News
The Spread and Control of Avian Influenza
Since October 2021, an unprecedented outbreak of avian flu has spread among wild birds, livestock, and has been observed infecting mammals such as foxes and minks. Avian Influenza was first distinguished from other diseases affecting birds, originally identified as fowl plague in 1878 [1]. Avian influenza is caused by the...Read More
Do current COVID-19 vaccines protect against brain damage?
Just as it did three years ago when the pandemic broke out in Wuhan, 2023 has begun with new COVID-19 variants and consequently, more cases. While the new “Kraken” variant is rapidly spreading worldwide, the transmission and mortality rates are not concerning. In fact, the UK has stopped publishing COVID-19...Read More
The Emergence of Monkeypox
Monkeypox was recently declared a public health emergency, having had more than 50,000 cases confirmed worldwide. Monkeypox is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus, that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of central and West Africa. It has comparable symptoms to that of smallpox, but less severe. It enters the host through...Read More
A COVID-19 Vaccine using Modified Bacterial DNA
Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues elsewhere, have described a different way to build a COVID-19 vaccine. Their findings have been published in the July 21, 2022 online issue of PLOS Pathogens. In theory, this experimental vaccine based on altered plasmid DNA, would remain...Read More
Abbexa achieves ISO 9001:2015 accreditation
Best practice recommendation from the auditors Abbexa has successfully achieved its accreditation to ISO 9001:2015 quality standard in recognition of the company’s ongoing focus on quality. Abbexa's Commitment to Quality It has become increasingly important to demonstrate to customers and colleagues, that Abbexa is committed to high quality standards, while having a strong...Read More
Investors in People Accreditation Awarded
Abbexa are delighted to announce that we have been awarded Investors in People standard accreditation for another year! A message from Investors in People Investors in People is delighted to award Abbexa Ltd, a dedicated worldwide life science supplier, We invest in people, standard accreditation.It means principles and practices around supporting people...Read More
American Diabetes Association Alert Day
It is estimated that currently 415 million people are living with diabetes in the world, or 1 in 11 of the world's adult population. An estimated 46% of people with diabetes are undiagnosed. Diabetes mellitus is also the primary causative agent of more than nine other serious health complications, including blindness,...Read More
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021
Asymmetric Organocatalysis The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 was presented to Benjamin List and David MacMillan for their work on asymmetric organocatalysis. Asymmetric organocatalysts are organic compounds which catalyse reactions, with the ability to encourage the production of one enantiomer of compounds with chiral carbons. They also have the added benefits...Read More
Links between COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s Disease
Shared Risk Factors COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s Disease have been found to have many common risk factors including race, age and the presence of medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders. Part of this is likely to be related to genetics, for example the presence of the ApoE E4...Read More
Global Strategic Plan: The Fight Against Rabies Deaths
What is Rabies? Rabies is a zoonotic, viral disease. This affects the central nervous system and causes brain inflammation. In the worst cases, this can also lead to muscle paralysis and respiratory failure. To find out more visit Wildlife Removal. It is most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid...Read More
A Cure for Blindness in Sight?
Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) degeneration contributes to sight loss in approximately 200 million individuals worldwide. RPE is a single-layer epithelium located under the neurosensory retina, and it is essential for vision. Primary roles include the formation of the outer blood-retinal barrier, phagocytosis of shed photoreceptor outer segments (POSs), and the...Read More
Using RNA Vaccines to tackle emerging disease threats
Vaccination has greatly reduced the incidence of infectious diseases, and has revolutionised modern medicine. However, conventional vaccine approaches are not as effective against rapidly evolving pathogens and emerging disease threats. RNA based vaccines could prove effective in these areas, with decreased manufacturing times and greater effectiveness. They are also seen as...Read More
The Stem Cell, the Small Molecule, and the Neurodegenerative Disease
Neurodegenerative diseases are a group of disorders characterised by progressive neuronal cell loss and apoptosis; a key pathological feature of most conditions is the accumulation of misfolded proteins, resulting in neuronal dysfunction. Common diseases include Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and Huntington’s disease (HD). Whilst extensive research over the...Read More
Lab-Grown Sperm to Treat Male Infertility
Problems conceiving a child can be a stressful and emotional experience, and infertility affects approximately 7% of the male population. In recent years, infertility treatments have taken great strides in helping people to conceive, though there is still some way to go. One cause of male infertility stems from problems...Read More
Clinical Trials with Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine
Global efforts to find a suitable vaccine for COVID-19 have increased with urgency in the past few months, as clinical trials have begun all around the world. One of the vaccines currently being trialed is mRNA-1273, an experimental vaccine designed to protect against SARS-CoV-2. This has been found to be...Read More
New understanding of RNA movements can be used in cancer treatment
New findings of an RNA molecule involved in preventing tumor formation may open for new strategies to treat different types of cancer. The molecule can change its structure and thus control protein production in the cell. This research was published from the Karolinska Institutet in Nature.What are microRNA?Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is...Read More
The Search for Therapeutic Agents against COVID-19
The emerging outbreak of COVID-19 continues to spread worldwide. Although the long-term strategy to overcome the pandemic remains focused on the development of a specific vaccine, the virus’ inherent complex nature and ability to mutate has directed research towards more immediate therapeutic treatment. Such approaches intend to interfere with the viral life cycle, including essential...Read More
Wide-Spread Testing for COVID-19: Controlling a Pandemic
Global efforts to delay and control the spread of COVID-19 have increased with an aggressive urgency since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic, on March 11th.The most effective, wide-spread advice to prevent viral transmission is to self-isolate and avoid unnecessary contact with other people. It is...Read More
The Global Fight Against Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emergent virus responsible for the respiratory illness CoronavirusDisease 2019 (COVID-19). First documented in the city of Wuhan (China), it has spread to – at the time of writing – 101 countries and 8 non-independent territories. Worldwide, the total number of...Read More
A cure for the common cold
Researchers have recently become one step closer to finding the cure for the common cold, an infectious disease familiar to us all. It has long been notoriously difficult to cure, costing the US economy roughly $40 billion a year. However, efforts to make human cells (the site of viral reproduction)...Read More
Measles and ‘Immune Amnesia’
How the Immune System Forgets to FightDesigned by kjpargeter / FreepikMeasles is a highly contagious infectious disease, caused by the measles virus (MV). Though it is infamous for its virulence and previously devastating death count, it is perhaps more recently well-known for the impressive global vaccination efforts against it. Unfortunately,...Read More
Refocusing on Leprosy
The Leprosy Dichotomy Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, was once greatly feared throughout history. Biblical references to so-called “lepers” made the disease out to be a curse of uncleanliness, whilst medieval lepers were ostracised and either lived as monks in hermitages or as beggars in the streets. It wasn’t...Read More
The rise of single-domain antibodies in research
We’ve recently been featured in CiteAb’s article on nanobodies- but what are they and how can your research benefit? Nanobodies are an emerging type of immune molecule discovered in camelids; llamas, alpacas, and of course camels. Also known as single-domain antibodies or sdAbs, they were first described in 1989, where an undergraduate...Read More
Bacteria behind gum disease linked to Alzheimer's
The leading cause of death in the UK? Surprisingly to most it is not cancer, nor heart disease, but dementia. Dementia is an umbrella term which describes a collection of symptoms, including impaired cognitive ability, communication difficulties and memory problems. Statistics from the WHO and Dementia Research UK predict an...Read More
Antibody giveaway winner announced
Congratulations Dr Susan Hawthorne at the University of Ulster! Dr Hawthorn is a lecturer in Pharmaceutical Bioscience at Ulster University and course director for their MSci in Pharmaceutical Biosciences. She obtained her PhD in protein chemistry from Queen's University, Belfast, and her previous research examined the role of cell surface receptors...Read More
New research suggests further potential for reversing age related diseases
How do we define ageing? Many suggest that we can attribute age to simple physics and its principles of entropy; a system moving from order to disorder, an inevitable bodily decline over time into dysfunction. Whilst there exists a myriad of tools to halt the appearance of time, these options...Read More
The baceriophage an emerging solution to digestive distress
Two important areas of modern biological interest, antibiotic resistance and gastrointestinal disease, are brought together in the latest clinical research from George Mason University. Presented at Nutrition in June 2018, their study suggests a possible replacement of antibiotic treatment with specifically-targeted bacteriophages for tackling gastro-intestinal disruptions. Bacteriophages allow researchers to directly...Read More
Worlds largest offshore wind farm to be built in the UK
The UK has planned to create the world's largest offshore wind farm. The 1.2-gigawatt wind farm's construction is off the coast of Yorkshire, 74.5 miles into the sea and is expected to be completed by 2020. A project of this scale will greatly benefit the lives of many Britons, supplying power...Read More
Guest Post - The Possible Link Between Alcohol Consumption and Breast Cancer
Today, we share an insightful infographic illustrating the link between developing breast cancer and moderate alcohol consumption. This infographic is by Ruth De Quincey. Ruth is a writer and therapist at Rehab 4 Alcoholism, an alcohol detox clinic London.This infographic graphically presents data published in numerous studies. These studies attempt...Read More
Smart toothbrush designed to detect heart disease
The reason for your next heart check-up at your local GP may come from an unlikely source. Smart toothbrushes are being developed which could provide regular updates on your heart health in the future.A device like this could impact millions of people's health in a positive way. It would take...Read More
Male contraceptive treatment on the horizon
The female contraceptive pill is over 60 years old. It was approved by the FDA in 1960 as the first birth control of its kind preventing millions of unwanted births since its creation. In this time there has been little advancements for male contraception, leaving the sole responsibility to the...Read More
Costa Rica goes 300 days on renewable energy
The small nation of Costa Rica has broken a record for the number of days 100% dependant on renewable energies. In 2015, the country which is home to under 5 million people, set a record for 299 days using only renewable energy sources to power the country. 2 years later,...Read More
Trial for a personalised cancer vaccine has started
Cancer vaccines are one of the most exciting forms of immunotherapy treatment. Typically, cancer vaccines have dependent on identifying common exo-antigens present on a few types of cancers. This limited their usage for patient's treatment. Moderna Therapeutics is taking advantage of gene sequencing technology to scan cancer tissue samples and...Read More
Scientists discover way to rejuvenate old cells
The human lifespan has almost doubled in the last 100 years. Technological and medical advancements have improved the care we receive when we grow older and stops us dying earlier from now preventable diseases. However, there has been a shift in research from increasing human lifespan to increasing our health...Read More
Scotland to be one hundred percent renewable by 2020
In a revolution of renewable energies, Scotland is leading by example. The country with windy hills and valleys is putting all that potential energy to good use. Scotland currently has 750 wind farms, amassing 3,000 individual turbines, 72% of its overall renewable energy capacity, which is more than enough to...Read More
Climate change has damaging effects on humans
A worrying report published by The Lancet Countdown has highlighted the devastating effects climate change is having on human health and wellbeing of the population. The report includes all the ways climate change is influencing malnutrition, heatwaves, and natural disasters. Billions of people are already affected by climate change and...Read More
Molecule could kill any cancer cell
Researchers have found RNA molecules in our bodies capable of flicking on a kill switch in cancer cells. Lead study author Marcus Peter said in a statement published via the Northwestern University website, “It’s like committing suicide by stabbing yourself, shooting yourself and jumping off a building all at the...Read More
Functional cure discovered for HIV
The HIV virus poses a difficult challenge for researchers and scientists worldwide. Only once in history was someone cured completely of the virus but unfortunately, we do not have the complete understanding of how.However, a new study published this week offers a functional cure for the disease from a new...Read More
Sugar accelerates cancers growth
A new study has proven that sugar and cancer go hand in hand. The 9-year long research confirms that sugar helps cancers grow at a much faster rate than normal cells but fortunately we have discovered the gene responsible for this. The Warburg effect is the name given to the...Read More
Deep-sea wind farm the size of India could provide the worlds energy needs
Two researchers have calculated that the world could be powered by an off-shore wind farm in the North Atlantic Sea. The deep-sea wind farm would span across the North Atlantic and would provide energy to the entire planet with a continual source of energy. The pair of researchers estimates that...Read More
Antibody kills 99 percent of HIV strains
An antibody is capable of killing 99% of all HIV strains. The study involved a tri-specific antibody consisting of 3 broadly neutralising antibodies.Broadly neutralising antibodies are effective at attacking HIV and are considered vital in the fight against HIV. Those infected with the virus can have several strains of it...Read More
Protein causes cancer cells to commit suicide
A new novel treatment against acute myeloid leukaemia has caused cancer cells to self-destruct, leaving healthy cells completely untouched. The process of programmed cell death is called apoptosis.For many reasons, a cell may need to die in order to protect the body. In these circumstances, a protein called BAX or...Read More
Immunotherapy drug available on the NHS
An immunotherapy drug has been made immediately available to NHS patients in England.Nivolumab has been proven to extend the lives of patients with certain cancers such as advanced squamous and non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. This approval will mean around 1,300 people will now be able to access this drug.Nivolumab...Read More
Gold nanoparticles and immunotherapy provide surprising results
Two approaches that kill cancer have teamed up to become an effective duo. Gold nanostars and immunotherapy are being used together in an effort to provide a non-invasive cancer treatment which has produced an unexpectedly pleasant result. Photothermal thermal therapy uses tiny, gold nano-stars which are inserted into a tumour....Read More
Solar energy is looking bright in Australia
Australia has approved the plan to construct world's biggest solar thermal power plant. Another win for renewable energy. How does solar thermal energy work? Tens of thousands of mirrors track the sun and point towards a receiver on top of a tower to accumulate energy. Molten salt flows through the tower and...Read More
