Occasionally the most interesting discoveries are made simply by investigating a chance observation. Take for instance our earlier MSU blog about venom-resistant mice, whose analgesic usefulness was only realized after noticing that they didn’t seem to mind being stung by scorpions. Now at the University of Cincinnati, scientists have discovered a previously unknown property of a junk food ingredient that actually helps remove toxins from the body.
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Tags: 2014, Midwest, University of Cincinnati, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Cincinnati, OH, UCinci
Around 20 percent of the United States suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a disorder that causes several uncomfortable symptoms centered on the large intestine. As of yet, there is no treatment for IBS itself, just methods to alleviate the symptoms. However, new and conclusive evidence from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota points to a gene responsible for IBS in some patients.
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Tags: 2014, Midwest, Minnesota, Rochester, Mayo Clinic, BioResearch Product Faire Event, RMN
When it comes to creatively solving problems in biotechnology, time and time again nature takes the cake. In our recent history, we’ve seen the University of Minnesota use the kava root to prevent lung cancer and Michigan State University take cues from a mouse to develop new anesthetics. Now researchers at University of Washington, St. Louis are looking to nature to solve a problem where biotechnology is at its wit’s end: developing an effective antibiotic.
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Tags: 2014, Washington University St. Louis, Midwest, Missouri, WashU, BioResearch Product Faire Event, St Louis
Gene manipulation is a very fine-tuned science that is prevalent in all sorts of biotechnological lab work. We often think of genes as controlling a very precise function or set of functions; for instance, the particular gene responsible for damaging tissue in gum disease, which we looked at in a previous Ohio State blog, or the gene responsible for pollination features in bees, which we saw in an earlier Michigan State blog. Now a research project from University of Illinois, Chicago introduces a way to delve deeper than even the gene level and look at the roles of individual molecules that the genes influence.
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Tags: 2014, Midwest, University of Illinois, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Chicago, IL, UIChgo
Oil spills are unfortunately becoming an increasing reality in our world. Since the infamous Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which has yet to be fully cleaned up, the world has seen 65 more spills, 8 of which occurred in 2013 alone. As supported by the fact that the BP spill cleanup is now in its 10th year, there is a lack of inexpensive yet effective ways to handle such ecological disasters. From the labs of the University of Wisconsin, Madison comes a biotechnologically sound solution that also manages to be environmentally friendly: a “greener” aerogel.
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Tags: 2014, Midwest, 2013, WI, Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin Madison, UWisc, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Madison
The human mouth is filled with all sorts of bacteria, some of which are essential to our survival and some of which can cause some rather nasty diseases. Unfortunately, telling the difference has been a massive challenge for oral biology, since the majority of the bacteria found in the mouth do not grow in laboratory dishes. Now, though, bioresearchers at Ohio State University have sequenced the genome of one such bacterium linked to the gum disease periodontitis.
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Tags: 2014, Midwest, Ohio State University, Ohio, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Columbus, OhStu
To understand the complex working of biological molecules, sharp images are the key. Electron microscopes do a good job when it comes to inorganic compounds but don’t lend quite as easily to organic molecules, especially if you want to view them alive and in action. Researchers at the University of Illinois, Chicago have developed a new method for imaging biomolecules that solves many of the current problems in the field.
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Tags: 2014, Midwest, University of Illinois, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Chicago, IL, UIChgo
Around the world, the number of bees is abruptly decreasing. Known as colony collapse disorder, the phenomenon is affecting agriculture on the global scale. According to a report by the United Nations, crops reliant on honeybee pollination sum up to a net worth of $200 billion, and the decline in population is increasing the cost of beekeeping by an average of 20%. Looking into the matter are bioresearchers from Michigan State University, who are busy deriving the genes responsible for pollination.
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Tags: Michigan State University, 2014, Midwest, Michigan, BioResearch Product Faire Event, East Lansing, MSU
Bacterial cells commonly act as little machines in the lab of a bioresearcher. Some fluoresce as they bind to certain particles, others change color based on the presence of a certain chemical in solution. Useful as these cells are, they are generally pre-set; each lab has to find one that does the necessary job or wait for one to be discovered. Now the wait is over – thanks to a research team at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where programmable bacterial cells are quickly becoming a reality.
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Tags: 2014, Midwest, Michigan, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, UMich, BioResearch Fair
The most deadly and contagious strain of malaria actually isn’t found in Africa- it makes its home in Southeast Asia and South America. Plasmodium vivax, as the strain is known, has been a worldwide challenge to treat and prevent. However, thanks to groundbreaking lab work from Washington University in St. Louis, researchers are developing an understanding of how this form of malaria works and what can be done against it.
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Tags: 2014, Washington University St. Louis, Midwest, Missouri, WashU, BioResearch Product Faire Event, St Louis