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| News Around World |
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| A startling new insight of one of the most important and environmentally friendly weapons against insect pests, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been noted to be unable to perform without the help of native bacteria that colonise the insect gut. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has noted that the mechanism of killing for Bt is facilitated by normal gut flora, and may have substantial impact in the way scientist produce and view such pesticides.
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| A revolution is underway in New York, as a new technique in microscopy has allowed researchers from Cornell University watch chromosomes change form in real time. The advance, hailed as a significant step in the understanding of gene expression is known as multiphoton fluorescence microscopy, a cross-disciplinary collaboration between researchers of Cornell.
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The US Food and Drug Administration have approved the use of bacteria-eating viruses, known as bacteriophage for the use of being a food additive to help combat bacterial infections like listeriosis in food. According to a professor of microbiology of Rockefeller University, New York, the bacteriophage are safe for human consumption as they only attack bacteria and not human cells. The viruses can be sprayed onto ready-to-eat cold cuts and luncheon meats by manufacturers as a safety measure.
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| Researchers lights the way to better drug delivery |
Researchers
from Purdue University has finally been able to explain the details
of drug release within a cancer cell. The findings, will allow scientist
to improve methods in delivering drugs to a specific target without
affecting the surrounding cells. This will be important in drug therapy,
and another step towards the field of personalized medicine. The knowledge
will not only benefit cancer studies, but can also be extrapolated to
other diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s
disease. |
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