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In ancient China crabs were smashed open and thrust into wounds in battles because chitosan is antimicrobial, meaning it heals and kills bacteria.
Read moreNatural products play an invaluable role as a starting point in the drug discovery process, and plants and animals use many interesting biologically active natural products as a chemical defense mechanism against predators.
Read moreThe British Heart Foundation is to begin a major new research programme to find a cure for heart failure, a condition affecting 750,000 UK people.
Read moreWhile many inflammatory conditions can be effectively treated, for example with steroids, these drugs can often cause unwanted side effects. But scientists at King’s College London think starfish could offer a better solution.
Read moreNew research from the UK has discovered that tunicates, an ancient sea species dating back nearly five hundred million years, possess incredible regeneration properties.
Read moreAlthough it is quite a detailed chemical process, the potential applications are very interesting.
Hopes that shark cartilage would prove to be a useful treatment for cancer were not borne out in one of the most rigorously designed and executed studies of an alternative therapy ever conducted.
Read moreAccording to San Diego biology professor Bob Zeller, the invertebrate that grows on boat hulls and dock pilings shares a protein with humans leads to the development of plaques, the brain irregularities that are linked to Alzheimer's disease.
Read moreResearchers believe this quality could be harnessed to help slow the spread of diseases such as cancer.
Potentially, it could lead to a new generation of drug treatments.
The Australian team found that shark antibodies can withstand high temperatures as well as extremely acidic or alkaline conditions.
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