April 29, 2019

Research shows connection between sleep apnea, deadly blood cancer

Researchers at the University of Iowa have discovered a link between sleep apnea and multiple myeloma, a deadly blood cancer, that could lead to earlier and more effective treatment of the disease. Mahmoud Ali, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the UI, says the findings provide a better understanding […]
April 29, 2019

Heart attack and stroke screening times should be more individual

Certain lifestyle choices and conditions can increase your risk of having a stroke or a heart attack. Of course, routine check-ups is one of the more reliable ways to reduce this risk. In fact, now scientists from UCL and the University of Helsinki say that as many as 1 in […]
April 29, 2019

Why Women Get Autoimmune Diseases Far More Often Than Men

Researchers cause a lupus-like disease in mice by amplifying the amount of a single “master regulator” factor — suggesting both a root cause for known differences between the sexes and a target for new treatments. It’s one of the great mysteries of medicine, and one that affects the lives of […]
April 29, 2019

Creativity is not just for the young, study finds

If you believe that great scientists are most creative when they’re young, you are missing part of the story. A new study of winners of the Nobel Prize in economics finds that there are two different life cycles of creativity, one that hits some people early in their career and another that […]
April 26, 2019

Study pinpoints what causes relapse after cancer immunotherapy

Harnessing the body’s immune system to fight off cancer, a tactic known as immunotherapy, has tremendously improved outcomes for patients. But a lingering problem with immunotherapy, as with many other cancer treatments, is relapse. In many cases the tumor comes back, and doctors don’t know why. Now, research from the […]
April 26, 2019

Chemotherapy or not?

Case Western Reserve University researchers and partners, including a collaborator at Cleveland Clinic, are pushing the boundaries of how “smart” diagnostic-imaging machines identify cancers—and uncovering clues outside the tumor to tell whether a patient will respond well to chemotherapy. The recent findings in breast and lung cancer research build off […]
April 26, 2019

How Colon Cancer Unfolds in the Body

‘Protein whisperers’ create a new line of sight into the deadly disease PNNL scientists and colleagues have taken one of the most in-depth looks ever at the riot of protein activity that underlies colon cancer and have identified potential new molecular targets to try to stop the disease. The research […]
April 25, 2019

Imaging system helps surgeons remove tiny ovarian tumors

Ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed only after it has reached an advanced stage, with many tumors spread throughout the abdomen. Most patients undergo surgery to remove as many of these tumors as possible, but because some are so small and widespread, it is difficult to eradicate all of them. Researchers […]
April 25, 2019

“Nanofiber yarn” makes for stretchy, protective artificial tissue

The human body is held together by an intricate cable system of tendons and muscles, engineered by nature to be tough and highly stretchable. An injury to any of these tissues, particularly in a major joint like the shoulder or knee, can require surgical repairs and weeks of limited mobility […]
April 25, 2019

Exposing Cancer’s Metabolic Addictions

Cancerous tumors are classified primarily based on their tissue of origin. However, the sequencing of the human genome and the development of powerful and affordable DNA sequencing technologies has ushered in a new era of precision oncology, in which patients are treated with customized therapies designed to target the specific […]
April 25, 2019

Blood Thinner Found to Significantly Reduce Subsequent Heart Failure Risks

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that using blood thinners in patients with worsening heart failure, coronary artery disease or irregular heart rhythms was associated with a 17 percent reduced risk of thromboembolic events, such as stroke and heart attack. Results from the COMMANDER Heart […]
April 25, 2019

Engineering 'hairpins' increases CRISPR accuracy

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a method for improving the accuracy of the CRISPR genome editing technology by an average of 50-fold. They believe it can be easily translated to any of the editing technology’s continually expanding formats. The approach adds a short tail to the guide RNA […]
April 25, 2019

A New Clue in the Mystery of ALS, Frontotemporal Dementia

A special focus on rogue proteins may hold future promise in stopping the progression of nerve cell destruction in people who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or frontotemporal dementia. ALS, a rare but devastating disorder that’s also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, attacks the body’s nerve cells, resulting in progressive […]
April 25, 2019

Brains of blind people adapt to sharpen sense of hearing, study shows

Research has shown that people who are born blind or become blind early in life often have a more nuanced sense of hearing, especially when it comes to musical abilities and tracking moving objects in space (imagine crossing a busy road using sound alone).  For decades scientists have wondered what […]
April 25, 2019

New nanomedicine slips through the cracks

In a recent study in mice, researchers found a way to deliver specific drugs to parts of the body that are exceptionally difficult to access. Their Y-shaped block catiomer (YBC) binds with certain therapeutic materials forming a package 18 nanometers wide. The package is less than one-fifth the size of […]
April 25, 2019

Next stage of innovative osteoarthritis drug clinical trial begins

A trial for an innovative and ‘game-changing’ treatment for osteoarthritis taking place at the University of Liverpool has begun its second stage, bringing it one-step closer to completion. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type of arthritis in the UK, affecting more than eight million people, and is the leading […]
April 25, 2019

UC receives fourth CRISPR patent; three more on the way

The U.S. Patent Office today issued a fourth patent for the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to the University of California, expanding the university’s patent portfolio to cover a broad variety of uses in all types of cells as well as cell-free environments. The patent office has told UC that it […]
April 25, 2019

Low mobility predicts hospital readmission in older heart attack patients

Close to 20% of elderly adults who have suffered a heart attack will be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days. Performance on a simple mobility test is the best predictor of whether an elderly heart attack patient will be readmitted, a Yale-led study reports. Appearing in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality […]
April 24, 2019

Despite health warnings, Americans still sit too much

Most Americans continue to sit for prolonged periods despite public health messages that such inactivity increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers, according to a major new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research team analyzed surveys of […]
April 24, 2019

Rare disease gives new insight into regulatory T cell function

An international study led from Karolinska Institutet provides new insights into the regulatory T cells’ role in protecting against autoimmune disease. By mapping the targets of the immune system in patients with the rare disease IPEX, they were able to show that regulatory T cells control immunotolerance in the gut. […]
April 24, 2019

Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes are at risk of giving birth prematurely

Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes are at increased risk of delivering their baby prematurely. The risk increases as blood sugar levels rise, however women who maintain the recommended levels also risk giving birth prematurely. These are the findings from researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden, […]
April 24, 2019

Welding with stem cells for next-generation surgical glues

Scientists at the University of Bristol have invented a new technology that could lead to the development of a new generation of smart surgical glues and dressings for chronic wounds. The new method, pioneered by Dr Adam Perriman and colleagues, involves re-engineering the membranes of stem cells to effectively “weld” […]
April 24, 2019

To protect stem cells, plants have diverse genetic backup plans

Despite evolution driving a wide variety of differences, many plants function the same way. Now a new study has revealed the different genetic strategies various flowering plant species use to achieve the same status quo. In flowering plants, stem cells are critical for survival. Influenced by environmental factors, stem cells […]
April 24, 2019

Rare genetic change provides clues to pancreas development

Researchers have discovered a key clue into the development of the pancreas and brain by studying rare patients born without a pancreas. Published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, the study revealed that all three patients without a pancreas and with abnormal brain development had an identical change in the CNOT1 gene. […]
April 24, 2019

USC-led advance in groundbreaking cancer treatment eliminates severe side effects

An advance in the groundbreaking cancer treatment known as CAR T-cell therapy appears to eliminate its severe side effects, making the treatment safer and potentially available in outpatient settings, a new USC study shows. “This is a major improvement,” said Si-Yi Chen of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, professor in […]
April 24, 2019

A light-activated remote control for cells

What if doctors had a remote control that they could use to steer a patient’s own cells to a wound to speed up the healing process? Although such a device is still far from reality, researchers reporting in the ACS journal Nano Letters have taken an important first step: They used near-infrared […]