General

A new study in mice helps explain why gut microbiomes of breastfed infants can differ greatly from those of formula-fed infants. The study, “Dietary Sphinganine Is Selectively Assimilated by Members of the Mammalian Gut Microbiome,” was published in the Journal of Lipid Research. The paper describes an innovative technique developed […]

A study of almost 400,000 British participants has identified a new link between raised levels of the growth factor IGF-1 and increased thyroid cancer risk and has confirmed associations with breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. This could lead to new preventative strategies, including diet and lifestyle interventions. IGF-1 (insulin-like growth […]

Differences in the shape and texture of men and women's hearts could potentially explain why their risk of heart disease differs, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London, […]

A team of scientists, led by King’s College London, have discovered an unexpected tissue reparative role for a rare immune cell type in the gut that could tip toward fibrosis or cancer if abnormal or impaired. The breakthrough, revealed in a paper published in Nature Materials, will have important implications for […]

About 1 in 5 new breast cancers are caught at their earliest stages, before they’ve spread from milk ducts into the surrounding breast tissue. But what doctors can’t currently predict with high confidence is which of these cancers — known as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or stage 0 breast cancer — […]

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF, occurs when the contraction of the heart muscle is able to pump blood normally and subsequently has a preserved ejection fraction, but the heart chambers are too stiff to relax and fill properly. In the United States, HFpEF numbers are on the […]

As a high school student, junior Darcey Hookway spent time volunteering on a dementia ward at a local hospital. “The social aspect of their condition really struck me,” says Hookway, who is from London. “They struggled immensely with social isolation. And now with COVID exacerbating that more than ever, I […]

More than 10 per cent of people who develop severe COVID-19 have misguided antibodies that attack not the virus, but the immune system itself, new research shows. Another 3.5 per cent, at least, carry a specific kind of genetic mutation. In both groups, the upshot is basically the same: The […]

The National Institute on Aging, or NIA, has awarded psychologists Chandra A. Reynolds of the University of California, Riverside, and Sally J. Wadsworth of the University of Colorado-Boulder a grant of more than $11 million to continue studying lifespan behavioural development and cognitive aging as individuals transition to mid-adulthood. In 2015, the researchers […]

The University of New Hampshire will receive $1.8 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that will further molecular research to better understand drug interactions at the cellular level and help lead to the development of new targeted drugs to treat wide-spread metabolic, growth, neurological and visual disorders including […]

Scientists around David Ng, group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, are approaching cancer therapy from an entirely new angle – targeted and localized disruption of the cancer cells' structure in order to activate their self-destruction mechanism. In laboratory experiments, the researchers have already demonstrated initial successes. […]

The first stages of placental development take place days before the embryo starts to form in human pregnancies. This new finding highlights the importance of healthy placental development in pregnancy, and could lead to future improvements in fertility treatments such as IVF, and a better understanding of placental-related diseases in pregnancy. In […]

A team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, report that a class of drugs used for a broad array of conditions, from allergies and colds to hypertension and urinary incontinence, may be associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline, particularly in […]

Bioengineers at UC San Diego have shown that human-genome produced RNA is present on the surface of human cells, suggesting a more expanded role for RNA in cell-to-cell and cell-to-environment interactions than previously thought. This new type of membrane-associated extracellular RNA (maxRNA) is found in human cells that are not […]

Just a single exercise workout has positive effects on learning and memory in young adults, according to a recent review of published studies. The review, which is published in Translational Sports Medicine, included 13 relevant studies. The types of exercise that were studied involved walking, running, and bicycling in individuals […]

Emerging evidence suggests that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may negatively affect bone health. Results from a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research now indicate that women with history of OSA may face a higher risk of spine, or vertebral, fractures. Using information from the Nurses’ […]

One of the key mechanisms that cancer cells use to avoid being detected by the patient’s immune system is to build a micro-environment that inhibits immune system activity. Specifically, the cancer cells stimulate specific immune cells to directly stop their attack on the cancer cells. Thus, in a very large […]

Using a device that could be built with a dollar’s worth of open-source parts and a 3D-printed case, researchers want to help the hundreds of millions of older people worldwide who can’t afford existing hearing aids to address their age-related hearing loss. The ultra-low-cost, proof-of-concept device known as LoCHAid is […]

Parkinson's disease is a disease where motor function is impaired due to the degeneration of nerve cells. At Tokyo Tech, researchers in materials science, ultra-sensitivity sensing, measurement, diagnosis, and rehabilitation are collaborating to develop ways of detecting Parkinson's disease and support rehabilitation. Two innovations showing particular promise are a measurement […]

Researchers around the world have been puzzled by the different symptoms and varied disease pathways of Parkinson’s patients. A major study from Aarhus University has now identified that there are actually two types of the disease. Although the name may suggest otherwise, Parkinson's disease is not one but two diseases, […]

As Americans begin pulling up their sleeves for an annual flu vaccine, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have provided new insights into an alternative vaccine approach that provides broader protection against seasonal influenza. In a study published in Cell Reports Medicine, scientists describe a T-cell-based vaccine strategy that is effective […]

Salk researchers develop transplantable human cells that make insulin, controlling blood sugar without immunosuppressants in mouse models Salk Institute scientists have made a major advance in the pursuit of a safe and effective treatment for type 1 diabetes, an illness that impacts an estimated 1.6 million Americans with a cost […]

Scientists from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo Medical University, and Saitama Medical University have published findings that offer insights into how the drug pomalidomide benefits some patients with a cancer called multiple myeloma. Clinicians use pomalidomide to treat cases of multiple myeloma resistant to the more established drug lenalidomide, […]

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Nature Communications the discovery that in the developing fly brain, neurons stemming from the same parent cell experience repulsion. This lineage-dependent repulsion is regulated by a protein known as Dscam1. The brain’s structure has columnar features, which are hypothesized to arise from nerve cells […]

Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, have discovered a new way to manufacture human red blood cells (RBCs) that cuts the culture time by half compared to existing methods and uses novel sorting and purification methods that are faster, more precise, and less costly. […]

Doctors like to remind patients not to monkey around with their health, suggesting that a good diet and regular exercise improve longevity. A new study on health in chimpanzees, which are the closest species to humans genetically, showed the benefits in what they eat and how they can travel and […]

Understanding of fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), a rare blood vessel disease, is making the jump from the laboratory to the clinic with new findings of a genetic variant. Researchers found the mutation in a gene that is associated with classical Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome as well, in multifocal FMD. That means it could […]

Adding an immunotherapy agent to a three-drug chemotherapy regimen can improve the likelihood that early-stage triple-negative breast cancer will recede to undetectable levels, data from a clinical trial led by Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center suggests. The results of the trial, dubbed the IMpassion031 study, will be presented at the […]

Hard skulls help protect our brains from physical injuries. In addition to a tough outer shell, brains have internal defences, including a powerful shield called the blood-brain barrier that defends brain cells from substances in the bloodstream that are toxic and dangerous to nerve cells. If the blood-brain barrier is […]

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common inherited heart disease, marked by an abnormally thickened heart muscle that can obstruct blood flow and lead to sudden death in young adults. A dizzying array of over 1,400 genetic mutations can lead to the disease, puzzling doctors on how to treat so many […]