Tag: Public Health

Lymphoid Follicle Chip Models Complex Immune Responses

Researchers at the Harvard Wyss Institute have created a microfluidic chip that contains lymphoid follicle-like structures, allowing them to model complex immune responses to various pathogens and vaccines. The breakthrough could let scientists to more comprehensively probe the complex workings of the immune system. Lymphoid follicles are found in (Read more...)

Capsule Delivers and Injects mRNA into Stomach

Researchers at MIT have created an oral mRNA delivery system that could provide an alternative to injectable mRNA vaccines. It could also enable RNA or DNA therapies that are intended to treat gastrointestinal diseases. mRNA has shown its therapeutic potential in spectacular fashion, providing the powerhouse behind some of the world’s most su (Read more...)

Quick and Accurate COVID Test Uses LAMP Assay

Researchers at the University of Washington developed a new COVID testing technology that can provide accurate results in as little as 30 minutes. The technology intends to be a bridge between PCR tests, which are accurate but slow, and antigen tests, which are rapid but suffer from reduced accuracy. The system provides results straight to [&hellip (Read more...)

Cheap and Portable COVID-19 Test Lab

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have created a low-cost, portable COVID testing kit intended for use in remote, low-resource regions of the world. They describe the approach as a lab-in-a-backpack, and it makes use of a recycled computer hard-drive as a centrifuge. The test assay relies on loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP (Read more...)

Anti-COVID Nanobubbles Act as Viral Decoys

Researchers at Northwestern University have discovered naturally-occurring extracellular vesicles in the blood that contain the ACE2 protein, which is the cellular target of SARS-CoV-2. The vesicles act as a binding site for viral particles within the body, and prevent them from binding to and infecting cells. Unlike vaccines, therapeutics based on (Read more...)

Wearable Air Sampler to Assess SARS-CoV-2 Exposure

Researchers at Yale University created a wearable air sampler clip that can be worn on clothing and which can bind aerosols present in the environment. The clip can later be analyzed to determine the level of SARS-CoV-2 exposure while it was worn. The low-cost, battery-free technology could allow people to identify unsafe indoor environments that [ (Read more...)

Quantum Sensor to Detect SARS-CoV-2 More Accurately

Researchers at MIT have designed a quantum sensor to detect SARS-CoV-2. While the device is still theoretical, the researchers have used mathematical simulations to show its potential, and the data and design indicate that it may be faster, more accurate, and less expensive than the current gold-standard technique, PCR. The system is based on nanod (Read more...)

Therapeutic Fusion Protein Inhibits SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich in Germany have developed a new protein therapeutic against SARS-CoV-2. Unlike previously developed antibody therapies and vaccines, the virus is very unlikely to be able to circumvent this latest technology through mutation, as it is based on the viral target site in the body, the ACE2 receptor. Th (Read more...)

High Surface Area Copper for Enhanced Antibacterial Activity

At RMIT University in Australia a team of scientists developed a copper alloy that can kill bacteria on its surface 100 times faster than regular copper. The researchers created the material using copper and manganese atoms, and then removed the manganese after the material was formed, resulting in a comb-like copper structure with massively increa (Read more...)

Flu Virus-Inspired Nanoparticles for mRNA Delivery

Researchers at the University of California San Diego developed a new delivery technique for mRNA. The method involves flu virus-inspired nanoparticles that can escape endosomes, the acidic vesicles that engulf and destroy materials that attempt to enter cells. The nanoparticles contain a protein receptor that allows them to unlock the endosomes an (Read more...)

Quick Test for Antibody Efficacy Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants

At Duke University a team of scientists developed a test that rapidly provides data on how effective antibodies are at neutralizing different COVID-19 variants. The test could be very handy in determining the immunity of a specific patient against various variants, or in deciding on the best monoclonal antibody therapy to use. The researchers have (Read more...)

Chewing Gum Neutralizes SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a chewing gum that can bind to SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva, potentially helping to reduce viral transmission. The gum contains the protein ACE2 that can attach to the viral spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. By binding directly to the viral particles, it can prevent them from being transmitted [&h (Read more...)

Imaging Technique Generates 3D Images of Bacteria for Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing

Researchers at the University of Connecticut have developed a highly sensitive imaging sensor that can rapidly and accurately monitor bacterial growth. The technique involves shining laser light through a bacterial sample and taking images at multiple orientations, before reconstructing the diffracted light patterns, to produce a 3D image of the ba (Read more...)

Chip for Investigation of Coronavirus Intestinal Infection

At Harvard’s Wyss Institute researchers used an intestine-on-a-chip to study the way a coronavirus infects the intestines, and the influence of various drugs and immune cells on this process. The intestine chip revealed that remdesivir, a drug that received FDA emergency use authorization for COVID-19 treatment, actually damaged the intestina (Read more...)

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 signif (Read more...)

Electrochemical Test Measures Antibiotic Resistance

Researchers at Washington State University have developed an electrochemical test that can rapidly identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria in patient samples. The technology can provide a result in less than 90 minutes, and is based on measuring the electrochemical activity of the bacteria after they are exposed to antibiotics. The data reveal the m (Read more...)