A novel painless and reliable allergy test

In vitro mast cells provide unprecedented reliability

23-Mar-2022 - Although allergies are widespread, their diagnosis is complex and, depending on the type of allergy, the prospects of success with therapy are not always clear. Skin tests so far have been unpleasant, time-consuming and associated with a certain risk of triggering an allergic overreaction. ...

DNA-based method detects trace amounts of peanut in foods

07-Sep-2018 - For people with severe peanut allergies, eating even miniscule amounts of the legume can trigger anaphylaxis --- a life-threatening condition characterized by dizziness, breathing difficulties and, sometimes, loss of consciousness. Now, researchers have developed a sensitive new test to detect ...

Pollen taxi for bacteria

23-Jul-2018 - A wide range of airborne substances can cause respiratory problems for asthma sufferers. These include bacteria and their components, which can trigger inflammations. How they become airborne has not been fully explained up to now. A science team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and ...

Keychain detector could catch food allergens before it's too late

08-Sep-2017 - For kids and adults with food allergies, a restaurant outing can be a fraught experience. Even when care is taken, freshly prepared or packaged meals can accidentally become cross-contaminated with an offending food and trigger a reaction. Now researchers report the development of a new portable ...

Owlstone Medical and Imperial College collaborate to study underlying causes of asthma exacerbations

Breath analysis technology to be used to predict and characterise onset of severe asthma attacks

02-Nov-2016 - Owlstone Medical, a diagnostics company, announced it has entered into collaboration with Imperial College London. The company’s breath analysis technology will be deployed in an ongoing study led by Imperial College to evaluate underlying causes of exacerbations in severe asthma patients. An ...

Rapid test identifies disease pathogens

Researchers developing a test which rapidly and cost-effectively identifies bacteria, fungi or viruses

04-Jul-2016 - At present, bacteria, fungi or viruses can generally only be detected with certainty by way of elaborate laboratory tests or animal experiments. The food and pharmaceutical industries would like to have faster tests to check their products. Fraunhofer researchers are therefore developing a stick ...

'Green chemistry' to quantify the components of cosmetics

A UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country researcher has developed and applied three methods to analyze various compounds in cosmetics

02-Jun-2015 - Cosmetics is an important industry worldwide and has attained high levels of sophistication. There are over 10,000 components that can be used to make cosmetics; so it is essential to monitor these components to guarantee consumer safety. Regulation 1223/2009 approved by the European Union in ...