A device that applies sound waves to divide and sort minute particles located in the blood within minutes has been developed by Engineers at Duke University. The technology is established on a concept referred to as “virtual pillars” and could be advantageous to scientific research and for medical applications. Minute biological nanoparticles known as “small extracellular vesicles” [...]

Engineers at Duke University have developed a device that uses sound waves to separate and sort the tiniest particles found in blood in a matter of minutes. The technology is based on a concept called "virtual pillars" and could be a boon to both scientific research and medical applications. Tiny biological nanoparticles called "small [...]

Researchers have long been working on how to treat obesity, a serious condition that can lead to hypertension, diabetes, chronic inflammation, and cardiovascular diseases. Studies have also revealed a strong correlation of obesity and cancer—recent data show that smoking, drinking alcohol, and obesity are the biggest contributors to cancer worldwide. The development of fat [...]

Since the Covid pandemic, which brought the world to its knees, the word ‘virus’ makes us cautious and on edge. Recently, scientists have reanimated a 48,500-year-old Zombie Virus, which was buried in the ice for years in the Siberia regions of Russia. The news rattled the world keeping Twitter handles on the tenterhook. According [...]

Omicron subvariant BA.2 – which was dominant worldwide early this year, including in Hong Kong – replicates more swiftly than other strains and causes faster programmed cell death in human brains, a new study has found. Scientists from the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong exposed brain cells developed in laboratories to [...]

The urgent need to remove excess carbon dioxide from Earth’s environment could include enlisting some of our planet’s smallest inhabitants, according to an international research team led by Michael Hochella of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Hochella and his colleagues examined the scientific evidence for seeding the oceans with iron-rich engineered [...]

 Blood pressure is a key vital sign that provides insight into our cardiovascular health. But blood pressure is typically measured only a few times per year by a clinician—and these measurements might not always be accurate (maybe, for instance, you’re nervous at the doctor’s office). A wearable device that could monitor blood pressure continuously [...]

A South African laboratory study using Covid-19 samples from an immunosupressed individual over six months showed that the virus evolved to become more pathogenic, indicating that a new variant could cause worse illness than the current predominant omicron strain. The research, conducted by the same laboratory that was to first test the omicron strain against vaccines [...]

For the past several months, Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have dominated COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But now, there’s a class of new COVID subvariants on the rise and one in particular is getting plenty of attention. It’s called XBB—or Gryphon—and there’s a chance it could overtake everything else out there. XBB is getting a lot [...]

Nucleic acid therapies involving DNA or RNA have significant potential to treat genetic disorders, infectious diseases, and cancer; however, research suggests that less than 1% of injected nucleic acid doses reach target cells in an active form. An article in WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology highlights two of the major barriers to this therapeutic strategy, [...]