Engineers at MIT have studied the simple act of shaving up close, observing how a razor blade can be damaged as it cuts human hair — a material that is 50 times softer than the blade itself.

Increase in awareness and acceptance of personalised medicines is expected to drive the growth of the global therapeutic drug monitoring market, according to market research company Techsci Research.

In a new study, Velia Fowler, PhD, and her lab at The Scripps Research Institute report that a protein called myosin IIA contracts to give red blood cells their distinctive shape. The findings, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could shed light on sickle cell diseases and other disorders where red blood cells are deformed.

Scientists at the University of Portsmouth have engineered an enzyme which can digest some of our most commonly polluting plastics. The discovery could result in a recycling solution for millions of tonnes of plastic bottles, made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which currently persists for hundreds of years in the environment.

Today's laboratory infrastructures are made up of many highly specialised devices from a wide range of manufacturers. To simplify the workflow in laboratories, OPC Foundation and the industry associations Spectaris and VDMA announced the new “Laboratory Agnostic Device Standard (LADS) based on OPC UA” as a “Joint Working Group” (JWG).

With this acquisition, Sanofi aims to further strengthen its core R&D areas of autoimmune and allergic diseases. The move will also provide full control of the brain-penetrant BTK inhibitor SAR442168 in multiple sclerosis which is expected to make commercialisation more efficient and eliminate royalty payments in the future.

Agilent Technologies and Biotek Instruments announced a new, integrated solution that combines cellular metabolic analysis and imaging technologies.

A unique nanocluster of copper atoms created by Kaust researchers could serve as a roadmap to guide the design of new catalysts and imaging agents.

Under the newly proposed regulations, a single-window system will be created to accelerate the approval of new drugs. A Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation will also be established to reduce the approval time.

Supporting the development of a circular economy, scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore have developed an innovative method in which new batteries are created by making use of fruit peel waste to extract and reuse precious metals from old batteries.