New hope in the fight against RSV

Researchers discover promising drug candidate

13-Feb-2024 - The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes severe lower respiratory tract infections, particularly in young children. To date, there is neither an antiviral therapy against the virus nor a vaccination for children. This is why researchers led by Thomas Pietschmann at TWINCORE, a joint ...

Computer-engineered DNA to study cell identities

“We can follow with our eyes the color in a petri dish when we give a treatment”

12-Feb-2024 - A new computer program allows scientists to design synthetic DNA segments that indicate, in real time, the state of cells. Reported by the Gargiulo lab in “Nature Communications”, it will be used to screen for anti-cancer or viral infections drugs, or to improve gene and cell-based ...

DESY X-ray lightsource identifies promising candidates for COVID drugs

Existing active substances bind to key virus protein

07-Apr-2021 - A team of researchers has identified several candidates for drugs against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 at DESY´s high-brilliance X-ray lightsource PETRA III. They bind to an important protein of the virus and could thus be the basis for a drug against Covid-19. In a so-called X-ray screening, the ...

Virtual screening for active substances against the coronavirus

11-Mar-2020 - The University of Basel is part of the global search for a drug to fight the rampant coronavirus. Researchers in the Computational Pharmacy group have so far virtually tested almost 700 million substances, targeting a specific site on the virus – with the aim of inhibiting its multiplication. Due ...

Learning from Nature’s Bounty: New Libraries for Drug discovery

12-Jun-2019 - Natural products, or their close derivatives, make some of our most potent medicines, among which macrocycles with their large carbon-rich ring systems are one class. The size and complexity of macrocycles has made it difficult to emulate and build on Nature’s success in the laboratory. By ...

Utilizing CRISPR for better antibiotics

Drug screening with Mobile-CRISPRi

15-Jan-2019 - A University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher and his collaborators at the University of California, San Francisco have repurposed the gene-editing tool CRISPR to study which genes are targeted by particular antibiotics, providing clues on how to improve existing antibiotics or develop new ...

Fast, convenient & standardized: New lab innovation for automated tissue engineering & drug testing

15-Sep-2017 - MBM ScienceBridge GmbH successfully negotiated a license agreement between University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) and the biotech company Tissue Systems Holding GmbH about commercial use of a multi-well tissue plate for automated and reliable tissue engineering & drug testing. This lab ...