A group of US scientists from Rockefeller University, have discovered a new family of antibiotics in soil samples, which could be used to combat hard-to-treat infections.

In the study published in Nature Microbiology, the scientists expressed optimism that, the discovery offers fresh hope in the antibiotics arms race.

Tests results show the natural compounds, called malacidins, annihilate several bacterial diseases that have become resistant to most existing antibiotics, including the superbug MRSA.

The Director General of National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Sani Aliyu has warned Nigerians, especially youths, to “love wisely or buy condoms’’ as they prepare to celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day on February 14. Sani gave the advice in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by the Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Toyin Aderibigbe.

Members of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA) have threatened to resume nationwide industrial action if the Federal Government fails to meet their demands. The National Chairman and Secretary of JOHESU, Biobelemoye Joy Josiah Ekpebor Florence respectively made this known on Sunday after a consultative meeting with stakeholders. The duo urged the government to act in the interest of the sector or prepare for a showdown.

University of Colorado Boulder researchers have developed a new type of malleable, self-healing and fully recyclable "electronic skin" that has applications ranging from robotics and prosthetic development to better biomedical devices. Electronic skin, known as e-skin, is a thin, translucent material that can mimic the function and mechanical properties of human skin.

A mobile phone-sized box may help patients detect acute heart failure or cancer, at any time, without any medical assistance. A Chinese research program is trying to make this “family physician” dream come true. Chinese scientists have developed a biosensor based on an optical microfiber coupler (OMC) to identify one ultra sensitive biomarker of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the medical term for a heart attack, which could make detection much easier and less expensive.

Scientists have discovered that an amino acid called asparagine is essential for breast cancer spread, and by restricting it, cancer cells stopped invading other parts of the body in mice, according to research* part-funded by Cancer Research UK and published in the journal Nature. They hope the finding may yield a method to prevent cancer cells spreading from their origins in a woman’s breast to form tumours in her lungs, brain, other organs or bones — a process known as “metastasis” which is the most common cause of death.