Biotech

An ‘eat-me’ signal displayed on cell surfaces requires activation of a lipid-scrambling protein by a nuclear protein fragment.

The University of Tokyo researchers use information theory to show that the accepted biochemical model of bacterial chemical sensing is mathematically equivalent to the optimal solution, with implications for microbiology and robotics

New research from Duke-NUS Medical School, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research identifies chemotherapy-resistant cancers’ escape mechanism, which offers new anti-cancer treatment options.

Researchers at The University of Tokyo use the mathematics of adaptive learning and artificial intelligence to describe how T helper cells adjust the response of the vertebrate immune system, which may lead to new vaccines and treatments for infections

Researchers at The University of Tokyo develop a method of culturing meat in the laboratory in the form of millimeter-scale contractile beef muscle that closely simulates steak meat

Tohoku University Researchers tweaked the diet of silkworms by adding cellulose nanofiber to their food. The resultant silk was stronger and more durable. This new method of realizing cellulose nanofiber synthesized silk is a sustainable way to produce biomaterials.

An international team led by Professor Yilin Wu, Associate Professor of the Department of Physics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has made a novel conceptual advance in the field of active matter science. The team discovered a new route in which the self-organisation of active fluids in space and time can be controlled by a single material property called viscoelasticity. This new finding may pave the way for fabricating a new class of self-driven devices and materials, such as the ability to control the rhythmic movement of soft robots without relying on electronic circuits, and for the study of microbial physiology. It has been published in the scientific journal Nature.

Undergraduate students explore a more efficient way to measure protein-containing vessels released by cells

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis enables high-resolution separation of proteins extracted from biological samples, but it requires more than one day of pretreatment to recover the separated proteins trapped inside the gel for detection by mass spectrometry. BAC-DROP, our novel electrophoresis technology, uses a dissolvable form of polyacrylamide gel, which allows sample pretreatment to be completed in about 5 hours. The developed technology will enable the rapid diagnosis of viruses and disease protein markers.

Researchers from DGIST have now found a way to keep living, wet cells viable in an ultra-high-vacuum environment, using graphene, allowing—like never before—accurate high-resolution visualization of the undistorted molecular structure and distribution of lipids in cell membranes. This could enhance our bioimaging abilities considerably, improving our understanding of mechanisms underlying complex diseases such as cancers and Alzheimer’s

A team of scientists in Japan has developed a novel method to induce stem cell generation from the blood samples of dogs. Through this technique, the scientists hope to advance regenerative therapies in veterinary medicine. This would mean that, in the near future, veterinarians might be able to reverse conditions in dogs that were previously thought incurable.

New ‘armoured’ T cells attack cancer without being suppressed by drugs given to transplant patients to avoid organ rejection.

A research group compared how crickets adapt to limb removal, revealing more about adoptive locomotion and the mechanisms underpinning it.

Investigations of a cellular protein have uncovered a possible link with schizophrenia.

iCeMS scientists have revealed how a transporter protein twists and squeezes compounds out of cells, including chemotherapy drugs from some cancer cells.

A transporter protein that regulates cell membrane cholesterol likely played an important role in vertebrate evolution, according to a review published by iCeMS researchers in the journal FEBS Letters.

Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) researchers gain deeper insight into a cell membrane channel, with potential implications for drug development.

An easy way to make millirobots by coating objects with a glue-like magnetic spray was developed in a joint research led by a scientist from City University of Hong Kong (CityU). Driven by the magnetic field, the coated objects can crawl, walk, or roll on different surfaces. As the magnetic coating is biocompatible and can be disintegrated into powders when needed, this technology demonstrates the potential for biomedical applications, including catheter navigation and drug delivery.

A repetitive DNA sequence that causes health risks when it malfunctions can now be watched inside living cells using a synthetic tool

Far too little is known about the long-term dynamics of the abundance of most macro-organism species. We used sedimentary DNA technology to quantify marine fish DNA abundance in sediment sequences spanning the last 300 years. This study first shows the existence of fish DNA in the sequences and proves that fish abundance can be tracked using sedimentary DNA, highlighting the utility of sedimentary DNA for researchers to acquire lengthy records of macro-organism species abundance.

Collaboration by researchers in Singapore and Australia lead to first-of-its-kind computational biology algorithm that could enable more effective cellular therapies against major diseases.

A new apparatus improves how we study the effects of aiming high-field terahertz radiation at cells, with implications for regenerative medicine.

Scientists have found an ingredient that makes a vaccine more effective through an approach more often seen in materials science – testing molecules that self-assemble into larger structures.

Measuring the temperature of objects at a nanometer-scale has been a long challenge, especially in living biological samples, because of the lack of precise and reliable nanothermometers. An international team of researchers has realized a quantum technology to probe temperature on a nanometer-scale, and have observed a ‘fever’ in tiny nematode worms under pharmacological treatment. This strengthens the connection between quantum sensing and biology and ushers in novel thermal imaging technologies in biomedical research.

Scientists are learning about species adaptation by comparing their stem cell-related genes.

Duke-NUS spinout, PairX, led by US and Singapore scientists and investors, to advance immunotherapy biotech exclusively licensed from Duke-NUS.

Researchers in China have taken the first step towards a new way of treating gastric wounds by using a microrobot combined with the new concept of “in situ in vivo bioprinting” to carry out tissue repair inside the body.

While scientists still don’t fully understand the diverse nature of RNA molecules, it is believed that the proteins binding to them, called RNA-binding proteins, are associated with many disease formation. A research led by biomedical scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has developed a novel detection method, called CARPID, to identify binding proteins of specific RNAs in the living cells. It is expected the innovation can be applied in various cell research, from identifying biomarkers of cancer diagnosis to detecting potential drug targets for treating viral diseases.

A simple, rapid assay­­ to evaluate neutralizing antibodies that target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) is described in a paper published in Nature Biotechnology.

Scientists demonstrate that the information about host bacteria–bacteriophage (phage) associations derived from world’s first metagenome analysis is useful for the development of phage therapies against intestinal pathobionts.