General

Nobody knows why some children’s backs start to curve to one side just as they hit puberty. Most children diagnosed with scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, have no known risk factors. A new study suggests that the body’s inability to fully utilize the essential dietary mineral manganese might be […]

In multiple sclerosis, a defective response of the body’s own immune system leads to brain tissue damage. Gastrointestinal microbiota could play a far greater role in the pathogenesis of the disease than previously assumed, researchers at the University of Zurich have now found. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in […]

Researchers say they have discovered a gene mutation that slows the metabolism of sugar in the gut, giving people who have the mutation a distinct advantage over those who do not. Those with the mutation have a lower risk of diabetes, obesity, heart failure, and even death. The researchers say […]

The results of a study led by Harvard Medical School researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital support evidence from previous studies suggesting the regular use of aspirin can reduce the risk of developing primary liver cancer, also called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Analyzing data from two long-term epidemiologic studies, the team […]

Genetic testing after a breast cancer diagnosis can offer clues to individualized treatment decisions for a patient and her treatment team. But many patients aren’t aware it exists and could be missing out on that opportunity, according to a new study published in Cancer. A team at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer […]

There is no cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that gradually kills off the motor neurons that control muscles and is diagnosed in nearly 6,000 people per year in the United States. In an advance that could help scientists develop and test new drugs, MIT engineers have designed […]

Antibody-based imaging of a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer is undergoing clinical trials worldwide, but the path from trial to application is being hampered by a major obstacle: safety. Concerns stem from inefficient tumor targeting, which can result in accumulation in the bone marrow, liver and kidneys of the […]

Toddlers with asthma are more likely to become obese children, according to an international study led by USC scientists. The finding is a turnabout for children’s health as obesity has often been seen as a precursor to asthma in children, not the other way around. The study, conducted by a […]

The trial involved 14 patients receiving a single injection into the back of the eye of a virus containing the missing gene and began in 2011 at the Oxford Eye Hospital – part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. By the end of the study there was a […]

Cancers pose the greatest danger when they become invasive and then spread from their originating tissues throughout the body. Although scientists have long known that cells have a chemical means of breaking free, Stanford researchers have discovered that breast cancer cells can also physically push their way out of their […]

A study published in the journal Nature Genetics used genetic data from nearly a million people across Europe and North America to highlight some of the key ways in which type 2 diabetes develops, and to find several genes which could be attractive targets for the creation of new therapeutic drugs. Together […]

Almost 10 million older adults in the U.S. have cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease, or other related dementias. Penn State researchers are looking into how early life adversity, specifically child maltreatment, can affect cognitive aging later in life in a new project. According to Chad Shenk, associate professor of human development […]

Congenital mutations of the CDKN2A gene are the strongest known risk factors for inherited skin cancer. Individuals with melanoma who carry mutations in this gene also have poor prognosis, according to previous research. Melanoma that has metastasised has a limited response to traditional chemotherapy. In recent years, new immunological treatments […]

The Medical Research Council-funded study, led by University of Bristol researchers, aimed to understand whether a short period of sleep can help us process unconscious information and how this might affect behaviour and reaction time. The findings further reveal the benefits of a short bout of sleep on cognitive brain function and found that even during short bouts […]

Brown University researchers have uncovered new clues about the progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a surprisingly common disease that causes the death of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles such as those involved in walking, talking, chewing or breathing. A team led by Anne Hart, a professor of neuroscience […]

Inspiration can be a hard thing to find. The history of science is filled with elusive “eureka moments” taking place under unlikely circumstances—Archimedes’ jump in a bath to intuit displacement, Issac Newton’s observation of a falling apple to grasp gravity, and Nikola Tesla’s inspiration for the electric induction motor, which […]

A large, multiethnic study of healthy individuals found that high blood levels of an inflammatory marker are linked with long-term decline of kidney function. The results may shed light on biological mechanisms that spur chronic kidney disease. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Research was […]

Her father’s cancer diagnosis threw Kimberly Moss into a world of unknowns and anxiety. Moss, an assistant professor of art and visual culture and coordinator of the biological and premedical illustration program at Iowa State University, has an extensive background as a medical illustrator. But she wasn’t prepared for the complexity of esophageal cancer, […]

USC scientists have created the most detailed atlas yet of the hippocampus, the brain’s memory bank. Using fluorescent tracers and 3D animation, the scientists show structures, nerve connections and functions in vivid detail. The study appeared in the journal Nature Neuroscience. “Like a new atlas, we’ve constructed the most detailed diagram of […]

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have found a critical component for growing self-healing muscle tissues from adult muscle—the immune system. The discovery in mice is expected to play an important role in studying degenerative muscle diseases and enhancing the survival of engineered tissue grafts in future cell therapy applications. The […]

Early diagnosis of cancer greatly improves the odds of successful treatment. Yet many people, especially in developing countries, lack access to facilities to detect the disease. To address this issue, a University at Buffalo-led research team is creating a new cancer-spotting tool that health care providers could eventually use in […]

New research from the Abramson Cancer Center identified a rare cause for relapse in leukemia: a single leukemic cell engineered for CAR T therapy and infused back into the patient. The findings, published in Nature Medicine, showed that the CAR lentivirus that usually enters a T cell to teach it to hunt cancer […]

Researchers from The University of Western Australia, King Edward Memorial Hospital and Curtin University are investigating whether an old drug could be used to help very sick premature babies. In a study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology the researchers examine the use of a drug called pentoxifylline in pre-term […]

Surviving cancer is a huge achievement and a relief. It opens up a future of possibilities, it changes your perspective to life and can be motivating. However, many people find themselves disoriented and confused after undergoing a successful cancer treatment. In fact, scientists from the University of New South Wales […]

One of the worst things that can happen to a cell is to end up with the wrong number of chromosomes. This can happen if something goes wrong during cell division, and it can lead to infertility, miscarriages, birth defects, or cancer. An estimated 30 percent of miscarriages are due […]

Analysis of the world’s largest set of genome data from pregnant women, totaling 141,431 expectant mothers from across China, has uncovered unsuspected associations between genes and birth outcomes, including the birth of twins and a woman’s age at first pregnancy. The analysis also allowed researchers to reconstruct the recent movement […]

What a difference a year of high school can make — for long-term health. In 1972, England, Scotland and Wales raised the mandatory school attendance age from 15 to 16. Through a large-scale genetic study, USC Dornsife researchers have found that decades later, the change had a health benefit for […]

A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed an artificial mouse embryo-like structure capable of forming the three major axes of the body. The technique, reported today in the journal Nature, could reduce the use of mammalian embryos in research. The definitive architecture of the mammalian body is […]

Aortic dissection occurs when weakened layers of the aorta — the body’s main artery — pull apart or tear, trapping blood between layers. This further weakens the aorta and may cause it to rupture. “An acute aortic dissection is a very lethal condition,” says Bo Yang, M.D., a cardiac surgeon at the University […]

Only a fraction of people in their 50s and early 60s have had their DNA tested —either for medical reasons, to learn their ancestry or out of curiosity — but far more have an interest in pursuing such tests. One in 10 older adults have taken genetic tests offered directly to consumers, and […]