News by Subject Medicine & Health

The findings, described in a study published in PLOS Genetics, expand on the complex role of a region of the genome of Wolbachia called Octomom, which is known to regulate its growth inside the host. And bring to light a paradox. If Octomom is deleted, Wolbachia grows uncontrolled inside the host. If amplified, with extra copies, it also grows uncontrolled. Both absence and excess lead to the same observable characteristic.

Wild fruits from Southern Africa show good potential to supplement diets with the building blocks of protein. Researchers from the University of Johannesburg studied 14 species. Two of the fruits contain several essential amino acids. All exceed the RDA for lysine. People can only obtain lysine from their food or supplements. Healthy development in children requires lysine. Maintaining a robust immune function also needs it, especially against viruses.

An international team including Lancaster University researchers has created a strategy for understanding the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the African continent. Their COVID-19 surveillance strategy will improve the ability of African countries to interpret the complex data available to them during the pandemic.

New method provides information on spatial heat distribution in a wound to accurately predict whether VLUs will heal. The clinical study is the first to investigate textural analysis on VLUs using thermal images that do not require physical contact with the wound.

Two U.S. Phase 1 clinical trials of a novel candidate malaria vaccine have found that the regimen conferred unprecedentedly high levels of durable protection when volunteers were later exposed to disease-causing malaria parasites. The vaccine combines live parasites with either of two widely used antimalarial drugs -- an approach termed chemoprophylaxis vaccination. A Phase 2 clinical trial of the vaccine is now underway in Mali, a malaria-endemic country.