General

You learn as you go. This is how you learned to walk, to speak, to read and to do pretty much everything else. You observe, you try and you do it. Scientists say that this is why it is very important that small children hear a lot of talking from […]

In a new study, Yale Cancer Center scientists have demonstrated a powerful method to analyze how tumor cells are altered as they metastasize, or spread, to the brain. The research, published in the journal Cell Reports, may eventually improve early diagnosis and treatment of metastatic brain cancer, whose incidence is climbing and whose […]

Nature can provide us with a lot of inspiration when it comes to science. For example, did you know that there is a species of microscopic roundworm, called c. elegans, which are able to repair damaged nerves? Scientists observed how this tiny creature spontaneously reconnects severed nerves. Researchers from the […]

A previously unknown autoimmune muscle disease involving sudden onset of debilitating muscle pain and weakness has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The syndrome easily could be mistaken for other muscle diseases that require different treatment, so the findings are expected to help […]

Prior studies have suggested that pain-relieving opioids such as methadone can markedly lower testosterone in men. And those contending with Type 2 diabetes are roughly twice as likely to see a decrease in active amounts of the male sex hormone. While explanations have proven elusive, researchers do have an intriguing […]

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has developed a promising new cell therapy with potential to improve tissue healing after orthopedic injuries. The new cell therapy, recently described in the journal Stem Cells, accelerated the recovery of ruptured Achilles tendons in a rodent model, and may similarly aid […]

A team of Florida State University researchers used a simple tumor model to show the importance of tissue microenvironment in primary tumor formation. In the journal Developmental Cell, FSU researchers explain how certain signaling pathways define tumor hotspots, tissue microenvironment favorable for tumorigenesis, and show that simple stimulation of a […]

Eating breakfast every day has always been considered an important part of a healthy lifestyle, but a new study from the University of Iowa shows just how important it is. The study, by Wei Bao, assistant professor of epidemiology in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, finds that people who […]

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 […]

Recovering after stroke is extremely difficult. Not only you have to try to live with the changes presented by the disease, you also have to understand the risk of developing a secondary stroke at any time. A team of scientists led by the Universities of Edinburgh and Nottingham have just […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Chemotherapy is still our best bet when fighting leukaemia and other forms of cancer. However, even though it is the best available option now, it is definitely not without its own faults. Chemotherapy has a wide range of extreme side effects that make patients‘ lives miserable. Now scientists from the […]

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 […]

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 […]

DNA strands are long and fussy. They can actually tie into knots, makings parts of them difficult to read. And yet about 2 metres of DNA can be neatly packaged in each of our cells without much problem. How? Scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh and Padova in Italy studied […]

‘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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]