February 2022

Garden soil houses a variety of bacteria and their natural byproducts - including one that may help halt tumor growth. Lankacidins are molecules that can be isolated from Strepomyces rochei, a common bacterium in soil. In addition to antimicrobial properties, a type of lankacidins, called lankacidin C, can inhibit tumor activity in various cancer cell lines, including leukemia, melanoma, ovarian and breast cancers.

Disease models play a major role in Covid-19 research since they allow the study of disease mechanisms or the development of effective and safe vaccines and treatments. In the search for ever better tools, a research group led by Sylvia Knapp at MedUni Vienna has developed a new Covid-19 mouse model, which was recently published in the journal eLife.

Valneva SE a specialty vaccine company, today announced the initiation of a Phase 3 trial in adolescents for its single-shot chikungunya vaccine candidate, VLA1553.