REMDII Sensitive helps in healing eczema
Reading Time: 2 minutesBY AZMAN ZAKARIA A group of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) researchers have successfully developed a product to treat skin disorder or eczema without involving the use of steroids and managed to reduce itchiness, flaking and intensively repair despaired skin conditions within just two weeks. The product, a deep moisturising cream – REMDII Sensitive, is formulated […]
Forensic scientists recover human DNA from mosquitos
Reading Time: 2 minutesA Nagoya University research team shows that human blood extracted from mosquitos remains viable for DNA analysis up to two days after feeding. Most people would agree that painful mosquito bites are an especially annoying part of summer. Except perhaps forensic scientists, who can examine human blood from a mosquito’s stomach and match the DNA to […]
Researchers discover new method to control bacteria growth
Reading Time: 2 minutesA team of researchers at Princeton has discovered a new method to control bacterial growth through special coating surfaces that can instruct or prevent bacterial growth. This new technology adopts the natural concept of bacterial growth – a process called quorum sensing whereby microbes release biomolecules that can stop or trigger their growth. Manipulation of […]
Chocolates are more than just a snack treat
Reading Time: 2 minutesA balanced diet is chocolate in both hands – a phrase commonly used to justify ones chocolate snacking behaviour. A phrase now shown to actually harbour some truth, as the cocoa bean is a rich source of flavanols: a class of natural compounds that has neuroprotective effects. In their recent review published in Frontiers in Nutrition, […]
Accessing DNA in the cell’s powerhouse to treat disease
Reading Time: 2 minutesFOR the first time, a synthetic compound has been made that can bind to DNA in the cells’ energy powerhouses, suppressing a gene associated with nerve and muscle disease. Pyrrole-imidazole polyamides (PIPs) are compounds that can read specific DNA sequences inside living cells and silence dis-ease-causing genes. They prevent proteins, called transcription factors, from binding […]
Researchers use crab shells and silver to halt malaria
Reading Time: 2 minutesA four-nation team of scientists from India, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Italy has recently discovered the promising potential of eradicating malaria using silver and crab shells from Taiwan’s northeast coast. The study, published in the journal Hydrobiologia on May 11, described the usage of fine-sized silver mixed with crab shell powder rich in chitosan to […]
Cancer-killing power of plants
Reading Time: 2 minutesFour species of Phyllanthus, herbs commonly found throughout the tropics and subtropics, pose great potential as nontoxic breast cancer treatments. While their therapeutic properties have been reported, a team from the University of Malaya recently investigated specifically how the plants’ extracts combat breast cancer. Phyllanthus is a large family of flowering plants with hundreds of […]
Making biological drug with spider silk protein
Reading Time: 2 minutesSCIENTISTS at Karolinska Insti-tutet in Sweden have managed to produce synthetic lung surfactant using DNA sequence derived from spider silk proteins. Surfactant is a drug used to strengthen the lungs of premature babies by reducing the surface tension in their pulmo-nary alveoli (the structures in the lung that allow for respiration) and allowing them to […]
Impact of global warming on mosquito-borne diseases
Reading Time: 2 minutesAS TEMPERATURES rise with climate change, mosquito season extends past the summer months in many parts of the world. The question has been how this lengthened season influences the risk of being infected with mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika. Now, in a paper published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Stanford researchers modelled […]
Textile Town set to become herbal hub in North Johor
Reading Time: 2 minutesTANGKAK — well known as the Textile Town of Malaysia – owing to the scores of textile merchants and retailers selling fabrics and other cloth products will soon another moniker, perhaps as the country’s Kacip Fatimah Hub. Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila), a herb said to be the ideal tonic for women’s health and wellness is […]