News by Subject Biology

Blood banks around the world are continually in need of type O blood, which can be universally administered in an emergency. Researchers have identified an enzyme that converts A- and B-type blood to O with 30 times more efficiency than previously studied enzymes. The researchers will present their results today at the 256th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

Tooth loss is a significant health issue currently affecting millions of people worldwide. Two articles published in the September 2018 issue of the Journal of Dental Research share recent advances in bioengineering teeth.

Researchers from MIT and the University of Naples Federico II found that fragments of the protein pepsinogen, an enzyme used to digest food in the stomach, can kill bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli. Such peptides could potentially be developed as new antibiotics.

Enzymes perform very specific functions and require only little energy -- which is why the biocatalysts are also of interest to the chemical industry. In a review article published in the journal Nature Reviews Chemistry, biologists from Ruhr-Universität Bochum have provided a summary on what is known about the mechanisms of enzymes in nature. Moreover, the authors outline a future vision: artificial biocatalysts that are not protein-based, as they usually are in nature, but which are rather made from DNA.

An MIT team has developed a system that can pinpoint the location of ingestible implants inside the body using low-power wireless signals.

Scientists report they have successfully developed and tested the world's first ultrathin artificial retina that could vastly improve on existing implantable visualization technology for the blind. The flexible 2-D material-based device could someday restore sight to the millions of people with retinal diseases. The researchers will present their results today at the 256th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.