Labworx

Over the last few centuries, the rapid acceleration of urbanisation has meant that today, over half of the global population lives in a city. What’s more, that percentage is expected to grow to more than two-thirds by 2050, meaning cities will become where a significant majority of humans live and work.

But as well as displacing the countryside as the primary human habitat, cities could also...

According to recent research conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region suffers the third highest incidence of foodborne infections per capita. It is behind only Africa and South East Asia in terms of its food-disease burden.

Nonetheless, there is a staggering lack of information about the risk factors associated with commonplace pathogen...

Scientists at NYU Abu Dhabi have made history by deploying nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to determine the structure of a nanobody. It’s the first time that such a technique has been used for such a purpose in the UAE and offers significant advantages over previously favoured methods such as X-ray or electron microscopy.

The nanobody in question, Nb23, is a small protein which is only foun...

Researchers from the UAE have discovered that the presence of certain bacteria in the gut may lessen the severity of Covid-19 symptoms in sufferers. Carried out as part of a collaboration between the Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi and the University of Sharjah, the study builds upon previous work linking the composition of the gut microbiome and coronavirus intensity....

A recent spate of salmonella infections in the UK has grabbed headlines of late, with one product on sale in the UAE being recalled by distributors as a result. Although no cases of salmonella linked with the company have yet been recorded in the Emirates or indeed the wider Gulf region, the move is a precautionary measure.

Nonetheless, it should be recognised that salmonella is one of the m...

Almost 30 months after the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the world appears to be finally adjusting to life after Covid. Of course, the development of viable vaccination candidates has been instrumental in bringing the disease under control, with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer playing a key role in the research.

But whereas the lion’s share of research has concentrated on miti...

The Al Jalila Foundation has announced that it will make history next year when it opens the doors to the UAE’s first robotic biobank in Dubai. The Foundation, which is part of the Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum Global Initiatives group, will launch the facility in conjunction with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and the Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Services (MBRU).

The UAE and its populace have enjoyed a positive relationship with British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the two entities are looking to build on that good groundwork through a collaboration which will target one of the biggest killers in the world – cancer.

AstraZeneca are set to offer their expanding array of new and innovative oncology medi...

The Emirati government named the forward-thinking winners of its UAE Innovates 2022 awards last month, with eight projects chosen from among 500 submissions as the most impressive candidates this year. Run by the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation (MBRCGI), the initiative is the largest of its kind.

In its entirety, the event spans the whole of February and encompasses vari...

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has announced the UAE will be supporting diabetes research in the shape of a lucrative grant to the Douglas Melton Laboratory, one of the most prestigious research institutions in the world.

Part of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the Laboratory is at the cutting edge of diabetes research and the influx of cash ...