General

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 […]

We live in a world that cultivates eternal youth. The pharmaceutical market is full of new, shiny, “revolutionary” products, which are meant to put us in good shape and give us a pristine, young appearance, and long life in well-shape. Advertisements scream of various supplements, vitamins, or syrups, supposed to […]

Whether they are working with patients in clinical trials or with chromosomes in cell cultures, scientists and physicians in the Boston area and beyond are testing a wide variety of new ways to help people with Down syndrome. At the New England Down Syndrome Symposium, presented by the Alana Down […]

“Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them.” In this quote, the philosopher A. Whitehead underlines the importance of automated low-level tasks when performing a complex and repetitive task. Tying shoelaces, writing, walking… our mind is relieved from the elementary actions […]

Using a new variant to repair DNA will improve both safety and effectiveness of the much-touted CRISPR-Cas9 tool in genetic research, Michigan Medicine researchers say. Those two key problems – safety and efficacy – are what continue to hold CRISPR-Cas9 gene targeting back from its full clinical potential, explains co-senior […]

Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a new target in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that could lead to therapies focused on treating the neurodegenerative condition early in its progression. The discovery helps bolster a promising approach to AD research: finding and manipulating […]

In recent years, targeted therapies have cemented their place as some of the most important tools in cancer treatment. These medicines are designed to block specific signals that tumour cells use to grow and spread, while at the same time leaving normal cells unharmed. Targeted therapies can significantly extend patients’ […]