Drill into drug-resistant bacteria
Scientists in the US say they have developed molecules to drill holes into antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Their nanomachines were activated by light and found to increase the susceptibility of drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae to meropenem.
Antibiotic firms falter
In late December 2019, US antibiotic maker Melinta was forced into bankruptcy.
A new antibiotic for C. difficile threat
A new antibiotic holds promise for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs). Phase 2 clinical trials by UK drug discovery company Summit Therapeutics show the antibiotic ridinilazole significantly outperforms the current treatment: vancomycin.
Business digest
UK life science company Abcam, headquartered in Cambridge, and University College London spinout SomaServe have joined forces to commercialise the latter’s polymer-based ‘bioic’ nanoparticles which can carry a range of products to live cells.
Phosphate Threat
Maria Burke reports on the warning that the world faces an ‘imminent crisis’ in phosphate availability, a critical fertiliser that underpins the world’s food supply
High Steaks
Imagine being able to eat a juicy burger, while knowing that no animals were harmed in its production. That vision may soon be a reality, thanks to a range of companies growing meat in a lab, Jasmin Fox Skelly reports
European Market for PP Compounds
European demand for polypropylene (PP) compounds has stalled since the middle of 2018; caused by mounting issues in the automotive industry.
Hotting up
Many observers believe that industry is making the running in terms of combatting climate change.
Biomedical
A cyanine dye that binds a subset of CSCS - The last paper highlighted in the Biomedical section in December 2019 (C&I, 2019, 11, 43) described a peptoid derivative that binds a sub-set of cancer stem cells (CSCs), apparently via the plectin protein (Science Reports, 2019, 9, 14954).