General

People with a gene variant called APOE4 have a higher risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease: APOE4 is three times more common among Alzheimer’s patients than it is among the general population. However, little is known about why this version of the APOE gene, which is normally involved in metabolism […]

Memory, learning and cognitive flexibility depend on a protein 'off-switch' in the brain, according to a breakthrough discovery made by an international research collaboration co-led by the University of Warwick. This new knowledge could enable us to better understand and combat neurological diseases which inhibit memory, such as Alzheimer's. Dr […]

In your body, blood stem cells produce approximately 10 billion new white blood cells, which are also known as immune cells, each day. Even more remarkably, if some of these blood stem cells fail to do their part, other blood stem cells pick up the slack and overproduce whichever specific […]

The research, published in the journal Nature Genetics, in the future aims to enable the prediction of the trajectory of tumour growth in patients, allowing clinicians to pre-empt disease course and tailor treatment regimens accordingly. The model was developed in collaboration with researchers from Barts Cancer Institute’s Centre for Tumour Biology, led by Professor […]

A new discovery about the effects of aging in our cells could allow doctors to cure or prevent diabetes, fatty liver disease and other metabolic diseases – and possibly even turn back the clock on aging itself. The new finding from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests that […]

After a decade of work, a team led by Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont researcher and Université de Montréal associate professor Dr. Gilbert Bernier has shed promising light on the origin of the most common and prevalent form of Alzheimer’s disease, hoping to someday help mitigate or even reverse the progress of the […]

An in utero stem cell transplant for a critically ill second-trimester fetus has led to the birth of an apparently healthy infant. The newborn is the first patient enrolled in the world’s first clinical trial using stem cells transplanted prior to birth. The infant was born at UCSF Benioff Children’s […]

Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have added a new dimension to the understanding of how cells alter their communication with one another during development, wound healing, and the spread of cancer. The researchers published their results in Molecular Biology of the Cell, a journal published by the American […]

If your cornea gets damaged because of injury or disease, your best option is transplantation. However, there is an extreme shortage of corneas suitable for transplant – currently there are 15 million people worldwide waiting for cornea transplant. But now scientists from the Newcastle University have made an important breakthrough […]

A molecule promoting blood vessel growth in bone can create an environment suitable for bone-building, representing a potential target for new drugs to treat osteoporosis and fractures, according to new research by Weill Cornell Medicine scientists. The findings, published in Nature Medicine, show that a substance best known for spurring […]

A new study has identified several key factors in postmenopausal women that are associated with height loss, a common occurrence in this age group that is known to increase the risk for death and disease. One factor goes back to what study participants may — or may not — have […]

With summer coming, it’s only a matter of time before the smells and tastes of barbecued foods dominate the neighborhood. But there’s a downside to grilling that can literally get under your skin. In a study appearing in Environmental Science & Technology, scientists report that skin is a more important pathway […]

The team of researchers has successfully ‘trained’ a respiratory virus to recognise ovarian cancer and completely destroy it without infecting other cells. The reprogrammed virus could also be used to treat other cancers such as breast, pancreatic, lung and oral. Dr Alan Parker from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine said: […]

We know a lot about how genes get passed from parent to child, but scientists are still unraveling how so-called epigenetic information—instructions about which genes to turn on and off—is conveyed from generation to generation. Using the tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans, a simple and powerful model for uncovering the fundamental workings of […]

Anyone who’s taken a bite of a sandwich with too much spicy mustard or a piece of sushi with too much wasabi can attest to the tear-inducing sensation these condiments can cause. These loud warnings to the nervous system of exposure to potentially harmful chemicals are triggered by TRPA1, a […]

Zebrafish embryos are transparent and develop outside the mother’s body, enabling scientists to get a detailed view of early development. A research team led by Lila Solnica-Krezel, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Developmental Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, […]

A new Tel Aviv University study identifies a previously unknown mechanism involved in the development of Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The research focuses on a specific microRNA whose levels were found to decrease as a result of ALS-causing muscular mutations. The study highlights, for the first time, the […]

The factors that shape the destiny of a cell, like that of a fully formed person, remain something of a mystery. Why, for example, does one stem cell in a human embryo become a neuron rather than a muscle cell? And why does another decide to build cartilage rather than […]

New clues may help improve speech for people with dysarthria, a type of speech disorder commonly found in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Findings in a study led by Jimin Lee, assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders at Penn State, could aid patients with dysarthria. Dysarthria can cause […]

 A new interdisciplinary research and education center at the University of California, Irvine will apply the power of mathematics to some of the more vexing mysteries in cell biology. The MathBioSys Center on Multiscale Cell Fate is being initiated with $10 million in funding, half from the National Science Foundation […]

The brain's ability to form new neural connections, called neuroplasticity, is crucial to recovery from some types of brain injury, but this process is hard to study and remains poorly understood. A new study of neural circuit repair in the retina shows that neurons can make new connections to the […]

Mammals have bipartite blood circulation, i.e. pulmonary and systemic circulation. The heart is also divided: each circulatory system has an atrium and a ventricle, with the left and right halves of the heart differing in form and function. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in […]

Glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain tumor, is one of the most difficult-to-treat cancers. Only a handful of drugs are approved to treat glioblastoma, and the median life expectancy for patients diagnosed with the disease is less than 15 months. MIT researchers have now devised a new drug-delivering nanoparticle that […]

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Beta-amyloid peptides, protein fragments that form naturally in the brain and clump into plaques in Alzheimer’s disease patients, are thought to be responsible for neuron death, but it hasn’t been clear how the substances kill cells. Now, a Purdue University scientist has shown through computer simulations […]

Recovery after severe spinal cord injury is notoriously fraught, with permanent paralysis often the result. In recent years, researchers have increasingly turned to stem cell-based therapies as a potential method for repairing and replacing damaged nerve cells. They have struggled, however, to overcome numerous innate barriers, including myelin, a mixture […]

Cranking up your headphones or scrambling for a front-row spot at rock shows could be damaging more than your hearing. New research from The Ohio State University has found that young people with subtle hearing loss – the kind they aren’t even aware of – are putting demands on their […]

Researchers have identified a compound that blocks the spread of pancreatic and other cancers in various animal models. When cancer spreads from one part of the body to another in a process called metastasis, it can eventually grow beyond the reach of effective therapies. Now, there is a new plan […]

A review of the most comprehensive body of evidence on acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) — the most common type of childhood cancer – conducted by Professor Mel Greaves from the Institute of Cancer Research in London (ICR) indicates the disease is likely caused by genetic mutation coupled with exposure to […]

Boy or girl? For those who want to influence their baby’s sex, superstition and folk wisdom offer no shortage of advice whose effectiveness is questionable at best — from what to eat to when to make love. But some animals have a technique backed by scientific proof:  In turtles and […]

One in 50,000 Canadian men suffer from a rare genetic disorder that results in progressive vision loss that robs them of their sight by the age of 40. There is no cure, but an extraordinarily expensive, unproven gene therapy is emerging that holds the promise of at least delaying the […]