General

Computer-augmented brains, cure to blindness, and rebuilding the brain after injury all sound like science fiction. Today, these disruptive technologies aren’t just for Netflix, “Terminator,” and comic book fodder — in recent years, these advances are closer to reality than some might realize, and they have the ability to revolutionize […]

A team of researchers led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison professor David Gamm is developing a transplantable retinal patch intended to help restore vision to military personnel blinded in the line of duty and to treat individuals with degenerative eye diseases such as macular degeneration. The technology, funded by a […]

Before their third birthdays, children already have an adult-like preference for visual fractal patterns commonly seen in nature, report University of Oregon researchers. That discovery emerged among children raised in a world of Euclidean geometry, such as in houses with rooms constructed with straight lines in a simple nonrepeating manner, […]

It’s a paradox that has puzzled epidemiologists for a long time. Why do some studies suggest that a higher body mass index (BMI) can end up “protecting” against bloodstream infections? A team of researchers from the Yale School of Public Health, in collaboration with colleagues at the Norwegian University of […]

People diagnosed with an inflammatory skin condition known as granuloma annulare (GA) develop raised red lesions that emerge in ring-like patterns on the skin. For those with a chronic condition, these lesions can cover much of the body and degrade their quality of life. Until now, however, there has been […]

Researchers from Skoltech and their colleagues from Russia and the US have described two new, compact Cas9 nucleases, the cutting components of CRISPR-Cas systems, that will potentially expand the Cas9 toolbox for genome editing. One of the two nucleases has been shown to work in human cells and thus can […]

Nearly two decades ago, a small-bodied “human-like” fossil, Homo floresiensis, was discovered on an island in Indonesia. Some scientists have credited the find, now nicknamed “Hobbit,” as representative of a human ancestor who developed dwarfed features after living on the island, while others suggest it represents modern human suffering from some […]

Henk-Jan Guchelaar knows all too well the serious problems that the side–effects of medication can cause. As a professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, he has spent the last two decades trying to get the link between medicine and our genes recognised more widely.  The stories he hears from patients […]

Using common crops and other plants to generate molecules used for therapeutic procedures is not a new idea. For instance, thanks to a novel mutation that switches off its immune system, a tobacco plant native to Australia has since been engineered to produce everything from flu and polio vaccines to […]

Huntington’s disease is a fatal inherited disorder that strikes most often in middle age with mood disturbances, uncontrollable limb movements, and cognitive decline. Years before symptom onset, brain imaging shows degeneration of the striatum, a brain region important for the rapid selection of behavioural actions. As the striatal neurons degenerate, […]

New research suggests testing people's memory over four weeks could identify who is at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease before it has developed. Importantly, the trial found testing people's ability to retain memories for longer time periods could predict this more accurately than classic memory tests, which test memory […]

The blood is the main source of studies on the immune system, despite the fact that most diseases are combated by immune cells in the body’s tissues. A new study from Karolinska Institutet and the University of Pennsylvania has identified which immune cells patrol the human body’s tissues and circulate […]

The two used methods for detecting amyloid pathology in Alzheimer's disease do not give unambiguous results, with the risk of incorrect or delayed care interventions. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found genetic explanations for the differences. The study is published in Molecular Psychiatry and may be important for more […]

For people in wealthy countries, diarrhea is usually nothing more than an uncomfortable inconvenience for a few days. But for a poor child in a developing country, repeated bouts of diarrhea can lead to serious health consequences such as malnutrition, stunted growth and cognitive deficits. Researchers at Washington University School […]

Epidemics and pandemics are not equal-opportunity killers. Seen through the archaeological record, incomplete as it may be, these waves of death victimized the marginalized and most vulnerable populations wherever they struck. In the U.S., the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be no different, striking Indigenous, Black and Latinx communities at far […]

CRISPR-Cas9 makes it easy to knock out or tweak a single gene to determine its effect on an organism or cell, or even another gene. But what if you could perform several thousand experiments at once, using CRISPR to tweak every gene in the genome individually and quickly see the […]

Memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may be able to be restored by inhibiting certain enzymes involved in abnormal gene transcription, according to a preclinical study by researchers at the University at Buffalo. The findings could pave the way toward new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. The paper will be […]

On a late summer day in 1953, a young man who would soon be known as patient H.M. underwent experimental surgery. In an attempt to treat his debilitating seizures, a surgeon removed portions of his brain, including part of a structure called the hippocampus. The seizures stopped. Unfortunately, for patient […]

Obesity has been linked to increased risk for over a dozen different types of cancer, as well as worse prognosis and survival. Over the years, scientists have identified obesity-related processes that drive tumour growth, such as metabolic changes and chronic inflammation, but a detailed understanding of the interplay between obesity […]

An international team of researchers has connected specific genetic regions which influence facial features. This means they can see the signals of normal facial features in the genome – but it is also hoped their work can shed light on craniofacial malformations such as cleft lip and palate. The findings […]

The lab of Kris Saha at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has developed an innovative combination of gene-editing tools and computational simulations that can be used to develop new strategies for editing genes associated with genetic disorders. In proof-of-concept experiments, the lab’s researchers efficiently corrected multiple mutations responsible for a rare metabolic disorder, known […]

Big changes are taking place in the research laboratories at DTU Biosustain on Lyngby Campus—but it requires a microscope to spot them, as the changes are occurring in microorganisms such as the bacterium, Streptomyces.  The bacterium is known to produce antimicrobial agents. In the New Bioactive Compound Section, researchers are […]

In his first year of graduate school, Rice University biochemist Zachary Wright discovered something hidden inside a common piece of cellular machinery that’s essential for all higher-order life from yeast to humans. What Wright saw in 2015 — subcompartments inside organelles called peroxisomes — is described in a study published in Nature […]

The ability of certain fish to heal damage to their hearts could lead to new treatments for patients who have suffered heart attacks and may also help to unravel how the lifestyle of our parents and grandparents can affect our own heart health. The human heart cannot heal itself. After […]

Cutting-edge research being led by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and the University of Manchester, aimed at increasing adult hearing aid use, could make a dramatic change to people with hearing loss. The study ‘Follow-up and structured monitoring for adults offered an NHS hearing aid for the first […]

ETH scientists use magnetic bacteria to control liquids at the micro-level. They are already thinking about using them in the human bloodstream for precision delivery of cancer drugs to a tumour. Cancer drugs have side effects, so for many years, scientists have been exploring ways to transport the active substances […]

A novel form of an Alzheimer’s protein found in the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord indicates what stage of the disease a person is in, and tracks with tangles of tau protein in the brain, according to a study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine […]

Just like other organisms, plants must respond dynamically to a variety of cues over their lifetime. Going through different developmental stages, or altering their form in response to a drought or drastic temperature change requires altering which of their genes are expressed into proteins and when those processes occur. In […]

Researchers have developed a potential new treatment for the eye disease glaucoma that could replace daily eye drops and surgery with a twice-a-year injection to control the buildup of pressure in the eye. The researchers envision the injection being done as an office procedure that could be part of regular […]

Using the same strain of yeast that ferments wine and makes dough rise, a team led by the University of California, Irvine and Harvard Medical School researchers has developed an in vitro technology that can rapidly hypermutate antibodies. The new technology generates antibodies faster than animal immune systems and better than […]