New Atlas

Medical Audio available

A non-invasive test for early detection and monitoring of bowel diseases

Matt Kennedy July 2, 2019

A team of researchers in Poland has proposed a novel, non-invasive test for screening and monitoring gut diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The technique uses a tiny blood / stool sample to determine gut permeability, a key marker of these diseases.

A new, non-invasive test for bowel diseases looks for signs of "leaky gut" in blood and ...

Science

Deadly rinderpest virus samples destroyed to prevent future outbreaks

David Szondy June 17, 2019

The Pirbright Institute has revealed it destroyed the largest remaining stock of rinderpest virus. The destruction of one of a handful of laboratory samples of the deadly cattle virus was carried out under a program to prevent any future outbreaks of the disease by eliminating it entirely.

Rinderpest virus is the most lethal cattle disease ever known

Medical

Exploiting a newly-discovered weakness in the cold virus opens new antiviral avenue

Michael Irving June 11, 2019

Researchers have uncovered a new weakness that could be exploited to produce new antiviral drugs. The team discovered a compound that can prevent certain classes of viruses from infecting cells, paving the way for new treatments against diseases like the common cold, meningitis or polio.

Finding the Achilles' Heel of the cold virus could lead to new antiviral drugs

Health & Wellbeing Audio available

App diagnoses children's illnesses, based on their cough

Ben Coxworth June 6, 2019

If your child has a persistent cough, it goes without saying that you should check to see if it's anything serious. Taking them to the doctor is the best bet, but an experimental new cough-analyzing smartphone app could help in situations where that isn't possible.

The app has so far been trained to recognize pneumonia, croup, asthma, bronchiolitis, and general lower ...

Medical Audio available

Human drug trials explore strange link between gum disease bacteria and Alzheimers

Rich Haridy January 23, 2019

A provocative new study is suggesting the same bacteria responsible for gum disease is also the primary pathogenic cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Not only that, but a new drug developed to inhibit these bacterial toxins and treat Alzheimer’s is moving into major human clinical trials later this year.

There is a hypothesis that the bacteria that causes gum disease can travel into the brain ...

Medical Audio available

New fecal transplant technique successfully treats inflammatory bowel disease

Rich Haridy January 16, 2019

A new Australian trial has revealed significant success in fecal transplants treating ulcerative colitis, pioneering a new stool processing technique suggested to enhance the therapeutic effect of the treatment.

Researchers have developed a new technique that produces fecal transplant samples without exposing the feces to ...

Medical Audio available

Malaria spit-test promises detection up to a week before symptoms appear

Rich Haridy January 6, 2019

A team of researchers have revealed an innovative new salvia test that promises to quickly and cheaply screen for the presence of malaria parasites up to a week before any symptoms appear.

It's hoped a new saliva test that offers early detection of malaria will reach the market ...

Biology Audio available

Pigs genetically-engineered to resist deadly swine virus

Michael Irving December 16, 2018

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) is a highly infectious and deadly disease among pigs, with outbreaks leading to huge livestock losses. Now, researchers from Jilin University in China have genetically modified pigs to be resistant to the virus, which will also pass that down to their offspring.

Chinese researchers have genetically engineered pigs to be resistant to a widespread and deadly virus

Science Audio available

New study suggests Alzheimer's is not one disease but six different conditions

Rich Haridy December 5, 2018

A large team of researchers has developed a new way to classify patients with Alzheimer’s disease suggesting we should think of the disease as six distinctly different conditions instead of one single disease.

Based on a new study, researchers are aiming to reclassify Alzheimer's disease into a set of ...

Medical

Do certain essential oils have antibiotic properties?

Michael Irving December 4, 2018

Essential oils are most commonly associated with aromatherapy and other alternative “medicines." Now a team at Johns Hopkins has found that some essential oils may have antibiotic properties, particularly against a persisting form of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

Researchers have found that some essential oils, such as garlic, may have antibiotic properties