diamonds: now everyone’s best friend

It appears as though the world of science has been conspiring to keep me from fulfilling your need for continual updates into current news stories, but I have fought against all odds to make it back to you with a new post.  My apologies for the delay since my last piece – I’ve been making big strides in my own work, spending long hours in the lab, yada yada yada.  The important thing is I’m back now, and your cravings may be satiated.  Let’s get on with it….

When it comes to diamonds, obviously bigger is better.  Unless of course, you are my wife, in which case I hope simple, elegant beauty will suffice for now.  In the world of medicine, however, it appears as though microscopic gems are the stone of choice.  Work led by Dr. Dean Ho of Northwestern University, published in Science Translational Medicine in March, shows the effectiveness of conjugating drugs with nanodiamonds to combat chemotherapy drug resistance in tumors.

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dangerous bacteria rely on being “green” as well

Skin infections? Nausea, vomiting dehydration? Fever, chills, low blood pressure? Toxic shock syndrome?  Perhaps you should send your thanks to the Staphylococcus family of bacteria.  I’m sure you’re all aware of the dreaded staph infection, which could lead to the aforementioned skin lesions, food poisoning, or a range of other problems.  In fact, staph bugs are responsible for more deaths per year in the United States than HIV/AIDS.  They are highly resilient little bugs that rapidly acquire antibiotic resistance, thus causing tremendous problems in hospitals throughout.

As you no doubt have heard, antibiotic resistance is a major hurdle that the field is working to tackle.  Luckily, we have work being done like this recent study published in PLoS Pathogens that aims to combat this bug head on.  It seems we may have a powerful new antibiotic that targets the bacteria’s ability to….recycle. Continue reading