Two SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies have been replicated at the ENEA Casaccia Research Center (Rome) at reduced cost and time compared to conventional methods, using a wild species of tobacco plant as a “biofactory” (Nicotiana benthamiana) by a team comprising ENEA, Cnr and Fondazione Toscana Life Sciences (TLS). The findings were...
Author Archives: MSIC
A new light for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
A study by a team of researchers from the Biomolecular Chemistry Institute of the National Research Council of Italy (Cnr-Icb) published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine reveals that the intestinal microbiota and its relationship with endocannabinoids are important players in counteracting inflammatory and muscle-degenerative processes such as those characterizing...
A smart therapy to “switch off” tumors
Reducing the growth of tumors through RNA molecules that can control genetic alterations in diseased cells and correct their defects: this is the result of an international study in which Italy also participated with three research institutes of the National Research Council of Italy Reducing the growth of tumors...
ENEA develops portable laser system for food fraud detection
FoodSensor is a portable laser device based on a traffic light system developed at ENEA to rapidly detect food adulteration “Safe, simple to use even by non-expert personnel, it can be carried in a hand case. To detect food adulteration, is enough to put a small sample into the device...
Gold nanoparticles to save neurons from cell death
Important perspectives for treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease, but also epilepsy, brain trauma and stroke. Gold nanoparticles have been developed in the laboratory in order to reduce the cell death of neurons exposed to overexcitement. The study, published in the ACS Nano journal of the...
The first self-powered Edible Defrosting Sensor for safer food supply chains
Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) have developed the first self-powered defrosting sensor that may be used in future to detect improper freezing of food while the sensor is placed on it. The sensor is fully edible, as it exploits the inherent electronic properties of commonly...
Early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases will pass through RNA
Researchers from the Neurobiology of miRNA team coordinated by Davide De Pietri Tonelli at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology) has discovered the correlation between a class of small RNA molecules, piRNAs, and brain inflammation. The study lays the groundwork for the development of new diagnostic technologies...
Human-like features in robot behaviour: response time variability can be perceived as human-like
Humans behave and act in a way that other humans can recognize as human-like. If humanness has specific features, is it possible to replicate these features on a machine like a robot? Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) tried to answer that question by implementing a...
Genetic cut and paste at atomic resolution for future therapeutics
Computer simulations and X-ray protein crystallography worked together to reveal insight into the mechanism of gene splicing. Researchers at IIT in Genova, led by Marco De Vivo (De Vivo lab), and EMBL in Grenoble, led by Marco Marcia (Marcia group), have obtained some of the most detailed ever snapshots of...
“STAR ITALIA ACCELERATOR”, more Italian technological enterprises in the USA is born
De Furia: we are the ideal partners for access to the American market for Startups and Innovative SMEs Star Italia Accelerator, the new Accelerator for Startups and Innovative SMEs, 100% under the management of De Furia Group is born with the aim of creating qualified access to the U.S....