Blood Test To Quickly Diagnose Skin Cancer

Australian researchers have developed a “revolutionary” new blood test to diagnose skin cancer much more quickly and efficiently than conventional methods. The ‘liquid biopsy’ blood test promises to speed up the diagnosis of melanoma, ensuring patients get the personalized treatment they need sooner. The life saving test will be administered by the Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI) in Melbourne, Victoria’s minister for health Jill Hennessy announced on 18 November. Diagnosis of melanoma often requires a complex and invasive surgical biopsy that can take weeks before answers are available. This breakthrough new technology has the potential to provide the same information but much faster, from a simple blood test.

Now, Drugs To Battle Antibiotic Resistance

Scientists have used large scale super-computer simulations to discover a new class of drugs that may combat antibiotic resistance on disease causing bacteria. Laboratory experiments were combined with super-computing modeling to identify molecules that boost the effect of antibiotics on bacteria. Researchers, including those from University of Oklahoma (OU) in the US, identified four new chemicals that seek out and disrupt bacterial proteins called “efflux pumps”, a major cause of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The supercomputing power of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan supercomputer allowed us to perform large scale simulations of the drug targets and to screen many potential compounds quickly. The information researchers received was combined with their experiments to select molecules that were found to work well, and this should drastically reduce the time needed to move from the experimental phase to clinical trials.

Genetic Tinkering Of Plants Is The Solution To World Hunger

A decade ago, agricultural scientists at the University of Illinois, US, suggested a bold approach to improve the food supply: tinker with photosynthesis, the chemical reaction powering nearly all life on Earth. The idea was greeted skeptically in scientific circles and ignored by funding agencies. But one outfit with deep pockets, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, eventually paid attention, hoping the research might help alleviate global poverty. Now, after several years of work, the scientists are reporting a remarkable result. Using genetic engineering techniques to alter photosynthesis, they increased the productivity of a test plant -tobacco - by as much as 20%, they said on 17 November in a study published by the journal ‘Science’. That is huge, given that plant breeders struggle to eke out gains of 1 or 2% with more conventional approaches. The scientists have no interest in increasing the production of tobacco; their plan is to try the same alterations in food crops, and one of the leaders of the work believes production gains of 50% or more may ultimately be achievable. If that prediction is borne out in further research – it could take a decade, if not longer – the result might be nothing less than a transformation of global agriculture. One of the leaders of the research emphasized in an interview that a long road lay ahead before any results might reach farmers’ fields. But he is also convinced that genetic engineering could ultimately lead to what he called a “Second Green Revolution”. The research involves photosynthesis, in which plants use carbon dioxide from the sir and energy from sunlight to form new, energy-rich carbohydrates. Long thought crop yields might be improved by certain genetic changes. In the initial work, the researchers transferred genes from a common laboratory plant, known as thale cress, into strains of tobacco. The effect was to increase the level of certain proteins that already existed in tobacco. When plants receive direct sunlight, they are often getting more energy than they can use, and they activate a mechanism that helps them shed it as heat – while slowing carbohydrate production. The genetic changes help the plant turn that mechanism off faster once the excessive sunlight ends, so that the machinery of photosynthesis can get back more quickly to maximal production of carbohydrates.

Long-Acting Malaria Pill Now Gets A Step Closer

Scientists have developed a new drug capsule that remains in the stomach for up to two weeks after being swallowed, gradually releasing its payload, paving the way for a long acting pill that may effectively treat malaria and many other diseases. This type of drug delivery could replace inconvenient regimens that require repeated doses, which would help to overcome one of the major obstacles to treating and potentially eliminating diseases such as malaria. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States used this approach to deliver a drug called ivermectin, which they believe could aid in malaria elimination efforts.

Pluto Could Have As Much Water As Earth

Scientists have found evidence that tiny, distant Pluto harbors a hidden ocean beneath the frozen surface of its heart shaped central plain contains as much water as all of Earth’s seas. The finding, reported on 16 November in two research papers published in the journal Nature, adds Pluto to growing list of worlds in the solar system beyond Earth believed to have underground oceans, some of which potentially could be habitats for life. Pluto’s ocean, which is likely slushy with ice, lies 150 to 200 km beneath the dwarf planet’s icy surface and is about 100km deep, planetary scientists said in an interview. With its ocean covered by so much ice, Pluto is not a prime candidate for life, added Massachusetts Institute of Technology planetary scientist Richard Binzel another of the researchers. But Binzel added that “one is careful to never say the word impossible.” Liquid water is considered one of the essential ingredients for life. The discovery was made through an analysis of images and data collected by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto and its entourage of moons in July 2015.

Gene Editing Could Give Longer Life

Scientists have discovered a new way to edit DNA that could fix “broken genes” in the brain, cure previously incurable diseases and potentially even extend the human lifespan. The breakthrough – described as a “holy grail” of generics – was used to partially restore the sight of rats blinded by a condition which also affects humans. Previously researchers were not able to make changes to DNA in eye, brain, heart and liver tissues. But the new techniques allow them to do this for the first time and could also lead to new treatments for a range of diseases associated with the ageing process. One of the researchers said they are very excited by the technology they discovered because it’s something that could not be done before. The possible applications of this discovery are vast. The cells in most of the tissues of an adult body do not divide, making it harder for scientists to introduce changes to the DNA. Researcher said, for the first time, they can enter into cells that do not divide and modify the DNA at will. They now have a technology that allows them to modify the DNA of non dividing cells, to fix broken genes in the brain, heart and liver. It allows then for the first time to be able to dream of curing diseases that they couldn’t before, which is exciting. The researchers used the technique on rats born with a genetic disease called retinitis pigmentosa, which affects about one in 4,000 people in the UK. By altering the genes affecting the eyes, they were able to give the rats a degree of vision. It should be noted, however, that although tests demonstrated improved visual responses after sub retinal injection of (the DNA repair) to three week old rats, the rescue was only partial and not enough to completely restore vision.

NY-London In 3hr 15min On New Supersonic Jet

British entrepreneur Richard Branson has unveiled the prototype for a new supersonic aircraft that promises to have air travel times, and send passengers between London and New York in three hours and 15 minutes (normally a 7 hour flight) or LA to Sydney in 6 hours and 45 minutes (15 hour trip). The XB-1 has been nicknamed ‘Baby Boom’, claimed to be among the world’s fastest civil aircraft ever made, and promises to give passengers “affordable” supersonic travel. While the first commercial flight is not expected until 2023, the price of a flight between London and New York is currently set at £2,500 (approx. Rs 2.12 Lakh as on 16 November). The new aircraft has a cruising speed of Mach 2.2 or 1,451mph (approx. 2,335 kilometres per hour), which is 10% faster than Concorde’s speed of Mach 2 (the speed of sound is measured as Mach 1), and 2.6 times faster than other airliners. A typical Boeing 747 goes at about 560mph (901kmph) and takes eight hours or so to fly the 3,459 miles (approx. 5,567km) across the Atlantic. The new planes are set to carry 40 passengers at a time. There hasn’t been a supersonic commercial jet in operation since the Concorde jet, constructed by French aerospace company Aerospatiale and British Aircraft Corporation, was retired after 27 years of service in 2003. Despite other aerospace companies such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin developing their own supersonic spacecraft, Virgin and startup Boom are hoping to beat the competition to market as the aircraft uses existing technology that has already been approved by regulators. Boom’s development of the new aircraft has been done in partnership with Dranson’s Spaceship Company, which is attached to Virgin Galactic. The company will provide engineering and manufacturing services to Boom, in addition to test flight support and operations. Branson has signed an option to buy the first 10 airframes. The subsonic test flight of the XB-1 will take place east of Denver, Colorado (US), while the supersonic test flights will take place near Edwards Air force Base in Southern California.