General

The immune system has many roles. It doesn't just destroy invading pathogens, but also hunts and kills potentially harmful cells, such as those that have become senescent or potentially cancerous. Further, immune cells are intricately involved in the processes of tissue maintenance. Regeneration from injury is a complicated dance of […]

Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from Russia, Germany, and the U.S. have found Prozac to reduce lipid concentrations in juvenile macaques who received the antidepressant for two years, compared to a control group of untreated animals. While none of the monkeys in the study were depressed, the findings still offer a plausible biochemical […]

Researchers from the Mater Hospital Advanced Epilepsy Unit in collaboration with the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology are embarking on a joint study to investigate the link between epilepsy and language. Epilepsy affects more than 250,000 Australians with the majority managed on medication, however, one third of […]

Astronauts traveling to the Moon, Mars, and other future deep space destinations will likely make new and amazing discoveries. Undertaking these exploration missions will not be possible without increased risk to crew members from exposure to the space environment. To reduce risks of the hazards of spaceflight and protect astronauts from space […]

Everyone wants to stay sharper for longer, but sadly age is often linked to cognitive decline. Nowadays people are trying to stay more comfortable with themselves by allocating some time for mindfulness. Does that help keep cognitive decline at bay? Scientists at UCL found that mindfulness may provide modest benefits […]

Sensitivity-enhanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy can be used in the structural characterization of amyloid β – the pathogenic protein involved in Alzheimer's disease – as shown by scientists from Tokyo Tech. Their findings bring to light a novel polymorph of the protein and associated structural elements that can be targeted for […]

Telomeres are caps of repeated DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes. A little of the telomere length is lost with each cell division. A somatic cell with short telomeres ceases replication, and usually self-destructs. All cancers must thus continually lengthen telomeres in order to engage in unfettered replication and […]

Blue light is illuminating new understanding of a key signaling pathway in embryo development, tissue maintenance and cancer genesis. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed an approach using blue light to activate the Wnt (pronounced “wint”) signaling pathway in frog embryos. The pathway plays a wide variety of […]

The autoimmune disease lupus may be triggered by a defective process in the development of red blood cells (RBCs), according to a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. The discovery could lead to new methods for classifying and treating patients with this disease. The researchers, who published their […]