General

The blood-brain barrier prevents immune cells from circulating freely in the brain, and the breakdown of its function is a major cause of post-stroke inflammation. Now, for the first time, researchers have identified how a toxic stroke byproduct, acrolein, could activate the barrier-degrading enzyme proheparanase (proHPSE). The research group has […]

New research led by Swansea University in collaboration with researchers at the University of Bristol and the Francis Crick Institute in London has indicated that consuming a diet high in sugar fructose might prevent the proper functioning of peoples' immune systems in ways that have, until now, largely been unknown. […]

When you slip into sleep, it’s easy to imagine that your brain shuts down, but University of Michigan research suggests that groups of neurons activated during prior learning keep humming, tattooing memories into your brain. U-M researchers have been studying how memories associated with a specific sensory event are formed […]

In recent years, researchers have begun using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) not just for better understanding the neural bases of psychiatric illness, but also for experimental treatment of depression, ADHD, anxiety, PTSD, substance use disorder, and schizophrenia with a technique called real-time fMRI neurofeedback. While rtfMRI-NF has emerged in recent […]

Intravenous injection of bone marrow-derived stem cells (MSCs) in patients with spinal cord injuries led to significant improvement in motor functions, researchers from Yale University and Japan report in the Journal of Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery. For more than half of the patients, substantial improvements in key functions — such […]

Numerous studies have shown that trained dogs can detect many kinds of disease —  including lung, breast, ovarian, bladder, and prostate cancers, and possibly Covid-19 — simply through smell. In some cases, involving prostate cancer, for example, the dogs had a 99 per cent success rate in detecting the disease […]

Artificial Intelligence has a huge potential in diagnostic medicine. It can run through vast amounts of data very quickly, noticing details that escape the human eye. Now scientists from the University of Helsinki have demonstrated the possibilities to use AI to predict the efficacy of a targeted breast cancer therapy. […]

One of the huge problems in developing self-propelled robots is awareness of the body positioning. We as humans and animals have that solved very well – we sense when we touch something and are very aware of the boundaries of our physical selves. But how – is sense of touch […]

Disorders of the cells’ energy supply can cause a number of serious diseases, but also seem to be connected to ageing. More research is needed on a mitochondrial function to find future treatments. A new study involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet shows how an important molecule inside the mitochondria affects […]

A new study illuminates how a gene called HAND2 may have a hand in the timing of human labour. “We don’t know why humans go into labour. It’s a basic aspect of human biology that we just don’t know the answer to, and it’s kind of embarrassing that we don’t,” […]

Findings represent the longest follow-up data to date for a personalized cellular therapy approved by the FDA for the treatment of aggressive lymphomas. A significant number of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients in a Penn Medicine-initiated clinical trial continue to be in remission five years after receiving the chimeric antigen receptor […]

The brain — the central processor of all our thoughts, emotions, motivations and drives — is certainly our most elaborate organ, and is sometimes considered to be one of the most complicated objects in the universe. So it is one of the wonders of nature that this organ of ultimate […]

Currently, cancers are detected and diagnosed using more invasive methods such as surgical biopsies of suspected tumours and blood draws. Urinalysis has long been used to detect and manage many diseases and disorders, but not cancer. Researchers investigated whether fragments of cell-free DNA in urine could be analyzed to detect […]

As obesity becomes a growing issue worldwide – nearly tripling over the last-half century – scientists are trying to gain a better understanding of the condition at the molecular level. Now, new research led by UC San Francisco scientists suggests that a single protein could play an outsized role in […]

In the ongoing battle to find ways to treat cancer, a team at the University of Missouri is addressing the problem from multiple angles, but with a precision approach. Cancer patients are often given chemotherapy, cancer-fighting drugs that kill cancerous cells and can also have harsh effects on healthy cells. […]

Sharpness of your mind is definitely very important to you. And we all would like to stay sharp for as long as possible, although age-related dementia is in the cards for many. How can we avoid that? Scientists from the University of Edinburgh have found a way to maintain the […]

Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to prevent COVID-19 have made headlines around the world recently, but scientists have also been working on mRNA vaccines to treat or prevent other diseases, including some forms of cancer. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have developed a hydrogel that, when injected into mice with […]

A new University of Alberta pilot program aims to find answers and better treatments for children living with rare genetic conditions. The Undiagnosed Disease Program, launched in January, is a collaboration between the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI) and U of A researchers from medical genetics and pediatric neurology to […]

COVID-19 is a dangerous respiratory infection, which can lead to severe complications. One of such complications is heart damage. Scientists at UCL found that more than 50% of patients hospitalised with COVID-19, who had raised levels of a protein called troponin, have some heart damage. Having in mind that troponin […]

As people age, a normal brain protein is known as amyloid-beta often starts to collect into harmful amyloid plaques in the brain. Such plaques can be the first step on the path to Alzheimer’s dementia. When they form around blood vessels in the brain, a condition known as cerebral amyloid […]

Location of blockages in a patient’s heart is a key consideration in selecting the right treatment, U of A cardiologists find. A new study by University of Alberta cardiologists at the Canadian VIGOUR Centre shows that a particular group of patients with stable ischemic heart disease have better outcomes with the […]

The pancreas is one of the most important organs in the body. It produces insulin to regulate blood sugar and helps digest food. If the pancreas goes haywire, diabetes, cancer, or other diseases threaten lives. Yet, a lot remains unknown about how the pancreas keeps people healthy and how the […]

If all goes as envisioned, research done at the UO could one day lead to a blood test to guide treatment for trauma victims whose bones may be slow to heal. A team led by Robert Guldberg of the UO’s Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact reported […]

In a milestone for biomolecular design, a team of scientists has succeeded in creating new proteins that adopt one of the most complex folds known to molecular biology. These designer proteins were shown in the lab to spontaneously fold into their intended structures and embed into lipid membranes. As reported […]

Vanderbilt biochemist Yi Ren is part of a team that has identified a new behaviour of a SARS-CoV-2 protein and discovered that interfering with its function can block virus replication in host cells. This opens up the potential for new therapeutic targets for COVID-19. The article, “Nsp1 Protein of SARS-CoV-2 Disrupts […]

Research led by McGill University and Queen’s University Belfast has found that viruses can ‘hijack’ an existing molecular process in the cell in order to block the body’s antiviral immune response to a viral infection. The results of the study have been published in the journal Molecular Cell. As the current […]

The Physics for Medicine Paris laboratory (Inserm/ESPCI Paris-PSL/CNRS), in collaboration with Robert Debré Hospital (AP-HP/Inserm) is developing functional ultrasound imaging to monitor the brain activity of neonates in a way that existing neuroimaging modalities do not achieve. Their latest study, published in Nature Communications, marks another leap forward by demonstrating […]

Findings involving antibody effector functions could help improve design of next-generation COVID-19 antibody drugs. Of the nine treatments and preventives for COVID-19 authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, three are drugs made from so-called monoclonal antibodies. Such drugs provide patients with ready-made antibodies that neutralize the […]

With a San Francisco biotech company, an UdeM eye expert develops a treatment that could potentially treat patients who suffer from this degenerative disease of the retina. Potentially effective treatment for diabetic retinopathy, a disease that swells and scars the retina, has been developed by an Université de Montréal scientist […]

In the ongoing battle to find ways to treat cancer, a team at the University of Missouri is addressing the problem from multiple angles, but with a precision approach. Cancer patients are often given chemotherapy, cancer-fighting drugs that kill cancerous cells and can also have harsh effects on healthy cells. […]