General

If there was a superhero who relieved pain, millions would be overjoyed. More than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, costing in excess of $650 billion a year in medical treatments and lost productivity, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine. Vulnerable populations are far more likely to develop chronic pain […]

Scientists have identified a group of drugs that may help stop a leading cause of vision loss after making an unexpected discovery that overturns a fundamental belief about DNA. The drugs, known as nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, or NRTIs, are commonly used to treat HIV. The new discovery suggests that […]

The immune system is an extremely complex organ system capable of fighting disease. However, it can also create disease because immune cells may—so to speak—run riot and start attacking the healthy cells of the body. This very delicate balance has always fascinated Professor Sine Reker Hadrup, and she has embarked […]

A Canadian-led research project has confirmed that it is safe to procure organs for transplant from dying patients once the heart has stopped for a full five minutes, in newly published findings in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers monitored blood pressure and electrocardiographic (ECG) waveforms in 631 dying patients following […]

Blocking seizures after a head injury could slow or prevent the onset of dementia, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. “Traumatic brain injury is a major risk factor for dementia, but the reason this is the case has remained mysterious,” said Ted Allison, co-author and professor in the Department […]

Both inactivated and live-attenuated vaccines generally produce an adequate immune response and are safe to use in children suffering from autoimmune diseases treated with all but the most potent immunosuppressants, according to a research review. The team examined 37 original articles: 25 studied the inactivated vaccines influenza; hepatitis A virus; […]

A new study from scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing shows that the potential genetic burden of mutations arising from retrogenes is significantly greater than originally thought. Genetic information is stored in DNA and transcribed as […]

Childhood trauma could affect the trajectory of multiple sclerosis development and response to treatment in adulthood, a new study in mice found. Mice that had experienced stress when young were more likely to develop the autoimmune disorder and less likely to respond to a common treatment, researchers at the University […]

There are a great many ways to influence cellular metabolism to modestly slow the pace of aging, but few of them are of lll that much interest from a practical point of view, as a basis for therapies that might meaningfully extend human life spans. If an approach involves improvements […]

Biological sensors developed by MIT spinout Glympse Bio could help clinicians make decisions for individual patients. In the fight against severe diseases like cancer, patients often endure a discomforting, weekslong gap between when treatment begins and when doctors can tell if it’s working. The problem often stems from an inability […]

Near-infrared hyperspectral imaging combined with machine learning can visualize tumors in deep tissue and covered by a mucosal layer, scientists show Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are tumors of the digestive tract that grow underneath the mucus layer covering our organs. Because they are deep inside the tissue, these “submucosal tumors” are […]

ETH researchers have found a gene mutation that causes the sperm of boars to immobilize. Their discovery will help pig breeders to exclude animals with this genetic defect from breeding in future. In pig farming, natural mating between a boar and a sow has become rare. It is much more […]

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Gothenburg University have investigated a potential new drug target for the rare genetic disorder Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome that causes accelerated aging in children. The findings in mice are published in the scientific journal eLife and may aid in the development of more effective treatments for […]

3D printing is the way of the future. Someday our houses may be 3D printed. 3D printers are already used in medicine as well, mostly to print tailored implants. Now scientists at UNSW Sydney have developed a new ceramic-based ink, which enables 3D printing of bone parts complete with the […]

Findings hint that vaccination of pregnant women might also protect their newborns. Antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the blood of pregnant women cross the placenta efficiently and are were found at similar concentrations in the blood of their newborns, according to a large study from researchers at the Perelman […]

Yale researchers are developing a skin cancer treatment that involves injecting nanoparticles into the tumour, killing cancer cells with a two-pronged approach, as a potential alternative to surgery. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “For a lot of patients, treating skin cancer is […]

A new study shows that many abnormalities in fragile X syndrome cells are related to glitches with one of the body’s major quality control systems. Published in Nature Cell Biology, the research provides fresh insight into the molecular mechanisms of the disorder and a pathway to search for potential treatments. Fragile […]

Vivian Gama, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology, and Leon Bellan, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, have won a $2.3 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative.  The researchers will be developing three-dimensional brain organoids and related tissue—miniaturized and simplified versions produced in vitro—that resemble a human brain at 24 to 25 weeks post-conception. These will provide an unparalleled window […]

More than half of all Danes are overweight, and being overweight increases the risk of developing a wide range of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, strokes, various types of cancer, and, currently, an enhanced risk of serious complications resulting from COVID-19 infection. Globally, more than four million people die from […]

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and their collaborators found that inhaling unfragmented hyaluronan improves lung function in patients suffering from a severe exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Hyaluronan, a sugar secreted by living tissue that acts as a scaffold for cells, is also used in cosmetics […]

Five new research networks totaling $3.13 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health will allow investigators to refine and test key concepts that advance the study of emotional well-being. Emotional well-being has been defined as an overall positive state of one’s emotions, life satisfaction, sense of meaning and […]

For a few years now, I've suggested areas of opportunity in rejuvenation biotechnology in which either (a) it seems quite viable to start a company, given what I've seen going on in industry and academia, or (b) it would be very helpful should someone step up with an approach that […]

Current advice from the America Dental Association tells you that if your gums bleed, make sure you are brushing and flossing twice a day because it could be a sign of gingivitis, an early stage of periodontal disease. And that might be true. So if you are concerned, see your dentist. However, […]

Researchers have revealed how a rare DNA change rebalanced the immune system of patients with a life-threatening genetic immunodeficiency. Researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have discovered that three patients with a severe genetic immunodeficiency spontaneously repaired the harmful variants in their DNA and restored normal immune function […]

In the midst of a discussion regarding the limitations of life span studies, in that the use of death as an endpoint fails to capture all of the variances in health due to aging, the authors of this paper offer up the thought that aging is contagious within the body. […]

To catch cancer earlier, we need to predict who is going to get it in the future. The complex nature of forecasting risk has been bolstered by artificial intelligence (AI) tools, but the adoption of AI in medicine has been limited by poor performance on new patient populations and neglect to racial minorities. […]

Building on the promise of emerging therapies to deploy the body’s “natural killer” immune cells to fight cancer, researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and U-M College of Engineering have gone one step further. They’ve developed what is believed to be the first systematic way to catch natural killer cells and get […]

The ability to understand others’ hidden thoughts and beliefs is an essential component of human social behaviour. Now, neuroscientists have for the first time identified specific neurons critical for social reasoning, a cognitive process that requires individuals to acknowledge and predict others’ hidden beliefs and thoughts. The findings, published in Nature, […]

The answer to the age-old mystery of the evolutionary origins of vertebrate eyes may lie in hagfish, according to a new study by biologists at the University of Alberta. “Hagfish eyes can help us understand the origins of human vision by expanding our understanding of the early steps in vertebrate […]

In many ways, our brain and our digestive tract are deeply connected. Feeling nervous may lead to physical pain in the stomach, while hunger signals from the gut make us feel irritable. Recent studies have even suggested that the bacteria living in our gut can influence some neurological diseases. Modelling […]