Pharmaceutical

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    Novel Catalyst

    Byscientist

    There are many reactions in biology that are catalyzed by enzymes but there are other reactions in industrial chemistry that use industrial catalysts which have primarily been platinum based. A paper in Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-68432-1 promises a unique shaped catalyst that can split H-H bond and other reactions. It is a unique structure and promises to…

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    Antifungals

    Byscientist

    There are several antifungals in the market and it is difficult to understand how many more are needed since there are quite a few in the market. One major use is for treatment of Athelete’s foot. Fungi contain cell wall made up of beta-1-3-glucan, other glucans and gylcoprotein. Below the cell wall there is a…

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    Biotech companies

    Byscientist

    Small Biotechs: Diagonal Tx: Clustering antibodies that mimic the action of the ligand and bypass the need for the ligand and receptor. This mutation that is created makes standard AI models not useful and so need a new method. This restores new ALK1 signaling in Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia. It also treates LoF mutations in ALK1…

  • Biotech clusters

    Byscientist

    Biotech cluster in Boston/Cambridge Kendall square has become a hub of new Biotech companies. The one developer that has had a major role to play has been David Clem who’s effort has been documented by Robin Wolfe Scheffler – a MIT historian and author of David Clem: Building Genetown. This model is not easy to…

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    Obesity facts

    Byscientist

    Just some highlights to remember 50% of world population is thought to be obesity and thought to be a master switch for a variety of disorders such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver disease and kidney. 30-40% of Diabetics develop chronic kidney diseases and presence of albuminuria raises risk. 38% of adults have MASH with very…

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    Sleep apnea

    Byscientist

    Sleep apnea is when sufferer stops breathing (apnea) at night as the muscles in the throat relax and then resumes when brain semi-awakes when the oxygen supply gets low to restore respiration. This happens tens to hundreds of times at night and can be debilitating when the disruption to sleep causes other health effects such…

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    Schizophrenia drugs

    Byscientist

    Schizophrenia is mental disorder characterized by problems in thinking, perception, emotions and behavior. It requires long term medication to manage symptoms. There are many drugs in the market to treat schizophrenia: Antipsychotics: These block the dopamine D2 receptor, though with side effects such as tremors and tardive dyskinesia. The Atypical antipsychotics affect both the dopamine…

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    Etoposide – from plants and back to plants

    Byscientist

    Etoposide : This is used in chemotherapy to prevent cell division and works by causing mutation in the dividing cell since cancer cells divide more rapidly than a normal cell. It works by binding to the DNA-Topoisomerase complex which causes transient double stranded breaks to help uncoil DNA during cell division. In normal cells, the…