Dynamic Microenvironments: Finding the right cancer therapy
Posted 12th July 2017 by Jane Williams
With so many promising cancer therapies emerging from research labs, a key challenge for biomedical researchers is to develop tools that accurately predict treatment efficacy against a patient’s specific cancer, thereby avoiding subjecting the patient to a trial and error process to find the best drug.
Improving cancer diagnosis in rural Sub-Saharan Africa with digital pathology
Posted 10th July 2017 by Jane Williams
Cancer is now considered a major public health problem in many Sub-Saharan African countries. It is estimated that 650,000 new cases of cancer are registered in Africa annually. The mortality related to cancer is also higher compared to western countries. It is estimated that 510,000 death related to cancer occur annually in Africa.
The Uterine Microbiome as a Biomarker for Endometrial Cancer
Posted 30th June 2017 by Jane Williams
Image credit: Hey Paul Studios, Flickr, licensed under CC BY 2.0
When asked about her team’s biggest success to date, Marina Walther-Antonio, a Mayo Clinic researcher, highlights the recently published study in Genome Medicine, identifying a unique vaginal microbiome for patients with endometrial cancer. This new discovery could lead to a biomarker for early detection and screening for the disease. It has led to similar research projects to study the impact of the microbiome on ovarian cancer.
Cross-Cultural Research into Microbiome Therapeutics for Cancer
Posted 31st March 2017 by Jane Williams
While microbiome therapeutics to support healthy gut function have garnered the lion’s share of attention, exciting approaches to oncology and anti-inflammatory therapeutics presage a new golden age for drug development, akin to the early commercialisation of chemically synthesised antibiotics from soil biofilms in the mid-20th century.
Aflatoxin Binding by Probiotic Bacteria
Posted 22nd March 2017 by Jane Williams
The term ‘probiotic’ comes from the Greek words ‘προ’ and ‘βιοτος’, which mean ‘for life’. In 1953, the ‘probiotic’ term was introduced by Kollath as organic and inorganic supplements necessary to restore health to patients suffering a form of malnutrition resulting from eating too much highly refined food (Hamilton-Miller et al., 2003).
Synthetic Biology and Cancer Treatment: Bottlenecks to Translation
Posted 16th November 2016 by Jane Williams
Karmella Haynes, at the Arizona State University, is one of the first synthetic biologists to engineer chromatin. It is a development that could ultimately treat diseases like cancer, through enabling large-scale changes in gene expression.