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Nestlé is buying the biotech firm that makes drugs against peanut allergy. The Swiss multinational conglomerate Nestlé shells out $2.6 billion to acquire an American biotech company that produces drugs against peanut allergy. This move comes in an attempt for the food and drinks giant to take the lead in preventing and treating food allergy. Nestlé + Aimmune Therapeutics Nestlé sets to buy Aimmune Therapeutics, a biotech firm based in California. Aimmune has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its drug that boosts immunity against peanuts. The Palforzia was approved in January, which was supposed to…

COVID-19 and the looming climate crisis threaten global businesses. The pandemic alone has caused companies to close down branches in several countries. For good measure, several states have also banned international travel. With climate change on the horizon, businesses won’t return to normal right away. Thankfully, Dr. Maher Abdelsamie has proposed one solution. He wants to use the blockchain to address the climate emergency. In February 2020, Dr. Abdelsamie has filed another patent for an environmental credit scoring system. Backed by the blockchain, his system promises to help online and offline product and service providers, individuals, Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) experts,…

As COVID-19 remains a mystery to science, researchers have found that the virus affects each person differently including vaccines. Moreover, the different COVID-19 effects could be related to a person’s vaccine history.  The Journey to a COVID-19 Vaccine Experts from the Mayo Clinic suggested that previous vaccines could reduce the risk of getting COVID-19. If you’ve gotten dosed for pneumonia, hepatitis, and others, you lower the risk of getting COVID-19. Dr. Andrew Badley repeated this finding to CNN on Monday. Dr. Badley is an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic. Moreover, Dr. Badley says immune training could result in…

With COVID-19 and other issues affecting people right now, we need to take care of our mental health. Keeping your health in the pandemic also means preserving your mental health. Now, Canadian researchers have made an app that can track your mental health using your user data. The New Mental Health App from Dalhousie University Research Gizmodo reports that Canadian researchers from Dalhousie University made the app, called PROSIT. People can download the mental health app on their phones. Once on your phone, it tracks your usage and data to keep tabs on your psyche. According to CBC News, PROSIT…

Burger King, one of the more popular hamburger establishments in the country, announced that it is already making a move to help in the combat against climate change. The company, in its partnership with experts, plans to reduce the methane being emitted by cows by modifying their diets. Cutting down cow farts The move to minimize the methane released by the cows, or simply known to be ‘cow farts,’ is accompanied by adding 100 grams of lemongrass to their cattle’s low carb food intake. Burger King says that with their initial study, they have lowered the amount of methane that…

There is a glimmer of hope in the search for a COVID-19 vaccine. After Phase 1, Moderna’s trial vaccine scored promising results. It triggered immune responses in all the volunteers injected with it. These results give scientists hope in creating drugs to combat the pandemic. As the US becomes the COVID epicenter, these results provide solace to its citizens. Currently, the US has over 3 million cases, with 136,000 deaths. Florida, Texas, and California also account for one-fifth of the global numbers. How Does Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Work? CNN reports that Moderna’s vaccine triggered immune responses from all subjects. The…

In a boost to the growing Indian market, Google said it is planning to invest $10 billion. This plan would allow more Indian consumers to use the internet. Indians who live in rural areas can do so. More than 500 million Indians are already online. Now, tech companies are racing to bring the internet to everybody else. Google Announces Investment At its annual Google for India event, CEO Sundar Pichai announced the investment plan. He also said the money would allow Indians to access low-cost internet. Pichai hoped that this investment could inspire future Indian entrepreneurs. CNN reports the Google…

An Italian study suggested Thursday that pregnant moms could pass COVID-19 to their fetuses. The researchers studied 31 mothers who had given birth in March and April. After analysis, they found traces of coronavirus in their blood and breast milk. They had taken blood from the mothers’ umbilical cord and placenta.  Pregnant Women Shouldn’t Panic  This new study adds to mounting evidence on spreading the virus to fetuses. However, researchers advise women not to panic. In a report to MSNBC, study leader Dr. Claudio Fenizia said it was too early to change care guidelines. Dr. Fenizia is an immunology specialist…

UCLA bioengineers have designed a glove-like device that can translate American Sign Language into English speech in real-time through a smartphone app. This research is published in the journal Nature Electronics. “Our hope is that this opens up an easy way for people who use sign language to communicate directly with non-signers without needing someone else to translate for them,” said Jun Chen, an assistant professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the principal investigator on the research. “In addition, we hope it can help more people learn sign language themselves.” The system includes a pair…

Powdered sugar is the special ingredient in a Rice University recipe for mimicking the body’s intricate, branching blood vessels in lab-grown tissues. In research published today in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, Rice bioengineers showed they could keep densely packed cells alive for two weeks in relatively large constructs by creating complex blood vessel networks from templates of 3D-printed sugar. “One of the biggest hurdles to engineering clinically relevant tissues is packing a large tissue structure with hundreds of millions of living cells,” said study lead author Ian Kinstlinger, a bioengineering graduate student in Rice’s Brown School of Engineering. “Delivering enough…