General

Using a fluorescent probe that lights up when brain cells are electrically active, MIT and Boston University researchers have shown that they can image the activity of many neurons at once, in the brains of mice. This technique, which can be performed using a simple light microscope, could allow neuroscientists […]

A novel nanosystem developed by Anil Kishen, a professor in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry, shows promising results in promoting healing and regeneration by host tissues following root canals. Kishen’s research was published recently in the medical journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechology, Biology and Medicine. The current treatment for root canals focuses on […]

Not all patients feel the same way about medical treatment. Some are “minimizers,” preferring to see a doctor as little as possible and to give health issues a chance to resolve on their own. Others are “maximizers” who want to treat a disease to the fullest extent possible, even if […]

As research involving the transplantation of human “mini-brains”—known as brain organoids—into animals to study disease continues to expand, so do the ethical debates around the practice. One concern is the possibility, however minute, that the grafted organoids may one day induce a level of consciousness in host animals, as models […]

A genetic link has now been found for some instances of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,  or SIDS. The new UW Medicine research study is the first such to make an explainable link tracking the mechanism between a genetic anomaly and some forms of the devastating syndrome, which claims the lives of […]

Connor Harris, a science-minded teenager from Hudson, Ohio, wants to know why African-Americans die from colorectal cancer at a higher rate than other racial groups. His curiosity, fueled by his own family history of cancer, led to a 2018 summer internship program at Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCCC) to engage […]

Some of the most important players on a cancer patient’s health care team are people they typically never meet or interact with — the pathologists who evaluate their tissue samples to determine the type and stage of disease they have. And as interest in patient-pathologist consulting programs has gained momentum […]

The phrase “like clockwork” suggests that clocks never go haywire. But they do. So do the internal clocks that are supposed to keep ticking to the beat of Earth’s 24-hour circadian rhythms. When our own rhythms are disrupted, one result is often a sleep disorder — which, over time, can […]

After hearing a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer, a rush of questions emerges. But often, it’s not until long after leaving the doctor’s office. Metastatic means the cancer has spread beyond the breast and immediate lymph nodes to other organs or tissues in the body, most often the bones, brain, lungs […]

The fight against liver disease could be helped by the discovery of cells that cause liver scarring. Scientists have identified new sub-types of cells that, when they interact, accelerate the scarring process in diseased livers. Experts hope that by understanding more how these cells behave, new treatments can be developed […]

Most people can continue to eat red and processed meat as they do now. A major study led by researchers at McMaster and Dalhousie universities has found cutting back has little impact on health. A panel of international scientists systematically reviewed the evidence and have recommended that most adults should […]

To do a total or partial hip replacement for older adults who have a hip fracture has been the question. Now a large clinical study of almost 1,500 patients in 10 countries world-wide has found those who had a total hip arthroplasty have modestly better function after two years, but […]

Cells that scientists have largely ignored when studying multiple sclerosis are actually key contributors to MS development, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine shows. The discovery suggests new avenues for devising treatments and is a vital step toward finding a cure. Understanding Multiple Sclerosis Scientists had assumed […]

A gene therapy being developed at Penn Medicine to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) successfully and safely stopped the severe muscle deterioration associated with the rare, genetic disease in both small and large animal models, according to a first-of-its-kind study from Penn Medicine researchers. The findings, published online in Nature Medicine, puts […]

NSF-funded researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed new guidelines for fabricating nanoscale gel materials, or nanogels, that can deliver therapeutic remedies to treat cancer in a precise manner. In addition to enabling the delivery of drugs to tumors, the nanogels can target malignant cells and degrade into nontoxic […]

Nutrition scientist  Maryam Hamidi, PhD, conducted research recently which required her to repeatedly stay awake from 8 a.m. until 5 a.m. the next day. As part of the study, she also needed to keep supplies of both healthy and unhealthy snacks stacked in her office. Then, somewhere along the line, […]

Brain organoids created from human embryonic stem cells offer scientists a powerful way to study the developing brain in three dimensions. However, organoids need nutrients and oxygen carried in blood to thrive, just as a developing fetal brain does. Now Yale researchers have developed a method to induce growth of […]

Every tissue in the human body has an immune cell in it called a macrophage. Macrophages play important roles in the immune system’s initial response to bacteria, viruses and wounds. But beyond that, each tissue macrophage also has specialized functions, tuned to the needs of that particular tissue. For example, […]

The brains of people with congenital deafness may be rewiring themselves in ways that affect how those people learn, suggesting a need to develop new teaching techniques tailored toward those who have never been able to hear. Published in Nature Scientific Reports, the findings by an Oregon State University research […]

Cancer cells – especially the more aggressive ones – seem to have an ability to change. It’s how they evade treatment and spread throughout the body. But how does a cancer cell get the energy it needs to do this? “We wondered if a cancer cell that wants to change its […]

Stanford chemists have developed a new deep-tissue imaging technique that can see beneath the skin of living subjects to illuminate buried tumors with unparalleled clarity. In a new study published in the issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology, the researchers demonstrate how their technique can be used to predict the response […]

Many scientists spend their lives conducting tests on a single gene but, in their quest to develop a drug that will repair injured spinal cords, researchers at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis are testing thousands of genes in hundreds of thousands of nerve cells in any given week. In […]

Compared to long-term residents, immigrants to Canada have a 40 per cent higher risk of developing prediabetes, which is an early predictor of an individual’s likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes and associated illnesses, like heart disease. Researchers from the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the […]

A triple drug combination has been used to extend the lifespan of fruit flies by 48 percent in a new study led by the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, Germany, and the UCL. The three drugs are all already in use as medical treatments: lithium as […]

Vaccines made from RNA hold great potential as a way to treat cancer or prevent a variety of infectious diseases. Many biotech companies are now working on such vaccines, and a few have gone into clinical trials. One of the challenges to creating RNA vaccines is making sure that the […]

Science may be inching closer to thwarting obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, as Cornell biochemists have uncovered a key step in how the human body metabolizes sugar, according to new research published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Martha S. Field, assistant professor of nutritional sciences, has further […]

How do you repair a damaged heart? With love? Gifts of candy and flowers? Romantic actions? Well, no. A good way to repair a damaged heart is to patch it. Scientists from the University of New South Wales now demonstrated that you can patch the heart with a 3D printer, […]

Even if we don’t think about it this way, we are still just a bunch of animals. We are mammals, connected to the laws of nature as tightly as the next species. And so our lives are divided into biological periods, which for women include menopause. However, for some women […]

Creating an effective gene therapy for inherited diseases requires three key steps. First, scientists must identify and characterize the disease. Second, they must find the gene responsible. And finally, they must find a way to correct the impairment. Four years ago, a team from the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with […]

Distinct patterns of electrical activity in the sleeping brain may influence whether we remember or forget what we learned the previous day, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers. The scientists were able to influence how well rats learned a new skill by tweaking these brainwaves while […]