The ultimate vision is pretty fantastical: A variety of synthetically engineered bacteria working together to diagnose – and even secrete proteins to treat – various inflammatory conditions or other immune-associated diseases. But researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School have taken another step along the path toward that goal.

Scientists from the University of Cambridge have reported that a high proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains were resistant to penicillin-class antibiotics, the beta-lactams, when they were treated with a combination of penicillins and beta-lactamase inhibitors. 

A research team at the University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, is moving forward with the development of a vaccine against tauopathies, a neurodegenerative class of diseases that includes Alzheimer's disease, but while promising in the lab, it could take a decade to get an actual vaccine to market.

A fast response with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for cardiac arrest victims can save their lives, but older adults often are alone in their home or a bedroom when symptoms strike. Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed a machine learning-based system that listens to ambient audio via dedicated smart speakers or smartphones for agonal breathing, the distinctive sound that a person in cardiac arrest makes.

HONG KONG – The complexity of interactions between the interleukin-17 (IL-17) family of receptors and ligands has been elucidated in a Chinese study, which may lead to development of specific targeting strategies for treating IL-17-related autoimmune inflammatory diseases, notably psoriasis.