articles

Imagine a world where allergies, asthma and related chronic diseases are rare. Better yet, imagine a world where these conditions can be prevented before they develop.

A powerful new database being created by SFU genomics and bioinformatics researcher Fiona Brinkman and her team will help Canadian researchers make that world a reality.

Injecting minute amounts of two immune-stimulating agents directly into solid tumors in mice can eliminate all traces of cancer in the animals, including distant, untreated metastases, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Like many engineers, Ravi Selvaganapathy, McMaster’s Canada Research Chair in Biomicrofluidics, enjoys a challenge – the thornier, the better. His work focuses on developing small machines and tools (the “micro” in “biomicrofluidics”) and using them to improve medicine, biology and human health (the “bio”).

His latest project is about as thorny as it gets: a three-year, $1.8 million project funded by the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Water futures project to develop water sensors that can be used in resource-poor areas.

A previously unrecognized source of nitrogen oxide is contributing up to about 40 percent of the NOx emissions in California, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis. The study traces the emissions to fertilized soils in the Central Valley region.

Two viruses closely related to Zika – West Nile and Powassan – can spread from an infected pregnant mouse to her fetuses, causing brain damage and fetal death, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings suggest that Zika may not be unique in its ability to cause miscarriages and birth defects.