General

A new study in rats suggests that caffeine may offset some of the negative effects of an obesogenic diet by reducing the storage of lipids in fat cells and limiting weight gain and the production of triglycerides. Rats that consumed the caffeine extracted from mate tea gained 16% less weight […]

An algorithm akin to the annoyingly helpful one that attempts to auto-complete text messages and emails is now being harnessed for a better cause. NSF-funded researchers at Drexel University are using its pattern-recognition ability to identify microbial communities in the human body by sifting through volumes of genetic code. Their method could speed the […]

It is a frightening thing to hear that you are at a high risk for diabetes. However, doctors around the world have to say that every day to thousands of people. This diagnosis comes with a whole lot of other issues, such as a high risk for heart disease. But […]

In this age of “big data,” artificial intelligence (AI) has become a valuable ally for scientists. Machine learning algorithms, for instance, are helping biologists make sense of the dizzying number of molecular signals that control how genes function. But as new algorithms are developed to analyze even more data, they […]

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have deciphered the diabetogenic role of a certain type of calcium channel in insulin-secreting beta cells. The researchers believe that blockade of these channels could be a potential new treatment strategy for diabetes. The study is published in the scientific journal PNAS. CaV3.1 channels […]

A GPS map to guide neural navigation devices developed by a Case Western Reserve University cancer researcher has shown 90% accuracy in pinpointing brain tumors and will soon be tested in real-time with patients at Cleveland Clinic under a three-year, $600,000 V Foundation grant. The grant was awarded to Pallavi Tiwari, […]

Staph bacteria, the leading cause of potentially dangerous skin infections, are most feared for the drug-resistant strains that have become a serious threat to public health. Attempts to develop a vaccine against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have failed to outsmart the superbug’s ubiquity and adaptability to antibiotics. Now, a study from Washington […]

As her health began to worsen in late 2017, Annette Quinn started measuring her declining lung function by making note of the number of days between episodes of hemoptysis or coughing up blood. At first, the episodes occurred once every few months. But by the summer of 2018, Quinn experienced […]

Diverse diseases like breast cancer can present challenges for clinicians, specifically on a cellular level. While one patient’s tumor may differ from another’s, the cells within the tumor of a single patient can also vary greatly. This can be problematic, considering that an examination of a tumor usually relies on a biopsy, which […]

With an estimated 97 percent of adolescents playing video games in their free time, there is growing potential to design games as tools for attention-building instead of attention-busting. A research team at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of California, Irvine, designed a video game […]

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have reported the first structural model for a key enzyme, and its activating protein, that can play a role in some genetically inherited eye diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and night blindness. “There has been substantial research on the biochemical pathway involving this enzyme, […]

Scientists are now able to label proteins in the brains of living mice who have a disease similar to Alzheimer’s disease, and have the labels remain in place. The tracer molecules have been developed at Linköping University. The new method allows the researchers to observe how harmful protein aggregates form […]

Sysmex Corporation and Eisai Co., Ltd. are pursuing a joint project to develop a method of diagnosing Alzheimer's disease (AD) using blood, presented two posters showing the most recent data from the project. The presentations took place at the 12th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) conference, from December 4 […]

Scientists have developed a new theory on the underlying cause of motor neurone disease, which could lead to more accurate diagnosis for patients and new treatments. A team at the University of Exeter has found evidence that the condition is caused by an imbalance in cholesterol and other fat levels […]

University of Illinois researchers achieved the highest reported rates of inserting genes into human cells with the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, a necessary step for harnessing CRISPR for clinical gene-therapy applications. By chemically tweaking the ends of the DNA to be inserted, the new technique is up to five times more […]

Spontaneous mutations in paternal sperm are linked to autism spectrum disorder; researchers have developed way to quantify those mutations and assess chances the mutations will cause disease. The causes of autism spectrum disorder or ASD are not fully understood; researchers believe both genetics and environment play a role. In some […]

New study shows exactly how the manner in which mitochondria divide has remained the same since evolution began. A group of scientists at Tokyo University of Science showed for the first time that in red algae, an enzyme that is usually involved in cell division also plays a role in […]

How mammals perceive light changes between night and day. Researchers at Aalto University and the University of Helsinki discovered that mice were better at finding a dim light in pitch-darkness in experiments done at night time compared to ones done during the day time. The scientists were surprised to find […]

Researchers at SciLifeLab report in the journal Science that they have created a detailed blood atlas of the proteins in human immune cells. The open-access database offers medical researchers an unprecedented resource in the search for treatments for diseases. The Blood Atlas resource is the latest database to be released […]

At least one in five cases of infertility remains unexplained. Malefactors contribute to about half of these cases and, much of the time, men lack a specific causal diagnosis for their infertility. Researchers estimate that genetics could explain up to 50 percent of these cases, but many of the genes […]

A discovery by Harvard Medical School investigators at Massachusetts Eye and Ear provides new clues that may help improve the prevention and treatment of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD), a genetic eye disease that causes vision loss. Researchers have, for the first time, showing a mechanism that advances understanding of […]

Experimental, off-the-shelf immunotherapy that combines a targeted antibody and chemotherapy can lead to potentially durable responses in multiple myeloma patients whose disease has relapsed or is resistant to other standard therapies. A multi-center, international trial evaluated the drug, belantamab mafodotin, and found almost a third of patients whose disease had […]

Medical experts from the University of Tokyo have identified simple test doctors can use to diagnose a rare condition that causes extreme back pain. Patients can receive a common imaging test, an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), twice: once while lying flat on their backs (supine) and once while lying face-down […]

Eating watermelon in the form of powdered supplements helped adult obese mice avoid some detrimental health effects of an unhealthy diet, according to a new Oregon State University study. The study is published in the Journal of Nutrition. A significant next step in this research would be a human clinical trial, said […]

Our bodies function in a cycle called circadian rhythm. It is our internal biological clock, which determines when our body is taking its time to heal, when it is growing and when it is using its other functions. However, up until now we didn’t know that the circadian rhythm affects […]

Type 2 diabetes is typically caused by lifestyle factors. In very simplistic terms, it could be said that these people eat their way into this disease. Majority of patients of Type 2 diabetes are severely overweight, many of them being obese. And now scientists from Glasgow University have proofs that […]

The healthcare system has often assessed chronic leg pain in elite and hobby athletes as caused by breaks in bone structure. Research at Linköping University, however, demonstrates that the features seen in radiography are an ongoing healing process, requiring rest. Both elite and hobby athletes often experience stress fractures. There […]

Among the first and most-documented symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a child’s aversion to interaction with others. Specifically, they appear uninterested in social activities and stimuli that would normally attract a young child’s attention, such as watching other children play, sing or dance. In a new study, published […]

Not getting enough water is enough to make you feel sluggish and give you a headache, but a new Penn State study suggests it may also relate to cognitive performance. The researchers investigated whether hydration levels and water intake among older adults was related with their scores on several tests […]

Simian immunodeficiency virus, better known as SIV, is an HIV precursor. In other words, this  monkey- and ape-infecting virus is what HIV originated from. SIV attacks various monkeys, especially chimpanzees, but, interestingly, even infected animals are otherwise healthy. Why? Scientists from UCL say that some subspecies may have evolved a […]