Scientists design molecules “backward” to speed up discovery

Ground-breaking method offers potential for faster creation of pharmaceuticals, materials, and new technologies

26-Jan-2026 - Every medication in your cabinet, every material in your phone’s battery, and virtually every compound that makes modern life work started as a molecular guess, with scientists hypothesizing that a particular arrangement of atoms might do something useful—kill a bacterial infection, store ...

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine sparks immune response to fight cancer

“The implications are extraordinary — this could revolutionize the entire field of oncologic care”

06-Nov-2025 - Patients with advanced lung or skin cancer who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy drugs lived significantly longer than those who did not get the vaccine, researchers have found. The observation by researchers at the University of Florida and the University ...

Groundbreaking AI tool generates 3D map of the brain

It is a detailed view of the brain like never seen before: allowing users to zoom in and out — from all angles, like a Google Earth map

21-Mar-2025 - In a significant technological leap, University of Florida researchers have created a powerful new computational and artificial intelligence tool that can generate a high-resolution 3D map of the brain in mice, allowing users to zoom in and out — from all angles, like a Google Earth map — and ...

Researchers take step toward creating Salmonella vaccine

10-Feb-2025 - Salmonella might seem like a mild inconvenience to some, but for sensitive groups, it can prove dangerous or deadly. In fact, 26,500 people are hospitalized by the bacterial infection each year in the U.S., and 420 people die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In ...

COVID-19 testing method gives results within one second

Superfast, portable COVID-19 testing method detects the virus much faster than currently available methods

20-May-2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear technological innovations were urgently needed to detect, treat, and prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A year and a half into this epidemic, waves of successive outbreaks and the dire need for new medical solutions -- especially testing -- continue to exist. In the ...

Manganese plays a key role in bacterial infection

25-Sep-2018 - The ability to acquire manganese during infection is essential for the virulence of Enterococcus faecalis in animals, according to a study in PLOS Pathogens by José Lemos of the University of Florida College of Dentistry, and colleagues. Manganese is an essential micronutrient for bacterial ...

A cost-effective way to produce ‘green’ bioherbicide

13-Jul-2018 - Here’s some good news for conventional and organic farmers alike: Researchers at theUniversity of Florida College of Pharmacy have discovered a way to cost-effectively produce the bioherbicide thaxtomins. This means organic farmers can use the natural chemicals to ward off weeds and conventional ...

Existing drug preserves insulin production in new Type 1 diabetes cases

27-Jun-2018 - A drug used to help kidney transplant recipients ward off rejection of their new organs is showing promise in another area: preserving insulin production in newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes patients. A TrialNet study led by University of Florida Health researchers sought to determine whether the ...

Hitchhiking to Kill

Transport of lipid-conjugated floxuridine by natural serum albumin for delivery to cancer cells

22-Jun-2018 - How can elimination of therapeutics from the bloodstream or their early enzymatic degradation be avoided in systemic delivery? Chinese scientists have new developed a method to bind an established cancer therapeutic, floxuridine, with natural serum albumin for its transport and delivery to target ...

New technique could bring earlier diagnoses for muscular dystrophy, ALS and similar disorders

07-May-2018 - A new blood test could reveal the genetic roots of muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other disorders caused by the expansion of DNA repeats, potentially helping doctors diagnose their patients’ conditions sooner. The findings by University of Florida Health researchers and ...