General

Map of basal ganglia connectivity uncovers key links with implications for range of disorders. Thousands of our daily activities, from making coffee to taking a walk to saying hello to a neighbor, are made possible through an ancient collection of brain structures tucked away near the center of the cranium. […]

Variable number tandem repeats modulate genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, cancer and other conditions. An international team of researchers led by computer scientists at the University of California San Diego have identified 163 variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) that actively regulate gene expression. In a paper published in Nature […]

Brain tumors known as glioblastomas are among the most aggressive and malevolent forms of cancer. Median survival time without treatment is just nine months; with standard of care surgery and chemoradiation, it’s 15 to 16 months. Patients rarely survive more than a few years. In only a very small subset […]

Exposure to phthalates, a class of chemicals widely used in packaging and consumer products, is known to interfere with normal hormone function and development in human and animal studies. Now researchers have found evidence linking pregnant women’s exposure to phthalates to altered cognitive outcomes in their infants. Most of the […]

Scientists have identified new genetic clues in people who have had small and often apparently ‘silent’ strokes that are difficult to treat and a major cause of vascular dementia, according to research led by the University of Cambridge and published in The Lancet Neurology. Researchers discovered changes to 12 genetic regions […]

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have shown in animal studies that gene therapy may help repair some of the damage caused in chronic neurodegenerative conditions such as glaucoma and dementia. Their approach demonstrates the potential effectiveness of gene therapy in polygenic conditions – that is, complex conditions with no […]

Artificial intelligence ‘deep learning’ techniques can be used to triage suspected cases of Barrett oesophagus, a precursor to oesophageal cancer, potentially leading to faster and earlier diagnoses, say researchers at the University of Cambridge. When researchers applied the technique to analysing samples obtained using the ‘pill on a string’ diagnostic […]

Pollution from miniscule pieces of plastic, or microplastics, have been a growing concern for scientists, public health advocates and environmentalists as these non-degradable items have increasingly made their way into waterways and even the air we breathe.  Now, a team of Florida State University researchers is looking at what inhalation and ingestion […]

People who have recovered from COVID-19 had a robust antibody response after the first mRNA vaccine dose, but little immune benefit after the second dose, according to new research from the Penn Institute of Immunology. The findings, published in Science Immunology, suggest only a single vaccine dose may be needed to produce […]

New gene therapy for one of the most common forms of congenital blindness was safe and improved patients’ vision, according to initial data from a clinical trial led by researchers at the Scheie Eye Institute in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The therapy delivers working […]

A team of scientists from Russia studied the role of double-stranded fragments of the maturing RNA and showed that the interaction between distant parts of the RNA can regulate gene expression. The research was published in Nature Communications. At school, we learn that DNA is double-stranded and RNA is single-stranded, but […]

A simple dietary supplement reduces behavioral symptoms in mice with a genetic mutation that causes schizophrenia. After additional experiments, including visualizing the fluorescently stained dancing edge of immature brain cells, researchers concluded that the supplement likely protects proteins that build neurons’ cellular skeletons. The supplement betaine was first isolated from […]

The method enables researchers to analyze millions of cells with the amount of memory found on a standard computer. The fact that the human body is made up of cells is a basic, well-understood concept. Yet amazingly, scientists are still trying to determine the various types of cells that make […]

Charcot Marie Tooth and Dejerine-Sottas syndrome are groups of diseases that involve the breakdown of the myelin sheath covering nerve axons. As this myelin sheath breaks down, people who have these disorders suffer nerve damage in the arms and legs—those with Dejerine-Sottas disease may never walk or may lose the […]

A high daily dose of an omega-3 supplement may help slow the effects of ageing by suppressing damage and boosting protection at the cellular level during and after a stressful event, new research suggests. Researchers at Ohio State University found that daily supplements that contained 2.5 grams of omega-3 polyunsaturated […]

The decline of the immune system is of great importance in aging. Vulnerability to infection, a decreased surveillance of senescent cells and cancerous cells, and growing chronic inflammation all take their toll. A sizable fraction of this problem stems from the diminished supply of new T cells of the adaptive […]

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission is set to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon on Earth Day, April 22. The four include NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and, a first for the Commercial Crew Program, two international partners, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and […]

Cancer cells can dodge chemotherapy by entering a state that bears similarity to certain kinds of senescence, a type of “active hibernation” that enables them to weather the stress induced by aggressive treatments aimed at destroying them, according to a new study by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine. These findings […]

Excess sugar in the blood, the central feature of diabetes, can react with immune proteins to cause myriad changes in the immune system, including inflammatory changes that promote atherosclerosis, according to a new study from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and University of Massachusetts Medical School. The study, published in […]

Radiation therapy appears to increase the expression of genes with mutations that induce an immune response to malignant cells, according to preclinical research by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. The findings suggest that radiation treatment directed to tumors in mice may help to improve a form of immunotherapy that […]

Next time you reward a child with a treat, consider offering fruit, nuts or a cereal bar instead of ice cream or candy, a Cornell economist suggests. Research by an international team including Michèle Belot, professor in the Department of Economics, found that children valued a sweet food more after receiving […]

Supplementation of cocoa powder in the diet of high-fat-fed mice with liver disease markedly reduced the severity of their condition, according to a new study by Penn State researchers, who suggest the results have implications for people. Cocoa powder, a popular food ingredient most commonly used in the production of […]

In the journal “Nature Communications”, scientists of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) report new findings on the mechanisms of “Niemann-Pick type C disease” (NPC). This rare brain disorder mainly manifests in childhood and includes severe neurological and psychiatric symptoms. Researchers led by Dr. Sabina Tahirovic have now found […]

More than 20 years after the launch of a landmark clinical trial, follow-up examinations and analyses found that not all patients with elevated eye pressure need pressure-lowering treatment to prevent vision loss from glaucoma. When the study was launched, it was universally accepted that all patients with elevated eye pressure […]

A new study investigates a genetic culprit behind abdominal aortic aneurysm, a serious condition that puts people at risk of their aorta rupturing – a potentially deadly event. Finding a viable genetic target for AAA could change the game, says senior author Katherine Gallagher, M.D., a vascular surgeon and an associate professor of […]

More than half of cervical cancer cases in the United States occur in women who have not had timely Pap smears and/or HPV tests — screenings that allow for detection of precancerous or cancerous cells on the cervix. Encouraging low-income women, in particular, to participate in such screenings likely would […]

A new study from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Research Investigator Katharina Schmack and Adjunct Professor Adam Kepecs uncovered how hallucinations are produced in human and mouse brains. Their new mouse model for hallucination-like behaviours should help uncover mechanisms and treatments for schizophrenia. Schmack was working as a psychiatrist at the Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin […]

For a while now, heart disease researchers have known that a protein called GRK5 – expressed throughout the body, though most notably in the lungs, heart, and placenta – normally dwells in the outer membrane of heart cells and, upon exposure to stress, moves into the cell nucleus, switching on […]

The results of this epidemiological study suggest that suffering from untreated sleep apnea can raise the risk of later dementia and mild cognitive impairment by 20-30%. How the repeated hypoxia in the brain produced by sleep apnea results in a raised risk of dementia isn't understood in detail, but it […]

Researchers at the University of Alberta are looking for ways to prevent or slow cachexia, a muscle-wasting syndrome thought to cause up to a third of the 80,000 deaths related to cancer every year in Canada. By understanding the role of activin A, a growth factor that contributes to muscle […]