LED bandage is a personal treatment for skin cancer

Cancer treatment is intense and often results in severe side effects because anti-cancer drugs or radiotherapy can be quite toxic. For skin cancer, scientists discovered that treatment, in some cases, with light can be highly beneficial. Basically, that means skin cancer patients can be treated by prolonged exposure to a big lamp. This concept sparked the interest of some engineers that consequently developed a LED-based device that patients can use to provide themselves with a personal form of treatment.

Functional tractor beam created

A tractor beam is something that most of us will know from science fiction, such as Star Trek or Star Wars. It is classified as a beam that can attract an object from a distance, without a seeming physical connection. It functions pretty much like gravity, but instead it can be aimed at a specific object and drag it towards itself. It seems ludicrous to pursue the development of such a device, but scientists from the University of St Andrews actually managed to make one. That does not immediately mean we can drag star ships from outer space, however: their device works on a microscopic level.

Why the heart is different between men and women

Men and women are different at heart; not figuratively, but literally. It is known that there are functional differences between the physiology of the heart between men and women, This can be observed by looking at the prevalence of certain heart diseases: some are more frequent in men, while others are more frequent in women. Geneticists from the Washington University in St. Louis have found an explanation for such phenomenon.

Injecting proteins and molecules in cells by squeezing

For many diseases the underlying mechanism or pathology can be explained by looking at the behaviour of cells. Because groups of cells form tissues, and tissues form organs and eventually us, effective treatment can in many cases be achieved by making cells healthy again. In order to achieve that, drugs need to find their way into the cell, but that is not always easy. Cells have shells, called membranes, that are very selective in letting molecules pass their borders. A novel technique developed by MIT may help increase the amount of molecules that can pass the cellular membrane. As it turns out, squeezing them does the trick.

Scientists find entirely new DNA structure

All life forms on earth are based on DNA, the building blocks that hold the information that cells need to produce the necessary proteins to keep themselves alive and functional. In 1953, scientists finally elucidated the structure of the DNA, that became henceforth known as the double helix structure. Basically, it looks like two spiralling and entwining staircases that are made up of four different building blocks. All DNA that we know pretty much looks like a double helix, but now it appears that there may also be something now known as a quadruple helix. This discovery regarding a fundamental new structure of the DNA begs the question what kind of hidden information we have yet to discover in our genetic code.

Loneliness harms our ability to fight off infections

Scientists have found a relationship between being lonely and the performance of the immune system. It was already known that factors such as stress negatively influence the body's ability to keep itself safe from introducing bacteria and viruses, but it is peculiar that a lack of social contact has a similar effect. Nevertheless this may be one of the factors that explains why some people get sick from an infection, while others seem unaffected.

Bacteria help to prevent diabetes

It is true that micro-organisms such as bacteria have a bad image, as they are the cause of various nasty diseases and discomfort. On the other hand, we have discovered that bacteria play an important role in the body: we have more of these microbes than cells in our body, and scientists previously discovered that they help to fight off all kinds of infections, as well as help us with digestion. Now, a study revealed that bacteria that populate our intestine help to prevent diabetes, a rather interesting finding.