General

While aging is familiar to all of us, exactly how it occurs on a molecular basis has been an area of intense study and interest. We take it for granted that different species age at different rates, yet we do not have a good understanding of why and how. Most […]

More than 30 years ago, when UC Berkeley researchers discovered telomerase — an enzyme that lengthens chromosome ends and prevents them from fraying enough to kill a cell — speculation ran wild about its role in aging and cancer, setting off a full-court press to produce drugs to activate or […]

For someone with Parkinson’s disease (PD), the simple desire to grasp a glass of water can become an insurmountable task, made impossible by the tremors in their hand or arm. Finding strategies to improve these movement impairments is one of the major goals of rehabilitating people with Parkinson’s disease. At […]

Across the world, more than 200 million cases of malaria and nearly 500,000 deaths from the disease occur annually—more than 90 percent of which happen in Africa. Children in Africa can be diagnosed with malaria two or three times a year, a rate that decreases as they become older and […]

Increased energy – or metabolic use – in patients with motor neurone disease (MND) has been linked to faster disease progression and reduced lifespan, according to University of Queensland researchers. The UQ Centre for Clinical Research’s Dr Frederik Steyn said his research team had revealed important information about how the […]

The “blue light” emitted by street lights including LEDs, and commercial outdoor lighting such as advertising, is linked to a significant increase in the risk of breast and prostate cancer, innovative new research has concluded. A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and involving the University […]

While some research suggests that midlife is a dissatisfying time for women, other studies show that women report feeling less stressed and enjoy a higher quality of life during this period. So, which is it? A recent University of Michigan study by Elizabeth Hedgeman, a doctoral graduate of the U-M […]

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that an experimental drug therapy can extend the lives of children with progeria, a rare genetic disorder that causes premature aging and death. The research showed that children with progeria who were treated with lonafarnib, a drug originally developed to […]

How often do you hear that one or another thing causes cancer? Do you check that information online, do you ask your doctor or you simply nod and believe that everything that is bad for your health causes cancer? Scientists from UCL and the University of Leeds discovered that belief […]

An investigational drug in clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis prevents a common, life-threatening side effect of stem cell transplants, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows. Studying mice, the researchers found the drug prevented what’s known as graft-versus-host disease, a debilitating, sometimes lethal condition that […]

We inherit many traits from our parents including the color of our eyes and hair. Unfortunately, we also inherit risk factors for certain diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Understanding those genetic connections can help prevention efforts and develop new life-saving treatments to combat these diseases. In the […]

Muscle aches and pains, whether from stretching, strenuous exercise or just normal wear and tear, can put a crimp in your day, a limp in your step and be an actual pain in the neck. But no matter the severity, stem cells in the skeletal muscles called satellite cells play […]

Since the 1960s, researchers have been interested in the possibility of treating type 1 diabetes by transplanting islet cells — the pancreatic cells that are responsible for producing insulin when blood glucose concentration increases. Implementing this approach has proven challenging, however. One obstacle is that once the islets are transplanted, […]

Study examines how early embryonic development can go awry. A new study in the journal Nature Cell Biology has uncovered information about a key stage that human embryonic cells must pass through just before an embryo implants. The research, led by UCLA biologist Amander Clark, could help explain certain causes […]

An Arizona startup is hoping its unique compounds will lead to treatments to halt or slow the progression of a devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects nearly 6 million Americans. Iluminos Therapeutics has licensed compounds created at the University of Arizona that have the potential to treat neurodegenerative disease, in particular […]

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women and the most common cause of death in middle-aged women in Sweden. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive and difficult to treat form of the disease that makes up about 15 per cent of all breast cancer cases. […]

Age-related macular degeneration, a disease that slowly degrades light-sensitive cells in the retina, is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness among people 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors can’t prevent such loss of sight – but a system that replaces light-sensitive […]

Mastitis is the most expensive disease in the dairy industry. Each clinical case can cost a dairy farmer more than $400 and damages both the cow’s future output as well as her comfort. Bovine mastitis is typically treated with antibiotics, but with the potential threat of antimicrobial resistance and the […]

At Penn, collaboration is as ingrained in the culture as innovation. And, it turns out, some teams end up having quite the crew. One specific group—working to detect early stage ovarian cancer—maintains experts spanning obstetrics and gynecology, chemistry, physics, and veterinary care. It also includes human’s best furry friends: dogs. As […]

Regular physical activity may help older women increase their mobility, but muscle strength and endurance are likely to succumb to the effects of frailty if they haven’t also been doing resistance training. That is according to the findings of a cross-sectional study led by the University at Buffalo and published […]

Using a homemade, high-tech microscope, scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have revealed how a cancer-causing virus anchors itself to our DNA. That discovery could pave the way for doctors to cure previously incurable diseases by flushing out viruses, including HPV and Epstein-Barr, that now permanently embed […]

A remote command could one day send immune cells on a rampage against a malignant tumor. The ability to mobilize, from outside the body, targeted cancer immunotherapy inside the body has taken a step closer to becoming reality. Bioengineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have installed a heat-sensitive switch […]

Research led at the Yale School of Public Health have found that the majority of published papers analyzing the cost-effectiveness of a widely used test for breast cancer used a study design that can increase bias. Oncotype DX, a gene-expression profiling test, is used in clinical care to guide chemotherapy […]

But platelets also release so-called growth factors that help repair soft tissues – blood vessels, skin, muscle, tendons – and recruit other cells to speed the healing process. Those capabilities have made platelet-rich plasma an emerging treatment option for certain joint injuries and post-operative therapies. Now researchers from the University […]

Exposure to a toxin primarily found in sheep could be linked to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans, new research suggests. Carried out by the University of Exeter and MS Sciences Ltd., the study has found that people with MS are more likely than other people to have […]

While older drivers as a group have a relatively high rate of car crashes, few validated tools exist to evaluate an individual’s crash risk and to help older adults make the life-altering decision to give up their car keys. Aiming to better understand how adults’ crash risk changes over time, […]

A rear-ender in which the driver’s head slams against the steering wheel or a helmet-to-helmet tussle with an opponent on the football field may increase one’s risk for Parkinson’s disease if concussion results, say researchers from UCSF and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In their study, which publishes […]

A new scientific study shows that exposure of preschool children to bright electric light in the evening suppresses melatonin production almost completely, an important addition to the growing body of research in this area. Melatonin suppression is a marker of disruption of our circadian rhythms. Ten kids, ages 3 to 5, were […]

Scientists have identified the molecular mechanism that leads to the death of neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or motor neurone disease) and a common form of frontotemporal dementia. Writing in Cell, the researchers from the University of Cambridge and University of Toronto also identify potential therapeutic targets for these currently incurable […]

Back in 2013, researchers achieved human brain organoids for the first time, which they had eventually managed to induce to form structures like those seen in the brains of foetuses. The problem with the brainy organoids is their short life-span. “In our hands, the organoids stop growing around five weeks,” […]