Broadening Opportunities for Students in STEM at Brown University and Beyond
Credit: Courtesy of Brown University. Andrew G. Campbell, Ph.D., a professor of medical science at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and previous dean of the graduate school, is passionate about researching understudied diseases and helping students reach their full potential. Dr. Campbell’s lab has studied the single-cell organism Trypanosoma brucei (T. brucei), a parasite transmitted through the bite of the tsetse fly, which is only found in specific regions of Africa. In humans, T. brucei causes African Trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness. Symptoms of this illness include headache, weakne...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - February 8, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist STEM Education Profiles Training Source Type: blogs

Increasing Opportunities in STEM at Brown University and Beyond
Credit: Courtesy of Brown University. Andrew G. Campbell, Ph.D., a professor of medical science at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and previous dean of the graduate school, is passionate about researching understudied diseases and helping students reach their full potential. Dr. Campbell’s lab has studied the single-cell organism Trypanosoma brucei (T. brucei), a parasite transmitted through the bite of the tsetse fly, which is only found in specific regions of Africa. In humans, T. brucei causes African Trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness. Symptoms of this illness include headache, weakne...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - February 7, 2024 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist STEM Education Profiles Training Source Type: blogs

A Satellite Takes a Bite of Phage
by Gertrud U. Rey Satellite viruses lack one or more of the elements needed to replicate, and thus they depend on co-infection with a helper virus that can provide the missing components. In a well-known example of a satellite-helper system, Hepatitis D virus requires the presence of its helper Hepatitis B virus to make copies … A Satellite Takes a Bite of Phage Read More » (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - December 7, 2023 Category: Virology Authors: Gertrud U. Rey Tags: Basic virology Gertrud Rey bacteriophage helper virus phage satellite plaque assay satellite virus satellite-helper system vampire virus Source Type: blogs

In Other Words: Not All Cultures Are Human
The word culture may make you think of a flag, style of clothing, celebration, or some other tradition associated with a particular group of people. But in biomedical science, a culture is a group of cells grown in a lab. Scientists use cultures to learn about basic biological processes and to develop and test new medicines. Credit: NIGMS. The Birth of a Culture Scientists can grow many types of cells as cultures, from bacteria to human cells. To create a culture, a researcher adds cells to a container such as a Petri dish along with a mix of nutrients the cells need to grow and divide. The exact recipe varies depe...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - August 10, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Tools and Techniques Cool Tools/Techniques In Other Words Source Type: blogs

What's new in midwifery - research - 11th May 2022
Librarian intervention or advice (or your own subscription) may be needed to see the full papers for some of these.First, aqualitative evidence synthesis of Black, Asian and minority ethnic women ' s experiences of maternity services in the UK.Then, asystematic review of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors in pregnancy, looking at maternal and perinatal safety and clinical outcomes.  The study looked at tadalafil and sildenafil, the latter of course being Viagra, and these may be used in pregnancy in cases of placental dysfunction, foetal growth restriction, or maternal hypertension.  There is discussion of the S...
Source: Browsing - May 11, 2022 Category: Databases & Libraries Tags: midwifery Source Type: blogs

The Death Cult
While there has always been an anti-vaccination fringe, ever since there was such a thing as vaccination (and no, I ' m not sure why) the Republican party and conservatives have never as a class been hostile to the vaccine mandates that have been in place in every state for decades.Until now.  The ginned up hysteria about Covid-19 vaccine, based on batshit insane conspiracy theories about microchips and alterations to DNA and lizard people, was just one more manufactured outrage to stir up the MAGAts, like Critical Race Theory, the castration of Mr. Potatohead, and of course the Big Steal, better known as the Big...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 25, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Multistep Lateral Flow Devices Perform Advanced Assays
Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a lateral flow test platform that can perform advanced assays that would otherwise require a laboratory. By controlling the flow of liquid through the lateral flow test, the research team designed it so that it can perform advanced multistep assays that do not require sophisticated lab equipment and significant periods of time. So far, they have designed advanced dipstick tests that can detect both COVID-19 and influenza simultaneously, and others that can perform immunoassays to detect Zika virus, HIV, hepatitis B virus, or malaria.    Lateral flow assays, otherwise ...
Source: Medgadget - November 10, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Diagnostics Medicine Pathology Public Health georgiatech Source Type: blogs

DNA Origami to Trap Viruses Inside Body
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have developed a method to create tiny virus traps that can bind viral particles and render them harmless within the body. The technique relies on DNA origami to create self-assembling hollow nanocapsules, which are lined with molecules that will bind viruses and prevent them from leaving. With a viral pandemic currently running riot, such technologies should be very welcome for the future. Effective anti-viral drugs are elusive for many viral infections, COVID-19 being no exception. These researchers have developed a new type of anti-viral technology that does not rely ...
Source: Medgadget - July 19, 2021 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Genetics Materials Medicine Nanomedicine Source Type: blogs

Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 23rd 2020
In conclusion, the study indicates that HBOT may induce significant senolytic effects that include significantly increasing telomere length and clearance of senescent cells in the aging populations. Data on the Prevalence of Liver Fibrosis in Middle Age https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2020/11/data-on-the-prevalence-of-liver-fibrosis-in-middle-age/ Fibrosis is a consequence of age-related disarray in tissue maintenance processes, leading to the deposition of scar-like collagen that disrupts tissue structure and function. It is an ultimately fatal issue for which there are only poor treatment options ...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 22, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs

Kimer Med is Crowdfunding Early Stage Work to Commercialize DRACO Antiviral Technology
Kimer Med is a New Zealand biotech startup in the very early stages of work on improvement and commercialization of the DRACO antiviral technology. This approach works by selectively destroying cells that host viral replication, and has been shown to be effective for a few presently challenging viral infections in animal models. In principle it is a platform extensible to any viral infection. Unfortunately DRACO fell into the usual chasm, made up of a lack of funding for later stage academic research, a lack of strong-willed iconoclasts willing to go to bat for it, and a lack of interest in the pharmaceutical industry for ...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 16, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs

Hepatitis A in the United States
  Few Americans are aware of a major epidemic that has taken hold of large areas of their country in recent years – by a disease that is easily diagnosed and prevented. Sadly, public – and even professional interest in these events have been overshadowed by COVID-19.    AN UPTICK IN CASES Hepatitis A had been largely under control until three years ago and can be easily prevented through the use of a safe and effective vaccine.  From January 2017 to January 2019, at least 26 separate outbreaks were reported, to a total of 11,628 cases and 99 deaths, nationwide. Homeless individuals and users of illicit dru...
Source: GIDEON blog - October 21, 2020 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Kristina Symes Tags: Epidemiology News Outbreaks Source Type: blogs

Discovery of Hepatitis C Wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Medgadget would like to congratulate Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice on receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in discovering the hepatitis C virus. Hepatitis C, a virus that infects liver cells and causes inflammation, certain cancers, and lymphomas, is fairly widespread among certain groups of people, and until its discovery it was impossible to screen donated blood for its presence. People were getting infected with something that resembled hepatitis B, but screening for hepatitis B would not detect this still unknown agent. At the National Institutes of Health,...
Source: Medgadget - October 5, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Genetics Medicine News Source Type: blogs

TWiV 639: Virology Nobel Prizes with Erling Norrby part 2
Vincent and Erling resume their discussion of virology Nobel Prizes, focusing on awards for research on tumor viruses, bacteriophages, virus structure, reverse transcriptase, hepatitis B virus, HIV-1, human papillomaviruses and much more. Click arrow to playDownload TWiV 639 (65 MB .mp3, 108 min)Subscribe (free): iTunes, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - July 18, 2020 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology bacteriophage DNA structure hepatitis b virus HIV-1 human papillomavirus Nobel Prize reverse transcriptase viral virus structure viruses Source Type: blogs

Weight loss can help head off lasting damage caused by fatty liver
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common cause of liver disease in the United States, and is estimated to affect up to a quarter of adults in the world. It is defined by excess fat accumulating in the liver and usually occurs in people with obesity, high blood sugars (diabetes), abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels, or high blood pressure. These disorders often run together and as a group are called metabolic syndrome. The “non-alcoholic” part of “non-alcoholic fatty liver disease” is important to distinguish it from alcohol-related liver disease, which can also cause excess liver fat. How fat ca...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 30, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Irun Bhan, MD Tags: Diet and Weight Loss Digestive Disorders Source Type: blogs