General

Mutations in the gene LRRK2 have been linked to about three percent of Parkinson’s disease cases. Researchers have now found evidence that the activity of LRRK2 protein might be affected in many more patients with Parkinson’s disease, even when the LRRK2 gene itself is not mutated. The study was published […]

Throughout his science training in Vietnam, Germany, Austria and the United States, Nam Chu has loved finding ways to fight diseases such as neurodegeneration and cancer. “To do that,” he says, “you need to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms—how certain proteins can cause the disease and how you can intervene.” Now a […]

A gene linked to 3 to 4 percent of people with Parkinson’s disease could play an important role in most, if not all, people with the disease, according to new study findings from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC. The gene, called LLRK2, was previously thought to only cause […]

A wildebeest knows when it is outnumbered by a pack of hungry hyenas, thanks to an imprecise, primal brain function called the Approximate Number System, or ANS. Animals have it and human babies are born with it. Scientists have long believed that human’s ability to solve symbolic math problems such […]

It is summer now and we are all rushing to the nearest beach, river or lake. It helps us to cool down, but we can also try some extreme sports there, such as jumping to the water from some height. That can result in some injury and as a new […]

Convelo Therapeutics Inc., a company founded on seminal scientific discoveries made in the laboratories of Paul Tesar and Drew Adams at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has launched from working in stealth mode with a mission to discover and develop a new class of medicines that regenerate the […]

The immune system can be an important ally in the fight against cancer. A study from McGill scientists published today in Science suggests that the reverse may also be true – that abnormal inflammation triggered by the immune system may underlie the development of stomach tumours in patients with a hereditary cancer syndrome known […]

Genes produce proteins that keep your body functioning and healthy. But genes that code for protein make up less than 2 percent of your DNA. The rest of the DNA might appear to be dormant at first glance, but scientists now appreciate that this region plays a key role in […]

The lack of certain toxic and cancer-causing chemicals in e-cigarettes may not necessarily mean that e-cigarette users are not exposed to them anyway. A new study from the University of Minnesota found that while e-cigarettes contain virtually no N-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) — a chemical that can cause oral cavity and esophageal cancer […]

UA students study honey bees to find out how bacteria in their guts and the foods they eat are connected to life expectancy. They hope the insects can serve as model systems to discover clues about how genetics, gut bacteria and diet influence aging in humans. To the untrained eye […]

A new study using data from the Trinity Ulster Department of Agriculture (TUDA) ageing cohort study comprising over 5,000 individuals has found that a measure of belly fat (waist:hip ratio) was associated with reduced cognitive function in older Irish adults (>60 years of age). These findings have significant implications as […]

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are more likely than other women to have an autistic child, according to an analysis of NHS data carried out by a team at Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre. The research was published in the journal Translational Psychiatry. PCOS affects about one in ten women […]

After a primary tumor is treated, cancer stem cells may still lurk in the body, ready to metastasize and cause a recurrence of the cancer in a form that’s more aggressive and resistant to treatment. University of Illinois researchers have developed a molecular probe that seeks out these elusive cells […]

Just because an animal is soft and squishy doesn’t mean it isn’t tough. Experiments at Rice University show the humble hydra is a good example. The hydra doesn’t appear to age – and apparently never dies of old age. If you cut one in two, you get hydrae. And each one can eat animals […]

The study reported mice with pancreatic cancer that were treated with a naturally occurring constituent of medicinal cannabis alongside chemotherapy, survived almost three times longer than those treated with chemotherapy alone. Each year around 9,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The disease is particularly aggressive and […]

Pioneering new research into the way in which cells communicate with each other could hold the key to unlocking new, improved treatment for life-threatening diseases, including cancer. Various mechanisms exist for cells to communicate with each other, and many are essential  for development. A team of international researchers looked at […]

Multiple pregnancies might make women’s cells age more quickly, a new Northwestern University study suggests. Led by Calen Ryan and Christopher Kuzawa of Northwestern and Dan Eisenberg at the University of Washington, the research could help explain why women with many children tend to show signs of accelerated aging. The findings, published in Scientific Reports, […]

Almost half of our DNA sequences are made up of jumping genes—also known as transposons. They jump around the genome in developing sperm and egg cells and are important to evolution. But their mobilization can also cause new mutations that lead to diseases, such as hemophilia and cancer. Remarkably little […]

A team of researchers, including UConn assistant professor of pharmaceutics Raman Bahal, has, for the first time, corrected a genetic mutation in a mammalian fetus using a targeted gene editing technique. The approach offers a potential new pathway for treating inherited genetic disorders during the earliest stages of development. Every year, […]

A new USC School of Pharmacy study led by University ProfessorJean Chen Shih offers new evidence that the monoamine oxidase-A enzyme (MAO-A) pathway could be an important target in treating prostate cancer. Pioneering work previously conducted by Shih revealed the role the MAO-A gene plays in depression and other mental illnesses, as […]

Biology researchers from the University of Southampton have brought us a step closer to fully understanding how we inherit our chromosomes from our parents and grandparents. In a study, published in the journal Nature Communications, Professor Keith Jones and colleagues from the School of Biological Sciences have observed, for the very first time, a power […]

Inflammation is part of the body’s natural healing process. But when it becomes chronic, inflammation can lead to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions. Inflammasomes — protein-based molecular machines — trigger inflammation in response to different signals generated by cell stress, tissue injury or infectious organisms. In a study published […]

A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge has identified a protein complex that might explain why some cancer patients treated with the revolutionary new anti-cancer drugs known as PARP inhibitors develop resistance to their medication. In a study published in Nature Cell Biology, the team from the Wellcome/Cancer Research […]

The therapeutic potential of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are capable of becoming almost any type of cell in the human body, is well-recognized and broadly pursued, but their mutational burden has not been fully characterized yet. IPSCs are reprogrammed from somatic tissues, including skin cells that may […]

Turmeric is a very well-known spice, used to add colour and flavour to various foods. It is very popular in Indian cuisine, but it is slowly making its way into western restaurants and coffee places. In fact, turmeric latte is gaining traction as well. But scientists from UCL think that […]

Purdue University researchers have developed a technique they hope will provide valuable information about the growth of certain cancers and the ability of drugs to fight them. The team created a new way to grow tumors that focuses on cancers of the breast, prostate and pancreas, some of the most […]

Most people with spinal cord injury are paralyzed from the injury site down, even when the cord isn’t completely severed. Why don’t the spared portions of the spinal cord keep working, allowing at least some movement? A study published online in Cell provides insight into why these nerve pathways remain quiet. Most […]

There is no shortage of wonders that our central nervous system produces—from thought and language to movement to the five senses. All of those dazzling traits, however, depend on an underappreciated deep brain mechanism that Donald Pfaff, head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior at The Rockefeller University, calls generalized arousal, or […]

The creation of artificial embryos has moved a step forward after an international team of researchers used mouse stem cells to produce artificial embryo-like structures capable of ‘gastrulation’, a key step in the life of any embryo. The team, led by Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz at the University of Cambridge, previously […]

We know instinctively that our experiences shape the way we learn. If we are highly familiar with a particular task, like cooking for example, learning a new recipe is much easier than it was when we were a novice. New research from the University of California, Davis, shows that experience […]