain cancer stem cells are susceptible to a cancer-killing virus, which caused the death of brain tumors cells in mice and in test cells.
A tailored virus destroys brain tumor stem cells that resist other therapies and cause lethal re-growth of cancer after surgery, a research team led by scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Sept. 18 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.