Research & development > Life sciences

Vampire bat venom evades the immune system

21 June, 2013

Scientists led by The University of Queensland’s (UQ’s) Associate Professor Bryan Fry have found that vampire bat venom contains molecules capable of evading the victim’s immune system.


Fluorescent eel lights up the path to assay development

17 June, 2013 by Lauren Davis

Researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, led by Drs Atsushi Miyawaki and Akiko Kumagai, have discovered a fluorescent protein in the Japanese Unagi freshwater eel. Not only is this the first fluorescent protein found in vertebrates, but it could also be used to help save human lives.


People with high IQs process sensory information differently

27 May, 2013

People with high IQ scores aren’t just more intelligent - they also process sensory information differently.


Buchi Encapsulator B-395 Pro

17 May, 2013

The Encapsulator Pro from Buchi is designed for the immobilisation of cells, microbes, enzymes, drugs, flavours and fragrances, vitamins or oils into a wide range of polymers, such as alginate, carrageen, cellulose sulphate, chitosan, gelatine or pectin, as well as waxes.


Cocaine vaccine passes key testing hurdle

15 May, 2013

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have successfully tested their novel anti-cocaine vaccine in primates, bringing them closer to launching human clinical trials.


Great balls of iron: researchers uncover clue to bird navigation

29 April, 2013

Every year, millions of birds make heroic migratory journeys across oceans and continents guided by the Earth’s magnetic field. How they detect those magnetic fields has puzzled scientists for decades.


Discovery of three new molecules opens door for breast, prostate cancer treatments

23 April, 2013

A team of Western Australian cancer researchers interested in the strong link between hormones and cancer have discovered three new molecules that may have an important role to play in future breast and prostate cancer treatments.


Researchers find new way to clear cholesterol from the blood

12 April, 2013

Researchers at the University of Michigan have identified a new potential therapeutic target for lowering cholesterol that could be an alternative or complementary therapy to statins.


Are people really staring at you?

09 April, 2013

People often think that other people are staring at them even when they aren’t, vision scientists have found.


Restoring near vision without glasses

02 April, 2013

For middle-aged patients with presbyopia, wearing OK contact lenses overnight can restore up-close vision in one eye, according to the study by Paul Gifford, PhD, FAAO, and Helen A Swarbrick, PhD, FAAO, of University of New South Wales.


Organ preservation device is not chopped liver

25 March, 2013

In a world first, a donated human liver has been ‘kept alive’ outside a human being and then successfully transplanted into a patient in need of a new liver. The procedure has been performed on two patients on the liver transplant waiting list and both are making excellent recoveries.


New malaria drug could help combat resistance

21 March, 2013

Dr Aaron Nilsen and colleagues have discovered a new drug called ELQ-300 that can target multiple stages of the malaria parasite’s life cycle, including the liver stage, and could dramatically boost the prevention, treatment and transmission of disease.


Lazarus Project to bring extinct frog back to life

20 March, 2013

The genome of an extinct Australian frog has been revived and reactivated by a team of scientists using sophisticated cloning technology to implant a ‘dead’ cell nucleus into a fresh egg from another frog species. The effort has been dubbed ‘the Lazarus Project’.


Insight into how first life forms were ‘born’

07 March, 2013

An international team of physicists has revealed insights into how the very first life forms made the jump from the non-living to the living world by mathematically modelling biological states using energy waves called solitons.


Molecule may hold key to melanoma progression

01 March, 2013

The search for new pathways to treat melanoma has unearthed a molecular target that may play an important activation role in tumour growth, according to University of Newcastle researchers.


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