Science and Health News

Bacteria in your intestines may play an important role in determining if you will develop blinding wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

Three gene expression signatures can help rheumatologists predict which patients are more likely to respond to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) or B-cell depletion therapies in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.

Most antibiotics in use today are based on natural molecules produced by bacteria—and given the rise of antibiotic resistance, there’s an urgent need to find more of them. Yet coaxing bacteria to produce new antibiotics is a tricky proposition. Most bacteria won’t grow in the lab. And even when they do, most of the genes that cause them to churn out molecules with antibiotic properties never get switched on.

The research team of Dr Xuechen Li at the HKU Department of Chemistry, together with collaborators at the University of Central Florida (Dr Yu Yuan), USA and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Dr Sheng Chen), reported their research findings on the synthesis of a newly discovered «game-changing» antibiotic, Teixobactin, in Nature Communications recently. This underlies potential application and development of the next-generation teixobactin-based antibacterial drugs.

Even among those at highest genetic risk, lifestyle factors can reduce incidence by one half

NIH-supported finding may help improve diagnosis, treatment of alcoholism

A new helper in the fight against cancer and other diseases of the gut may be genetically altered bacteria that release medicines to tumors or the gut.

In the UMC Utrecht a brain implant has been placed in a patient enabling her to operate a speech computer with her mind. The researchers and the patient worked intensively to get the settings right. She can now communicate at home with her family and caregivers via the implant. That a patient can use this technique at home is unique in the world. This research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.