A team of Indian researchers from the National Centre for Cell Science led by Dr. Amitabha Majumdar has been examining the HTT gene in fruit flies in order to understand the huntington disease in humans. The study revealed that the pathogenic Huntingtin protein causes a decrease in the overall protein production in cells.

Researchers at Osaka University are helping to power portable sensors that do not use batteries by generating electricity from heat that is otherwise wasted.

Tohoku University researchers in Japan have uncovered a molecular link between some trans fats and a variety of disorders, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Their findings, published in the journal Science Reports, implicate their role in enhancing a mitochondrial signalling pathway that leads to programmed cell death.

An extensive Nordic research project has looked at microplastics in marine bivalves from 100 sites spread throughout much of the Nordic waters. The study showed that microplastics were found in 4 of the 5 bivalve species investigated, and that there was a huge variation in the occurrence and type of microplastics.

MIT engineers have developed a way to closely track how plants respond to stresses such as injury, infection, and light damage, using sensors made of carbon nanotubes. These sensors can be embedded in plant leaves, where they report on hydrogen peroxide signaling waves.

Much better treatment options now exist for many illnesses compared to what was available ten years ago. Their effectiveness depends, however, on early detection. Laboratory diagnostics create a highly dynamic bond between scientific progress and medical applications.

HKU biomedical engineers have achieved a significant breakthrough in neuroimaging by using a novel high-speed microscope to capture brain neuroactivities.

Researchers at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, the Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz University of Technology in Austria and the Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau in France have developed a production method to synthesise high-quality copper oxide microcrystals for quantum photonics as the material is capable of leading to new schemes for quantum information processing with light in the solid state.

With the help of synchrotron X-rays, Swedish and Canadian researchers succeeded in taking a close look inside the human ear three-dimensionally. The study can provide an explanation for why it is so effective to treat deafness in people with cochlear implants (CI).

By applying their own microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology, Hamamatsu Photonics has developed a palm-sized “Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) engine C15511-01”.