gels in Biological News

New lab test offers better prediction of HIV microbicide safety

... for six out of ten of those living with HIV. Several microbicide gels have been assessed in clinical trials after passing laboratory and animal ... the microbicides were found to be ineffective against HIV; and two of the gels nonoxynol-9 and cellulose sulfate actually increased the risk of HIV ...

Healing power of aloe vera proves beneficial for teeth and gums, too

... ailments. Recently, aloe vera has gained some popularity as an active ingredient in tooth gel. Similar to its use on skin, the aloe vera in tooth gels is used to cleanse and soothe teeth and gums, and is as effective as toothpaste to fight cavities, according to the May/June 2009 issue of General ...

Home tooth bleaching slightly reduces enamel strength

... gum irritation and tooth sensitivity. Azer said these side effects have been addressed by other products, such as toothpastes and treatment gels designed to lessen sensitivity and irritation. He and colleagues used extracted molars to assemble 65 human tooth samples measuring 4 millimeters ...

Metastatic movements in 3-D

... the authors thus blocked avb3. The treated cells changed their mode of migration from unidirectional to random, and their ability to invade 3D gels increased. The changed behavior correlated with an increase in trafficking of a5b1 from intracellular compartments to anterior membrane protrusions. ...

Hydrogels provide scaffolding for growth of bone cells

... impact people's quality of life," said Washburn, an assistant professor of chemistry and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon. "These gels have great promise in not only regenerating bone, but serving as a gene therapy delivery system." Members of the Washburn lab have been developing ...

GN Netcom Introduces Innovative Noise Blackout Technology

... -- A2DP & DSP technology -- Acoustic Shock Protection -- Up to 5.5 hours of talk time -- 250 hours standby time -- 33 foot range -- 8 ear gels and one ear hook provided for added comfort -- .35 ounces in weight -- Micro USB Charger Connection The Jabra BT530 will be available at retail ...

Getting better with a little help from our 'micro' friends

... suggests that the interplay between various groups of bacteria living in the intestines has profound effects on human health. This notion gels with the so-called "hygiene hypothesis." The hypothesis, first proposed two decades ago, links modern practices like sanitation, vaccination, a ...

Green gel

... chains is achieved exclusively by means of the proteins. Because proteins can be attacked by proteases, enzymes that disintegrate proteins, these gels are biodegradable. The green fluorescence of the protein is pH-dependent. The gel correspondingly also reacts to changes in pH. It only fluoresces in ...

Researchers mimic bacteria to produce magnetic nanoparticles

... and lacked specific crystal morphology. At the suggestion of Ames Lab senior physicist and crystal growth expert Paul Canfield, the team used polymer gels developed by Mallapragada and Balaji Narasimhan, who are both Ames Lab scientists as well as ISU chemical engineers, to slow down the reaction and ...

Videos extract mechanical properties of liquid-gel interfaces

... noise produced a lot of motion at the fluid/gel interface. This motion provided so much useful information that the researchers could determine the gels mechanical propertiesnamely its viscoelasticityat the liquid/gel interface. The encouraging results from this model system show that this new ...

American Chemical Society's Weekly Presspac -- Aug. 29, 2007

... often use solvents and other cleaning agents in a gel formulation, somewhat similar in consistency to gelatin desert. Compared to liquids, gels have less of a tendency to soak deep into the surface of artwork and cause damage. Gels, however, are difficult to remove from painted surfaces and ...

MIT's molecular sieve advances protein research

... and less predictable. Pore sizes in the gels vary, and the process itself is not well ... be improved greatly. "This device can replace gels and give us an ideal physical platform to ... also potentially could be used to replace 2D gels in the process of discovering disease biomarkers, ...

Manchester scientists create new bio-gel for 3D cell culture

... gel. They found that both the properties of the gels formed and the cell response to the gels could be controlled by using different ... received a £630k award from EPSRC to develop the gels further. ...

Study defines effective microbicide design for HIV/AIDS prevention

... emphasize a critical role for the "delivery vehicle," the various polymer gels or creams that carry the active antimicrobial ingredients, in determining ... with other researchers on developing high-performance polymer gels that might provide a more substantial physical barrier to ...

Flu not the only germ threat this time of year

... cared for by workers equipped with packs containing germ-killing hand gels who used the gels regularly. The team also found that RSV was spread to residents mainly ...

Vaginal gel may provide a new approach to HIV prevention

... its cousin, SIV, which infects only monkeys. The Tulane team tested gels containing two small molecules and a peptide -- alone and in combination ... Veazey says. During testing, researchers placed the experimental gels in the animals' vaginas. Thirty minutes later, the animals were exposed to ...

Growing nerve cells in 3-D dramatically affects gene expression

... petri dishes, cells stick to the bottom and spread out as they multiply. But in the body, cells don't grow that way. They are suspended in fluids and gels and surrounded by other cells. And these cells aren't stuck; they move. As a result, some scientists suspect that hothouse cells do not behave ...

Rapid, Low-Cost DNA Testing

... Perhaps more important than the savings in time and money, the new method works to determine single-base mutations in DNA, whereas gels cannot do this without even further processing. Professor Rothbergs concludes, "This could be very important for applications in personalized ...

UCSF study will test new vaginal microbicide for herpes and HIV

... MD, professor of pediatrics at UCSF and lead investigator for the study. The gel is not a contraceptive, but a microbicide. Microbicidal gels or creams are inserted into the vagina solely to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. There are currently no such ...

Unique soybean lines hold promise for producing allergy-free soybeans

... the UI-based collection. Seeds were crushed, treated and placed on a membrane for screening. A second screening using stronger antibodies and protein gels was done to confirm the absence of P34 in the two domestic lines, Joseph said. After the two lines were isolated, seeds were sent to the Danforth ...

Anti-HIV drug has potential to prevent transmission in women

... the participants experienced significant changes in laboratory tests while using the gel. Past safety trials of microbicides showed that certain gels caused ulcerations and inflammation in women that could actually facilitate HIV transmission. The favorable findings of the tenofovir gel's Phase I ...

Young scientists turn to gel to ease side-effects of cancer treatment

... cells compared with healthy cells. A phantom is required to prove the accuracy of these measurements. The team has already supplied samples of the gels to the Princess Royal Hospital in Hull and hope to go into commercial production soon. ...

Hand sanitizer gel works

... published in the April issue of Pediatrics, did observe a protective effect against respiratory illness among families who used hand sanitizer gels at their own initiative. The alcohol-based gels, widely available in stores, do not require water and rapidly kill most bacteria and viruses on ...