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New tool lets researchers quantify contraction, relaxation in human heart cells in a dish. The human heart beats an estimated 2 to 3 billion times over a 70-year lifespan. Powering each beat are muscle cells’ individual units of contraction, called sarcomeres. Above, sarcomeres beat in human heart cells in a […]

DNA-repair enzymes help cells survive damage to their genomes, which arises as a normal byproduct of cell activity and can also be caused by environmental toxins. However, in certain situations, DNA repair can become harmful to cells, provoking an inflammatory response that produces severe tissue damage. MIT Professor Leona Samson […]

A new method uses fluorescence to detect potentially disease-causing forms of proteins as they unravel due to stress or mutations. A team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Washington reengineered a fluorescent compound and developed a method to simultaneously light up two different proteins as they misfold […]

National Eye Institute scientists led a collaborative study and zeroed in on genes associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss and blindness among people age 65 and older. These findings provide a more expanded and in-depth picture of the genetic contributions to AMD, and they […]

High cholesterol has been found to be a possible risk factor for the development of motor neurone disease (MND), according to a large study of genetic data led in the UK by Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health in the USA. The results […]

A study provides new insight into how the stiffening of breast tissue plays a role in breast cancer development. By examining how mammary cells respond in a stiffness-changing hydrogel, bioengineers at the University of California San Diego discovered that several pathways work together to promote the transformation of breast cells […]

For some of us, they carry the bright blue of our grandfather’s eyes. For others they result in the characteristic cleft chin or the familial tendency toward color blindness. But in some families, the genetic mutations handed down from generation to generation aren’t as benign. And for one family in […]

Getting enough sleep is key to good health, and studies have shown that insufficient sleep increases the risk of serious problems, including cardiovascular disease. Now, Harvard Medical School researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital have discovered one way that sleep protects against atherosclerosis, the buildup of arterial plaques. In their […]

Hearing impairment is a common consequence of advancing age. Almost three-quarters of U.S. adults age 70 and older suffer from some degree of hearing loss. One unanswered question has been to what degree hearing impairment intersects with and influences age-related cognitive decline. In a new study, researchers at University of […]

An international research team led by The University of Western Australia and The Baker Institute in Melbourne has found a morning bout of exercise reduces the detrimental impact on the pattern of brain blood flow of prolonged sitting in older adults who are overweight or obese. Lead researcher Michael Wheeler, […]

Oxford University Radcliffe Department of Medicine researchers have developed a new method that uses a protein originally found in marine corals to visualise the flow of calcium that makes the heart beat.  In a paper published in the journal Circulation Research, they used this technique to uncover the effects of genetic […]

Rotator cuff tears are common injuries, and proper healing of the shoulder muscle is often difficult. “Chronic tears often result in fat accumulation within the rotator cuff muscles, resulting in negative clinical outcomes, including weakening and atrophy of the muscles,” says Manuel Schubert, M.D., resident in orthopaedic surgery at Michigan Medicine. […]

Syrian hamsters are golden-haired rodents often kept as house pets. Cold and darkness can cause the animals to hibernate for 3-4 days at a time, interspersed with short periods of activity. Surprisingly, the hibernation spurts of these cute, furry creatures could hold clues to better treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), […]

Two new papers, published simultaneously in Nature Communications and led by researchers at McGill University, offer promise that a drug currently used to treat estrogen positive breast cancer may be effective in treating two different types of cancer, one rare and one common form. The breakthrough discovery launching this research came in […]

Eye troubles detected at infancy began to take their toll when Emma Kate Roden started walking. The toddler would often bump into things because of poor eyesight. Now age 7, a rare genetic condition has continued to eat away at her vision. She can’t see after dark, so there are […]

The specialists can review an individual’s DNA following a doctor’s suspicion of retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease or cone-rod dystrophy, among other vision-related conditions. The goal: to identify genetic mutations and associated inheritance patterns related to the disorder. “We consider genetic testing to be an integral part of making a diagnosis in […]

As new technology allows researchers to plunge deeper into the genome and exome, a new class of RNA called circRNA, or circular RNA, may play an intriguing role. Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have cataloged circular RNA in multiple cancers. Their initial research suggests these stable structures could […]

Many older adults who have major surgery experience postoperative delirium in the days after their operations. Previous research has suggested that closely monitoring the brain during surgery and making adjustments to protect the brain from too much anesthesia could reduce risk of postoperative delirium. But in a new study of […]

Time wears differently on women’s and men’s brains. While the brain tends to shrink with age, men’s diminish faster than women’s. The brain’s metabolism slows as people grow older, and this, too, may differ between men and women. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis […]

Though separated by a world of ocean, and unrelated to each other, two fish groups – one in the Arctic, the other in the Antarctic – share a surprising survival strategy: They both have evolved the ability to produce the same special brand of antifreeze protein in their tissues. A […]

Researchers from the University of Alberta may have found a way to make chemotherapy more effective at treating cancer while blocking its harmful side-effects on the heart. While chemotherapy can be an effective treatment for cancer, the aggressive attack on cancer cells often cause damage to other cells throughout the […]

A new Tel Aviv University study finds that fibromyalgia syndrome — a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain, fatigue and cognitive difficulties — may be a consequence of post-traumatic physical and psychological distress associated with childhood sexual abuse. The research suggests that survivors of childhood sexual abuse who develop fibromyalgia may be […]

UC San Francisco researchers have for the first time transformed human stem cells into mature insulin-producing cells, a major breakthrough in the effort to develop a cure for type 1 (T1) diabetes. Replacing these cells, which are lost in patients with T1 diabetes, has long been a dream of regenerative […]

Scientists seeking to regrow damaged kidneys have discovered that blocked kidneys in newborns have a remarkable ability to repair themselves after the obstruction is removed. The finding offers insights into how that happens and could eventually help doctors regenerate kidneys in adults. The new research, from the University of Virginia […]

A new study found that an HIV drug significantly reduces age-related inflammation and other signs of aging in mice. “This holds promise for treating age-associated disorders including Alzheimer’s,” said John Sedivy, professor of medical science and biology at Brown University. “And not just Alzheimer’s but many other diseases: Type 2 […]

You know that dizzy feeling you get when, after lying down for an extended period, you stand up a little too quickly? That feeling is caused by a sudden reduction of blood flow to the brain, a reduction of around 30 percent. Now imagine living every minute of every day […]

Human body is very adaptable to various changes that occur during your lifetime. You notice that when some functions of your body become impaired. For example, those who lose limbs learn o get around without them very quickly. Now scientists from UCL and the University of Oxford found that detailed […]

When metastatic cancer cells need to avoid a threat, they simply reprogram themselves. Rice University scientists are beginning to get a handle on how they survive hostile environments. Members of Rice’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) and cancer metabolism researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have created a basic framework of […]

People who inherit a faulty copy of the so-called “breast cancer genes” BRCA1 and BRCA2 are at high risk of cancer. About 10 percent of breast cancer cases and 15 percent of ovarian cancers can be traced back to a flaw in one of these genes. A class of drugs known as PARP inhibitors […]

Researchers have found that treating psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease, with biologic drugs that target immune system activity can reduce the early plaque buildup that clogs arteries, restricts blood flow, and leads to heart attacks and stroke. The findings highlight how immunotherapies that treat inflammatory conditions might play a […]