science blogspot

FAUCI: THIS COVID DRUG MIGHT ACTUALLY WORK "WHAT IT HAS PROVEN IS A DRUG CAN BLOCK THIS VIRUS." BY VICTOR TANGERMANN A coronavirus vaccine is likely still years out — but that isn’t discouraging research into potentially life-saving drug treatments for COVID-19 patients. One drug in particular is currently drawing the attention of experts. White House health advisor Anthony Fauci said yesterday that early trials of antiviral drug remdesivir, produced by Gilead Sciences, showed “quite good news,” as CNBC reports. The trial was conducted by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and involved 1,063 patients. Fauci told reporters that the NIAID trial showed a “clear-cut positive effect in diminishing time to recover.” But that doesn’t mean remdesivir is a miracle solve-all fix. The difference in the number of deaths of those who took it and in a placebo group “has not yet reached statistical significance,” according to Fauci. Mortality rate w...

New biologically derived metal-organic framework mimics DNA  April 8, 2019 ,  Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne S SION-19, a biologically derived MOF based on adenine was used to ‘lock’ Thymine (Thy) molecules in the channels through hydrogen bonding interactions between adenine and thymine. Upon irradiation, thymine molecules were dimerized into di-thymine (ThyThy). Credit: Peter G. Boyd/EPFL The field of materials science has become abuzz with "metal-organic frameworks" (MOFs), versatile compounds made up of metal ions connected to organic ligands, thus forming one-, two-, or three-dimensional structures. There is now an ever-growing list of applications for MOF, including separating petrochemicals, detoxing water from heavy metals and fluoride anions, and getting hydrogen or even gold out of it. But recently, scientists have begun making MOFs, made of   building blocks   that typically make up biomolecules, e.g. amino acids for proteins or ...

ANTI-AGING DRUG THAT KILLS OLD CELLS PASSES FIRST HUMAN TRIAL FEBRUARY 15TH 19__KRISTIN HOUSER__ FILED UNDER: HEALTH & MEDICINE PIXABAY/TAG HARTMAN-SIMKINS Cleaning House Not all damaged cells die. Some stick around as senescent cells, unable to divide but still able to produce chemical signals — and they could play a major role in the battle against aging. “It is thought that these cells and the substances they produce are involved in the process of aging,” longevity researcher Nicolas Musi from the University of Texas at Austin  told  MIT Technology Review . “The idea is that removing these cells may be beneficial to promote healthy aging and also to prevent diseases of aging.” Based on the results of a very early trial, there may be something to that theory. Doubled Up In January , Musi and his colleagues published the results of a trial in which they treated 14 patients suffering from the fatal lung ...

Blood test for pregnant women can predict premature birth Date: June 7, 2018 Source: Stanford Medicine Summary: A new blood test for pregnant women detects with 75-80 percent accuracy whether their pregnancies will end in premature birth. The technique can also be used to estimate a fetus's gestational age -- or the mother's due date -- as reliably as and less expensively than ultrasound. Share:           FULL STORY Pregnant woman and doctor. (stock image) Credit: © dgmphoto / Fotolia A new blood test for pregnant women detects with 75-80 percent accuracy whether their pregnancies will end in premature birth. The technique can also be used to estimate a fetus's gestational age -- or the mother's due date -- as reliably as and less expensively than ultrasound. Developed by a team of scientists led by researchers at Stanford University, the tests could help reduce problems related to premature birth, which affects 15 million i...