The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an imaging drug known as Cytalux (pafolacianine), which is attracted to ovarian cancer tissue and illuminates it when exposed to fluorescent light, allowing surgeons to more easily find and more precisely remove cancer. 

Virginia Tech researchers discovered that the bacterium that causes Lyme disease has a highly unusual modification in its protective molecular bag – called peptidoglycan, which is common to all bacteria. There occurs an unusual sugar modification that is not known to occur in any organism. One way the bacterium gets this sugar modification is from ticks by absorbing a carbohydrate unique to ticks. The alteration is specific to ticks and allows the bacterium to better move and be more likely to cause disease.

Children with spinal muscular atrophy(SMA) carry specific gene defects which cause progressive muscle wasting and weakness. The disorder results from a genetic defect that causes a deficiency of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein in specific nerve cells in the spinal cord. Defective nerve cells are unable to transmit nerve impulses they receive from the brain to the muscles. The result is progressive muscle weakness and a lack of motor development, which also affects the muscles used for breathing. This condition usually results in early death when left untreated. 

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and colleagues have demonstrated that rare variants in the ANK2 (Ankyrin 2) gene, consistently found in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), can alter architecture and organization of neurons, potentially contributing to autism and neurodevelopmental comorbidities. 

Researchers from Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London have imaged a key part of the conjugation process so that better understanding of conjugation could allow them to find ways to stop the process and reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Their results are an important step forward in understanding how bacteria acquire drug resistance – and potentially how to stop them doing so.

Ever since the first barcode appeared on a pack of chewing gum in 1974, the now-ubiquitous system has enabled manufacturers, retailers and consumers to quickly and effectively identify, characterize, locate and track products and materials. In a paper first posted in the journal Cell, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and The Johns Hopkins University demonstrate how they can do the same thing at the molecular level, studying the ways cancer cells “talk” with one another using a different kind of barcode system — one made up of combinations of patterns and colors, with each set tied to a specific biochemical activity in the communication network.

We all know the thin disc of pigmented tissue that gives our eyes their distinct colors – the IRIS. Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers reported that they have genetically mapped the cell types that make up the mouse iris. The research revealed four new cell types in the iris. They mapped the genetic changes that occur when the iris dilates and provided information about how the iris forms during early development. 

New research published in Advanced Functional Materials by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences suggested that effective wound healing may be aided by replicating a crucial component of our blood which is Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)- a natural healing substance in our blood. This study explored ways of enhancing the wound healing process by extracting PRP from the blood of a patient with a complex skin wound and manipulating it through 3D printing to form an implant for tissue repair which can be used to treat difficult-to-heal skin wounds in a single surgical procedure.