A seven-year project monitoring illicit drug use in 37 countries via wastewater samples shows that cocaine use was skyrocketing in Europe in 2017 and Australia had a serious problem with methamphetamine.
Read moreHow bacteria live – whether as independent cells or in a communal biofilm – determines the course of their evolution, with implications for drug-resistant infections.
Read moreNeuroscientists say they have developed and tested an agent that reduces the buildup of toxic proteins in animal models of both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and improves cognitive and motor behavior.
Read moreSwapping a single amino acid in a simple bacterial protein changes its structure and function, revealing the effects of complex gene evolution, finds a new study. The study — conducted using E. coli bacteria — can help researchers to better understand the evolution of transporter proteins and their role in drug resistance.
Read moreAs wearable sensors become more prevalent, the need for a material resistant to damage from the stress and strains of the human body's natural movement becomes ever more crucial. To that end, researchers have developed a method of adopting kirigami architectures to help materials become more strain tolerant and more adaptable to movement.
Read moreAntibiotic treatment is known to disrupt the community structure of intestinal microbes — the 500 to 1,000 bacterial species that have a mainly beneficial influence in humans. A study now has tracked this disruption at the level of a strain of microbes replacing another strain of the same species in 30 individuals — all of them young, healthy adults who would be expected to have stable microbial communities.
Read moreScientists have developed a machine-learning algorithm that gleans information from microscope images — allowing for high-throughput epigenetic drug screens that could unlock new treatments for cancer, heart disease, mental illness and more.
Read moreResearchers have developed a faster, cheaper way to coat liquid medication, an invention that could improve how drugs are delivered in the body.
Read moreDespite an overall increase in the number of pharmacies in the U.S. from 2009 to 2015, one in eight pharmacies, or 9,654, had closed during this period. Independent pharmacies in both urban and rural areas were three times more likely to close than chain pharmacies.
Read moreFrench investigators have described development of resistance to one of the last resort therapies used to treat extremely drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. That resistance arose in a single patient over a scant 22 days. They subsequently identified the single nucleotide mutation in P. aeruginosa that caused the resistance.
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