‘I still can’t believe what I’m seeing.’ One couple’s apartment overlooks the street where a morgue was erected.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,134
Cannabis shows promise blocking coronavirus infection: Alberta researcher
“Cannabis extracts are showing potential in making people more resistant to the novel coronavirus, says an Alberta researcher leading a study.
After sifting through 400 cannabis strains, researchers at the University of Lethbridge are concentrating on about a dozen that show promising results in ensuring less fertile ground for the potentially lethal virus to take root, said biological scientist Dr. Igor Kovalchuk.”
But the absence of clinical trials remains a barrier, and funding from an increasingly cash-strapped cannabis industry isn’t there to fuel that, said Kovalchuk.
“We have clinicians who are willing to work with us but for a lot of companies in the cannabis business, it’s significant cash that they can’t afford,” he said.
The scientist emphasized the findings wouldn’t lead to a vaccine — something “less specific and precise” but nonetheless another possible weapon against COVID-19.
Fiber imaging beyond the limits of resolution and speed
Researchers at ARCNL and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam have developed a compact setup for fast, super-resolution microscopy through an ultrathin fiber. Using smart signal processing, they beat the theoretical limits of resolution and speed. Because the method does not require any special fluorescent labelling, it is promising for both medical applications and characterization of 3D structures in nanolithography. On May 7th, the results were published in Light: Science & Applications, a scientific journal in the Nature family.
“Imaging at the nanoscale is limited by the wavelength of the light that is used. There are ways to overcome this diffraction limit, but they typically require large microscopes and difficult processing procedures,” says Lyuba Amitonova. “These systems are unsuitable for imaging in deep layers of biological tissue or in other hard-to-reach places.”
Amitonova recently started a research group on Nanoscale Imaging and Metrology at ARCNL. She is also connected part-time to VU Amsterdam where she works on ultrathin fibers for endomicroscopy in the group of Johannes de Boer. Amitonova and de Boer have developed a way to overcome the diffraction limit in small systems to enable deep-tissue imaging with super-resolution.
Antibodies from llamas could help in fight against COVID-19, study suggests
The researchers linked two copies of a special kind of antibody produced by llamas to create a new antibody that binds tightly to a key protein on the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This protein, called the spike protein, allows the virus to break into host cells. Initial tests indicate that the antibody blocks viruses that display this spike protein from infecting cells in culture.
“This is one of the first antibodies known to neutralize SARS-CoV-2,” said Jason McLellan, associate professor of molecular biosciences at UT Austin and co-senior author, referring to the virus that causes COVID-19.
The team is now preparing to conduct preclinical studies in animals such as hamsters or nonhuman primates, with the hopes of next testing in humans. The goal is to develop a treatment that would help people soon after infection with the virus.
The Writers and Directors Who Saw Coronavirus Coming
In the middle of an international pandemic, VICE News goes straight to people who spent years learning how outbreaks work and how humans will respond.
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Snake stem cells used to create venom-producing organoids
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Organoids have become an important tool for studying many disease processes and testing potential drugs. Now, they are being used in a surprising and unexpected way: for the production of snake venom. On January 23 in the journal Cell, researchers are reporting that they have created organoids of the venom glands of the Cape coral snake (Aspidelaps lubricus cowlesi) and that these glands are capable of producing venom.
“More than 100,000 people die from snake bites every year, mostly in developing countries. Yet the methods for manufacturing antivenom haven’t changed since the 19th century,” says senior author Hans Clevers of the Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. “It’s clear there is a huge unmet medical need for new treatments.”
He adds: “Every snake has dozens of different components in their venom. These are extremely potent molecules that are designed to stop prey from running away. They affect systems as varied as the brain, neuromuscular junctions, blood coagulation, and more. Many of them have potential bioprospecting applications for new drugs.”
A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Intravenous Immunoglobulin Treatment in Children With Kawasaki Disease
To determine the long-term cost-benefit of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment in Children with Kawasaki Disease (KD), a model was made to compare the total cost for management of these children with and without the use of IVIG. Long-term (10−21 years) follow-up of 594 KD patients treated in the pre-IVIG era reported by Kato, et al. was used to calculate cost using previous cost studies from Chulalongkorn Hospital. Reduction of CAA from 25 per cent to 4 per cent with IVIG treatment was assumed based on previous published data. Total cost was slightly lower for the non-IVIG treatment group compared to the IVIG treatment group (33,451,129 baht vs 35,001,195 baht) for the duration of follow-up in Kato’s model. Cost per effectiveness analysis showed more effectiveness in the IVIG treatment group (359,576 baht vs 383,614 baht). Net cost analysis similarly demonstrated lower costs in the IVIG treatment group (25,365,215 baht vs 33,451,129 baht). Incremental cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrated supplementary costs of 13,663 baht for one case in the reduction of coronary involvement and 387,517 baht for one life saved in the IVIG-treated group. Estimation of total costs for follow-up and treatment for healthy life (until 60 years old) was more expensive in the non-IVIG treatment than the IVIG treated group (75,482,803 baht vs 29,883,833 baht). The authors conclude that treatment of all KD cases in Thailand with IVIG is likely to result in lower cost and better outcome when compared to no treatment with the IVIG policy.