January 31, 2019

Initiative Will Create Coursework for Cell Manufacturing Training

An 18-month federally-sponsored project led by the Georgia Institute of Technology will develop much-needed curriculum to train workers for the fledgling cell manufacturing industry. Research teams at the University of Georgia (UGA) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), along with four private firms, are also taking part in the $1.4 […]
January 30, 2019

Machine Learning Finds Multiple Factors Underlie Cancer Immunotherapy Success

A University of Maryland-led research team is using a branch of artificial intelligence known as machine learning to better target immunotherapy treatment to those who will benefit. Immunotherapies, which use a person’s own immune system to fight cancer, have produced revolutionary results in recent years, including curing people with previously […]
January 30, 2019

Treating Cervical Cancer: What You Need to Know

Cervical cancer was once one of the most common cancers affecting U.S. women and now ranks 14th. The rate has declined sharply with the introduction of the Pap test, a screening procedure that can find changes in the cervix before the cancer develops. The test can also help to find cervical cancer at an […]
January 30, 2019

Study suggests how high blood pressure might contribute to Alzheimer’s

The brain’s system for removing waste is driven primarily by the pulsations of adjoining arteries, University of Rochester neuroscientists and mechanical engineers report in a new study. They also show that changes in the pulsations caused by high blood pressure slow the removal of waste, reducing its efficiency. This might […]
January 30, 2019

Aging Americans Fall Prey to ‘Brain-Boosting’ Supplements Offering Hope, Hype and Dodgy Data

Americans are feeding the multi-billion-dollar “brain health” dietary supplement industry in a desperate bid to stave off or reverse Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. But such treatments are “pseudomedicine” and health care providers should discourage patients from pursuing them, say neurologists at UC San Francisco. Opinion piece in JAMA, neurologists urge […]
January 30, 2019

In myasthenia gravis, surgery to remove the thymus gland provides clinical benefits even five years later

Surgery to remove the thymus gland in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG), a rare autoimmune disease affecting neuromuscular function, provides significant clinical benefits for as long as five years after the procedure, according to a paper published in The Lancet Neurology. The study followed 68 patients for up to five years after […]
January 30, 2019

Drug shows promise to treat diet-induced osteoarthritis

QUT scientists have found that a drug derived from omega-3 fatty acids can reduce osteoarthritis inflammation that’s been caused by a high-fat diet. The study, published in Nature journal Scientific Reports, is among the first to investigate resolvin D1 (RvD1), which has reported anti-inflammatory properties, as a possible treatment for diet-associated osteoarthritis, which affects […]
January 30, 2019

Could higher levels of testosterone hold the key to slower ageing?

A new study of older men carried out by The University of Western Australia has found there is a link between men who have higher levels of the sex hormone estradiol, produced from testosterone, and slower ageing. The study is the largest of its kind to look at the relationship […]
January 30, 2019

Common Pain Reliever Can Improve Survival in Head and Neck Cancer

Regular use of a common type of medication, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, significantly improves survival for a third or more patients with head and neck cancer, a new study led by UC San Francisco has found. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, improved the overall five-year survival rate from 25 […]
January 29, 2019

New theory unlocks the secret behind protein-membrane interactions

Trillions of cells — all different shapes and sizes — form a human body’s structure. Surrounding each cell is a membrane, jointly acting as hostess and security — welcoming certain information into the cell while making sure its components don’t spill out into the body’s void. Much is known about […]
January 29, 2019

Teaming Up to Fight Cancer

When Kim Merchant learned she had breast cancer in January 2018, she “was a little shell-shocked.” As an active person with a healthy diet and no family history of the disease, she was stunned to be diagnosed with stage II invasive ductal carcinoma at the age of 61. “It just […]
January 29, 2019

Initiative Will Create Coursework for Cell Manufacturing Workers

An 18-month federally-sponsored project led by the Georgia Institute of Technology will develop much-needed curriculum to train workers for the fledgling cell manufacturing industry. Research teams at the University of Georgia (UGA) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), along with four private firms, are also taking part in the $1.4 […]
January 29, 2019

Sleep deprivation accelerates Alzheimer’s brain damage

Poor sleep has long been linked with Alzheimer’s disease, but researchers have understood little about how sleep disruptions drive the disease. Now, studying mice and people, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that sleep deprivation increases levels of the key Alzheimer’s protein tau. And, […]
January 28, 2019

Old cells repair damage in the brains of MS patients

A new study shows that there is a very limited regeneration of cells in the brain of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). These findings underline the importance of treating MS at an early stage of the disease progression, when the affected cells can repair the damage as they are […]
January 28, 2019

7 Healthy Habits to Help Prevent Macular Degeneration

Doctors aren’t sure what causes age-related macular degeneration, a disease that affects millions of people in the United States. Also called AMD, it is known for causing blurred central vision due to damage to the macula — a small area at the back of the eye. Currently, there is no cure. But there […]
January 26, 2019

A Neuroenvironmental Connection

Both genes and the environment shape a person’s risk of disease, but while genes are frequently cataloged, perturbed, activated, turned off and systematically tested in the lab, environmental exposures are often studied as one-offs. Now Harvard Medical School investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed an approach to systematically […]
January 25, 2019

Married older people enjoy a faster walking pace and a stronger grip

Aging is no fun. As you get older, your body weakens and it becomes more and more difficult to walk and complete even basic tasks. Now scientists from UCL analysed data from over 20,000 people from England and the United States and found that people who are married walk better […]
January 25, 2019

Heart health education can positively influence underserved, rural populations

Improving dietary habits and learning skills such as reading food labels and recognizing the signs of a heart attack have the potential to improve cardiovascular health among underserved rural populations, according to newly published research from Florida State University. Laurie Abbott, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing, found […]
January 24, 2019

Blood test detects Alzheimer’s damage before symptoms

A simple blood test reliably detects signs of brain damage in people on the path to developing Alzheimer’s disease – even before they show signs of confusion and memory loss, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the German Center for Neurodegenerative […]
January 24, 2019

Faulty molecular master switch may contribute to AMD

A signaling pathway controlled by transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) could be involved in the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have found that interrupting TGFβ signals to immune cells called microglia causes the cells to […]
January 24, 2019

Study identifies new genes associated with the leading cause of blindness

A new study, published in Clinical Epigenetics, identifies genes associated with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) that could represent new targets for future drug development. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the UK and affects more than 200 million of people worldwide. The condition results in a gradual loss of […]
January 24, 2019

Energizing the Immune System to Eat Cancer

Immune cells called macrophages are supposed to serve and protect, but cancer has found ways to put them to sleep. Now researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania say they’ve identified how to fuel macrophages with the energy needed to attack and eat cancer cells. It is well […]
January 24, 2019

Cancer has a biological clock and this drug may keep it from ticking

new drug shows potential to halt cancer cells’ growth by stunting the cells’ biological clock. The findings from scientists at the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience and Nagoya University’s Institute of Transformative BioMolecules (ITbM) advance a burgeoning area of research: turning the body’s circadian rhythms against cancer. Their study, conducted on […]
January 24, 2019

Researchers First to Use CRISPR/Cas9 to Control Genetic Inheritance in Mice

Biologists at the University of California San Diego have developed the world’s first CRISPR/Cas9-based approach to control genetic inheritance in a mammal. Scientists around the world have been using CRISPR/Cas9 in a variety of plant and animal species to edit genetic information. One approach to editing the genome can control […]
January 23, 2019

Nanoparticle targets tumor-infiltrating immune cells, flips switch telling them to fight

New research builds on Nobel-winning immune checkpoint blockade work. Immunotherapy’s promise in the fight against cancer drew international attention after two scientists won a Nobel Prize this year for unleashing the ability of the immune system to eliminate tumor cells. But their approach, which keeps cancer cells from shutting off […]