Drug Discovery

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have developed a new computational mass-spectrometry system for identifying metabolomes—entire sets of metabolites for different living organisms. When the new method was tested on select tissues from 12 plants species, it was able to note over a thousand metabolites. Among them were dozens…

A new type of microscope may give doctors a better idea of how safely and effectively a medication will perform in the body. A Purdue University team developed the microscope based on concepts of phase-contrast microscopy, which involves using optical devices to view molecules, membranes or other nanoscale items that may be too translucent to…

Syringes and hollow needles have been used to deliver medication for more than a century. However, the precise implementation of these devices depends on the operator, and it can be difficult to deliver medication to delicate regions such as the suprachoroidal space at the back of the eye. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital have…

Scientists at Linköping University have developed a new method to produce hydrated materials, hydrogels, that have properties similar to the natural environment of cells in the body. They describe in an article in Biofabrication how to adapt the material to the various requirements of difficult-to-culture cell types, and to produce organ-like structures on a microchip.…

Small infections can be fatal: Millions of people die each year from sepsis, an overreaction of the immune system. A new immune signaling molecule, designed by a research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), now provides the basis for potential new approaches in sepsis therapy. The numbers are alarming: According to estimates by…

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology and Utrecht University have discovered the parameters that govern the encapsulation of drugs. This gives more control over the slow and steady release of drugs in patients. Moreover, designing encapsulations for new drugs will now require far less experimentation which makes for faster and cheaper drug development. The researchers…

Washington State University researchers have developed a novel way to deliver drugs and therapies into cells at the nanoscale without causing toxic effects that have stymied other such efforts. The work could someday lead to more effective therapies and diagnostics for cancer and other illnesses. Led by Yuehe Lin, professor in WSU’s School of Mechanical and…