General

Telomeres are the protective caps of our chromosomes and play a central role in the ageing process. Shorter telomeres are associated with chronic diseases and high stress levels can contribute to their shortening. A new study now shows that if telomeres change in their length, that change is also reflected […]

A completely new, comprehensive human genome reference will be created in a National Institutes of Health-funded, multi-institutional initiative. The Human Pangenome Project will be based on the complete genome sequences of 350 individuals from a variety of the world’s populations. The international Human Genome Project in 2000 produced the first working draft […]

The Yale laboratory of Sidi Chen, assistant professor of genetics in the Systems Biology Institute and Yale Cancer Center, has developed advanced gene-editing and screening technology to find new targets for cancer immunotherapy. In a new study published in Nature Biotechnology, Chen and colleagues report that using T cells containing […]

New grants totaling approximately $29.5 million will enable scientists to generate and maintain the most comprehensive reference sequence of the human genome. The awards, made over five years pending the availability of funds, are managed by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health. […]

According to a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the biological clock influences immune response efficacy. Indeed, CD8 T cells, which are essential to fight infections and cancers, function very differently according to the time of day. The study was […]

Many neurodegenerative diseases have a common feature that may make them amenable to the same treatment, investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found. “We’ve identified a potential new way to reduce nerve-cell death in a number of diseases characterized by such losses,” said Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, professor of chemical and […]

Over the past three years, in hopes of accelerating research on the genetic causes and treatments for autism, University of Miami psychology faculty have recruited nearly 700 children affected by the neurodevelopmental disorder, and both of their parents, to join the world’s largest autism research project. This month they began […]

A treatment for psoriasis could be repurposed to treat a rare but aggressive form of youth cancer, new findings from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research suggest. In an animal model, researchers demonstrated that the immune molecule IL23 is central to the development of osteosarcoma, a cancer of the bone. […]

Which treatment will benefit this patient best? Which substances are most promising for pharmaceuticals companies to develop? These are questions that scientists at Linköping University are seeking to answer with the aid of the tiny zebrafish embryo. Zebrafish embryos are colourless transparent balls. We see some only a few days […]

Restricting sleep for just several days alters how we metabolize fats and changes how satisfied we are by a meal, according to new research conducted at Penn State and published in the Journal of Lipid Research. According to Orfeu Buxton, researcher on the project and professor of biobehavioral health at Penn […]

For patients diagnosed with a certain type of brain cancer called glioblastoma, long-term survival is rare. Surgery can remove tumors visible to the surgeon’s eye. It cannot, however, take out the diseased tendrils of tumor cells that extend beyond what the doctor sees. While current immunotherapy drugs are effective for […]

A drug used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia appears to be more effective at stopping a type of medulloblastoma in mouse models than existing treatments for the deadly pediatric brain tumor, reports a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California […]

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine say they are getting closer to identifying the mechanisms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and biomarkers that can aid in early diagnosis and predictions of symptom severity. A team of scientists analyzed blood gene expression data from 302 one- to […]

UQ researchers have discovered a potential drug target for Alzheimer’s disease — an enzyme which has effects on both the immune and nervous systems. Dr Ramón Martínez-Mármol and Professor Frédéric A. Meunier from the Queensland Brain Institute Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research found that targeting one enzyme could combat the disease on two fronts. […]

Despite confirming that benefits of exercise for breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy wear off quickly once they stop, a new University of Alberta study also showed that patients prescribed a training regimen with a resistance-training component were more likely to continue exercising once their treatment ended. In the study, led by U […]

Onions and garlic are key ingredients in sofrito, a condiment that’s a staple of Puerto Rican cuisine. They may also be a recipe for reducing the risk of breast cancer. That’s according to the findings of a study led by University at Buffalo and University of Puerto Rico researchers. It’s […]

A new family of drugs which inhibit the activity of a protein associated with prostate and other cancers has been reported by scientists from the University of Bath. They provide a promising avenue for research to potentially develop new therapies to treat a range of cancers thanks to the design […]

Rice University researchers have found a way to track the formation of soluble amyloid beta peptide aggregates implicated in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The Rice lab of Angel Martí reported its development of a ruthenium-based fluorescent complex that binds to soluble, oligomeric amyloid beta peptides. As the peptides come together to form the […]

A space-age metal that formed part of the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs could provide a new method of treating cancer tumours selectively using light. Scientists at the University of Warwick in collaboration with colleagues in China, France, Switzerland and Heriot-Watt University have developed a technique that uses light to […]

“Good morning. Bill. Please. Step onto the scale. Touch the metal pads.” The device records an electrocardiogram from Bill’s fingers and – more importantly – circulation pulsing that makes his body subtly bob up and down on the scale. Machine learning tools compute that Bill’s heart failure symptoms have worsened. […]

From improving outcomes in children with brain cancer to lowering the risk of damage to the brainstem in children with central nervous system tumors, a pair of new studies published today add to the growing body of research showing the potential benefits of proton therapy. The first study, published in Pediatric […]

Michigan Medicine researchers determine that receptors inside heart cells could be targets for better beta blockers. Beta blockers are versatile drugs that have been around since the 1960s that can help slow heart rate and lower blood pressure – a fact that isn’t lost on certain musical soloists who take them […]

What makes cancer so deadly is its ability to spread, a process called metastasis. This doesn’t take place on a flat surface like a petri dish; it happens in the 3-D world of the human body. Stopping or even slowing it holds promise for extending the lives of cancer patients. […]

To a trained eye, the chromosome chart (karyotype) above has 4 irregularities, circled in red. They’re chromosome pairs of uneven size. The chromosomes represent genetic material missing or extra, but also a beautiful girl. Her father contacted me after he read my recent post about a friend’s child with a rare mutation […]

Eisai Co., Ltd. and Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. has announced the manufacturing and marketing approval in Japan for the indication of improvement of wearing-off phenomenon in patients with Parkinson's disease under treatment with a drug containing levodopa for Equfina TABLETS (safinamide mesilate, “safinamide”), which was developed for use in […]

Major physical changes occurred in the human heart as people shifted from hunting and foraging to farming and modern life. As a result, human hearts are now less “apelike” and better suited to endurance types of activity. But that also means those who lead sedentary lives are at greater risk for […]

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown for the first time that severe brain cancers integrate into the brain’s wiring. The tumors, called high-grade gliomas, form synapses that hijack electrical signals from healthy nerve cells to drive their own growth. Experiments demonstrated that interrupting these signals with an existing […]

More than one million Americans per year experience myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, as well as the healing and rebuilding phase that begins shortly thereafter – a complicated process which involves remodeling and repairing the heart. This process is known as the granulation phase and is critical […]

For more than a century, the humble and ubiquitous fruit fly has helped scientists shed light on human genetics, disease, and behavior. Now a new study by University of Miami researchers reveals that the tiny, winged insects have an innate time- and color-dependent preference for light, raising the intriguing possibility […]

Researchers from Tulane University School of Medicine have discovered that some cancer cells survive chemotherapy by eating their neighboring tumor cells. The study, which was published in the Journal of Cell Biology, suggests that this act of cannibalism provides these cancer cells with the energy they need to stay alive and initiate tumor […]