drug resistance Archives

Computational biology: How mathematical modelling can help cure cancer

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Susan Mertins uses computational modelling to build virtual cells and machine learning to develop new approaches to treating cancer.

Understanding how living cells work is difficult due to the number of varied and complex processes occurring in them. This complexity can be elucidated by breaking these processes down into simpler components and focusing on a particular mechanism. One approach to this study is to use mathematical equations – the basis of computational modelling. Dr Susan Mertins, the founder and […]

Chemical synthesis to tackle tuberculosis

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Dr Jeffrey Buter has been researching the chemical biology of the parasite that causes TB to understand how the particular cell wall of Mtb enables it to avoid the immune response of the host

Tuberculosis (TB) – the world’s most deadly bacterial infectious disease – kills around 1.5 million people every year, and its treatment remains challenging. Dr Jeffrey Buter at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, has been researching the chemical biology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the parasite that causes TB. Buter believes that understanding the structure–activity relationship of the components, in particular […]

Exosome microRNAs as liquid biopsies for the monitoring of prostate cancer

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Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a highly aggressive variant of prostate cancer that emerges in response to hormone therapy. Dr Sharanjot Saini and her staff, from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, USA, are studying exosomes – nano-sized vesicles that transfer lipids, proteins, or genetic information between cells. These could be used as a source of biomarkers to […]

The silent pandemic: Addressing antimicrobial resistance

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The WHO aims to raise awareness of a silent pandemic, antimicrobial resistance, which is causing difficulties and reducing the effectiveness of certain drugs especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a silent pandemic that poses a huge threat to global health and development. The World Health Organization and its partner organisations are seeking to raise awareness of the issue. One approach is through annual monitoring of progress through the Tripartite AMR Country Self-Assessment Survey (TrACSS), for which the 2021 results are now available, www.amrcountryprogress.org. While significant […]

AMP-activated kinase as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer

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Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality among men worldwide.

Pharmacological treatment of prostate cancer has advanced significantly in recent years. However, while the newest therapies are initially effective in reducing tumour size, most patients eventually develop drug resistance and the recurrence of malignant spread. Professor Inés Díaz-Laviada and her team at the Alcala University in Madrid, Spain, have demonstrated that long-term treatments may induce the transformation of cancer cells […]

Using a computer to fight malaria: Finding new artemisinin-based combination therapies

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Sporozoite forms of the Plasmodium parasite infect red blood cells.

Malaria still claims the lives of hundreds of thousands of people a year and the World Health Organisation identifies half the world’s population at risk from the disease. Even more worryingly, an increasing number of malaria strains are showing signs of drug resistance to existing treatments. One approach that still seems to be effective is the use of artemisinin-based combination […]