General

A selfish streak in genes known to drive species apart might occasionally bring them closer together, says a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Rochester. Though the vast majority of genes are essential to organisms’ survival and reproduction, some selfishly turn against their counterparts to improve […]

Since the 1960s, scientists have known of a modification that occurs to a particular molecule in muscles, especially after exercise. What scientists haven’t known is how that modification happens, or even why. Now, in a serendipitous finding that started with seemingly unrelated work in viral infections, a team of Stanford […]

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome develop metabolic syndrome earlier than women without the condition—likely putting them at higher risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a new study by the University of Michigan. Unlike other studies that examined polycystic ovary syndrome and metabolic syndrome at only one point […]

University of Tokyo researchers developed a novel approach to boost the effectiveness of a new type of vaccine. This approach is expected to be highly adaptable and boost the potential applications of new vaccines for personalized immunotherapy for cancer and prevention of emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases. Until now, so-called […]

Scientists identified two distinct control mechanisms in the developmental transition of undifferentiated stem cells into healthy brain cells. This fundamental research using mice may inform regenerative medicine treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and spinal cord injuries, in the future. When an embryo develops, stem cells differentiate into all the types of […]

Around the world, women outlive men. This is true in sickness and in health, in war and in peace, even during severe epidemics and famine. In most animal species, females live longer than males. Now, scientists at UC San Francisco have zeroed in on a possible genetic mechanism for this […]

Sugar can silence a key protein required for colonization by a gut bacterium associated with lean and healthy individuals, according to a new Yale study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. The gut microbiota plays a key role in human health, and its […]

A biomarker for multiple sclerosis has been identified in humans by researchers at Purdue University and the Indiana University School of Medicine. A biomarker for multiple sclerosis that could be an early warning for the disease has shown promise in both human and animal testing. Researchers at Purdue University and […]

Research led by the University of Adelaide shows that metabolic syndrome in pregnant women increases their risk for pregnancy complications including preeclampsia and gestational diabetes by 2-4 times. Published in the journal PLOS Medicine the research assessed maternal metabolic health at 15 weeks’ gestation in 5530 women in the international […]

When Seattle Public Schools announced that it would reorganize school start times across the district for the fall of 2016, the massive undertaking took more than a year to deploy. Elementary schools started earlier, while most middle and all of the district’s 18 high schools shifted their opening bell almost an hour later — […]

The elderly suffer more serious complications from infections and benefit less from vaccination than the general population. Scientists have long known that a weakened immune system is to blame but the exact mechanisms behind this lagging immunity have remained largely unknown. Now research led by investigators at Harvard Medical School […]

In general, women who have had children have a lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who have never given birth. However, new research has found that moms don’t experience this breast cancer protection until many years later and may face elevated risk for more than 20 years after […]

Unlike the more common Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia tends to afflict young people. It accounts for an estimated 20 percent of all cases of early-onset dementia. Patients with the illness typically begin to suffer memory loss by their early 60s, but it can affect some people as young as their […]

A new test for cervical cancer was found to detect all of the cancers in a randomised clinical screening trial of 15,744 women, outperforming both the current Pap smear and human papillomavirus (HPV) test at a reduced cost, according to a study led by Queen Mary University of London. The […]

A new compound that targets a receptor within sarcoma cancer cells shrank tumors and hampered their ability to spread in mice and pigs, a study from researchers at the University of Illinois reports. The researchers conducted a multi-year, cross-disciplinary study that went from screening potential drug candidates to identifying and synthesizing one […]

The common recommendation to avoid physical activity in the four hours prior to bed due to its potentially negative effects on sleep might actually be false, at least according to a new review of the scientific literature on the topic. Having looked at 23 studies which have met the inclusion […]

To trace which proteins are produced and when, researchers say, just follow the ribosome “footprints.” Researchers are tracking these large molecular machines, following their trails of protein synthesis to determine how precisely cells produce their protein components. Building too few might upset growth, metabolism, and maintenance, while too many might […]

A weighty new study shows that CRISPR therapies can cut fat without cutting DNA. In a paper published in the journal Science, UC San Francisco researchers describe how a modified version of CRISPR was used to ramp up the activity of certain genes and prevent severe obesity in mice with genetic mutations […]

There’s a reason so many children are prescribed methylphenidate, better known by the trade name Ritalin: it helps kids quell attention and hyperactivity problems and sit still enough to focus on a school lesson. The drug keeps more of the neurotransmitter dopamine loose among brain cells, enhancing cell-to-cell transmission of […]

Neurons in the brain and spinal cord don’t grow back after injury, unlike those in the rest of the body. Cut your finger, and you’ll probably be back to using it in days or weeks; slice through your spinal cord, and you likely will never walk again. Now, working in […]

Researchers have identified another reason to limit red meat consumption: high levels of a gut-generated chemical called trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), that also is linked to heart disease. Scientists found that people who eat a diet rich in red meat have triple the TMAO levels of those who eat a diet […]

African-Americans with moderate or severe sleep apnea are twice as likely to have hard-to-control high blood pressure when their sleep apnea goes untreated, according to a new study funded mainly by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The findings, which researchers […]

It’s a simple message, but as screening recommendations for colorectal and other cancers become more complicated, what happens when the message becomes “maybe get screened” or even “stop screening”? A new study in JAMA Network Open finds nearly one-third of veterans who underwent recommended screening colonoscopies were uncomfortable with the idea of […]

Genetics may play a larger role in pancreatic cancer than previously thought, an expert panel has found. It’s led to the American Society of Clinical Oncology recommending that genetic testing be offered to anyone diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The goal: to help identify family members who might be at greater risk. “It […]

A new computational model developed by researchers from The City College of New York and Yale gives a clearer picture of the structure and mechanics of soft, shape-changing cells that could provide a better understanding of cancerous tumor growth, wound healing, and embryonic development. Mark D. Shattuck, professor of physics at City […]

An insulin injection can manage diabetes symptoms, but actually curing the disease would mean healing cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, a hormone that regulates the amount of sugar in blood. One promising approach may be to stimulate the regeneration of those cells with drugs. But there’s a major […]

Millions of people in the United States alone have submitted their DNA for analysis and received information that not only predicts their risk for disease but, it turns out, in some cases might also have influenced that risk, according to a recent study by researchers at Stanford University. The team, […]

Like Zika, infection with Rift Valley fever virus can go unnoticed during pregnancy, all the while doing irreparable – often lethal – harm to the fetus. The results of a new study, led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research (CVR), underscore the importance of disease prevention for […]

How does cancer spread? While studying human brain tumour cells, a team of scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) found some answers to this crucial, yet so far unanswered question. They looked at a gene called EGFRvIII, which is present in patients with glioblastoma – […]

The neurodegenerative disease ALS causes motor neuron death and paralysis. However, long before the cells die, they lose contact with the muscles as their axons atrophy. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now devised a new method that radically improves the ability to study axons and thus to better understand the […]