General

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 […]

Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered that breast cancer tumors boost their growth by recruiting stromal cells that originate in bone marrow. While the recruitment of bone marrow-derived fibroblasts lowers the odds of surviving breast cancer, the study suggests that targeting these cells with new therapies could be an effective way […]

High temperatures, sore throats and infections during childhood can increase the risk of also suffering from a mental disorder as a child or adolescent. This is shown by the first study of its kind to follow all children born in Denmark between 1 January 1995 and 30 June 2012. The […]

At just two-and-a-half years old, the University of Wisconsin–Madison Human Stem Cell Gene Editing Service is already contemplating expansion. The increased demand has tracked the growth of research projects on campus using a new gene editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9. The service derives and genetically engineers pluripotent stem cell lines for […]

After reading studies that showed aerobic exercise can improve cognition in healthy adults, School of Nursing researcher Fang Yu wondered how exercise could affect people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. For the last 15 years, Yu has been exploring that question from a variety of perspectives. She thinks non-pharmacological […]

Aggressive treatment of hypertension in stroke patients could do more harm than good in the long term, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Georgia. Sixty percent of stroke patients admitted to U.S. emergency rooms have elevated blood pressure, and many studies say that having high blood […]

A new computational model clarifies the structure and mechanics of soft, shape-changing cells, potentially giving scientists a better understanding of cancerous tumor growth, wound healing, and embryonic development. Led by Corey O’Hern, a Yale professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, physics, and applied physics, the researchers developed an efficient computational […]

Real world data from a large Nordic study shows that use of liraglutide, a drug for type 2 diabetes, is associated with a lower risk of myocardial infarction, stroke or cardiovascular death. The study, led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, is published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. The […]

Researchers at Cardiff University are exploring how digital technologies, such as wearable fitness trackers, can be used to help people with Huntington’s disease (HD) manage their symptoms. As part of a £16 million collaboration to address the health and social care of people with diseases of the brain, Professor Monica […]

Machine-learning and neuroimaging techniques have been used to accurately distinguish between individuals with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and healthy individuals, on the basis of their brain structure, in new research part funded by the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre and published in The British Journal of Psychiatry. Researchers performed MRI (magnetic resonance […]

Researchers have discovered that a hormone, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), is extremely elevated in mice with liver disease that mimics the same condition in patients with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA), a serious genomic disorder. Based on this finding, medical teams treating patients with MMA will be able to measure FGF21 levels to […]

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a new tool described as a “flight data recorder” for developing cells, illuminating the paths cells take as they progress from one type to another. Scientists hope to one day be able to take skin cells from a […]

The discovery of three biomarkers that detect mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s has the potential to lead to the development of a saliva test to diagnose the chronic neurodegenerative disease. University of Alberta scientists Liang Li and Roger Dixon examined saliva samples from three sets of patients: those with Alzheimer’s, those with mild cognitive […]

The idea of a cancer vaccine is something researchers have been working on for over 50 years, but until recently they were never able to prove exactly how such a vaccine would work. Now, a team of researchers at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at Université de […]

The venom of insects such as wasps and bees is full of compounds that can kill bacteria. Unfortunately, many of these compounds are also toxic for humans, making it impossible to use them as antibiotic drugs. After performing a systematic study of the antimicrobial properties of a toxin normally found […]

Newborns with vitamin D deficiency have an increased risk of schizophrenia later in life, a team of Australian and Danish researchers has reported. The discovery could help prevent some cases of the disease by treating vitamin D deficiency during the earliest stages of life. The study, led by Professor John McGrath from The […]

Postmenopausal women with higher levels of body fat have a significantly increased risk of developing breast cancer even if they have a normal body mass index (BMI), according to a study published Dec. 6 in JAMA Oncology. BMI is a measure of body mass based only on height and weight; […]

Older adults who added hazelnuts to their diet for a few months significantly improved their levels of two key micronutrients, new research at Oregon State University indicates. In the study, 32 people age 55 and older ate about 57 grams of hazelnuts – 2 ounces or about one-third cup – […]

Girls exposed to chemicals commonly found in toothpaste, makeup, soap and other personal care products before birth may hit puberty earlier, according to a new longitudinal study led by researchers at UC Berkeley. The results, which were published in the journal Human Reproduction, came from data collected as part of the […]

When traveling in space, astronauts experience physiological changes normally associated with aging, such as bone loss, muscle deterioration and altered immune systems. When the astronauts return to Earth, the changes often reverse. To better understand the relevance of the astronauts’ experience to human health — both on the ground and […]

Postmenopausal women who have experienced loss of all teeth are at higher risk of developing high blood pressure, according to a University at Buffalo study published Dec. 4 in the American Journal of Hypertension. Multiple studies have suggested an association between periodontal disease and tooth loss with hypertension, but the […]

Nature is so complex that natural molecules used for i.e. cancer treatment still can’t be produced by chemical synthesis. Today, major chemical and pharmaceutical companies harvest large amounts of rare plants and seeds in order to extract valuable substances. But the production methods based on extracts from natural resources are […]

Researchers studying Alzheimer’s disease have created an approach to classify patients with Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that may open the door for personalized treatments. “Alzheimer’s, like breast cancer, is not one disease,” said lead author Shubhabrata Mukherjee, research assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. ”I […]

Researchers at the University of Missouri have unraveled how a cancer-critical enzyme is positioned on cell surfaces. The enzyme enables tumor cells to tunnel through collagen, creating a convenient path for tumors to spread cancer throughout the body. This breakthrough is an important step toward the development of pharmaceuticals that can prevent […]

University of Minnesota Technology Commercialization today announced the formal launch of Vascudyne Inc., a startup company based in Stillwater, Minn., focused on the development of biologically engineered tissue for medical device and therapeutics applications. The technology offers a regenerative capacity unavailable until now in materials and devices used for medical […]

Sports concussions, Parkinson’s disease and hormone therapy for cancer all can have memory loss as symptoms. But can the biochemical processes of each reveal anything about the memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease? Rong Xu recently received a total of $5 million from the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) National […]

There is a large, untapped potential for developing drugs against cancer, fibrosis and cardiovascular diseases by targeting a family of receptors known as Frizzleds, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden believe. In a new study published in Science Signaling, they identify how these receptors are activated in the cell membrane and […]