Related Science News

March 22, 2021

Ultrasound may have potential for treating pain after chemotherapy, U of A study shows

Therapeutic ultrasound was a tool in Janice Yurick’s treatment arsenal for 15 years. Yurick, a now-retired physical therapist and former manager of supportive care services at the Cross Cancer Institute, had more than two decades of experience in oncology rehabilitation. She used the technology with patients and saw results, despite […]
March 22, 2021

New method targets disease-causing proteins for destruction

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a way to use a cell’s own recycling machinery to destroy disease-causing proteins, a technology that could produce entirely new kinds of drugs. Some cancers, for instance, are associated with abnormal proteins or an excess of normally harmless proteins. By eliminating them, […]
March 21, 2021

Age-Associated B Cells Contribute to Autoimmunity and Chronic Inflammation

The immune system becomes disordered and dysfunctional with age in numerous different ways. The B cell component accumulates inflammatory and problematic cells that are known as age-associated B cells. Here, researchers show that these errant B cells produce antibodies that provoke autoimmunity. B cell aging is a problem with a […]
March 20, 2021

Electromagnetic fields hinder spread of breast cancer

Electricity may slow – and in some cases, stop – the speed at which breast cancer cells spread through the body, a new study indicates. The research also found that electromagnetic fields might hinder the amount of breast cancer cells that spread. The findings, published recently in the journal Bioelectricity, suggest […]
March 20, 2021

Cancer survivors face elevated heart disease risk, study finds

A new study has found that about 35% of Americans with a cancer history had an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease in the next decade, compared with about 23% of those who didn’t have cancer. Based on a risk calculator that estimates a person’s 10-year chances of developing heart disease or stroke, […]
March 20, 2021

Lower dose of oestrogen receptor modulator seems to reduce risk of breast cancer

While the drug tamoxifen reduces the risk of developing breast cancer and prevents recurrence, the side-effects cause many women to discontinue their treatment. A study involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm has now found that a much lower dose than the standard produces a good effect with fewer adverse […]
March 20, 2021

AI method can detect precursors to cervical cancer

Using artificial intelligence and mobile digital microscopy, researchers hope to create screening tools that can detect precursors to cervical cancer in women in resource-limited settings. A study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Helsinki now shows that AI screenings of pap smears carried out with portable […]
March 19, 2021

Two Proteins Critical for Kidney Function

More than 37 million people in the United States have chronic kidney disease, the result of ever-increasing rates of common health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Normal kidneys work relentlessly to maintain a crucial balance of fluids inside our bodies. They also filter sodium, other minerals and […]
March 19, 2021

Can Prebiotics Help Protect Against Immunotherapy-Induced Colitis?

Prebiotics are an intriguing potential approach to curbing some of the severe side effects that life-saving immunotherapy treatments can wreak on the gut, according to an analysis of recent studies and clinical trials by researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. Rather than trying to introduce beneficial strains of […]
March 19, 2021

Lab-created heart valves can grow with the recipient

A groundbreaking new study led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers from both the College of Science and Engineering and the Medical School shows for the first time that lab-created heart valves implanted in young lambs for a year were capable of growth within the recipient. The valves also […]
March 19, 2021

Could leak in blood-brain barrier cause poor memory?

Have you forgotten where you laid your keys?  Ever wondered where you had parked your car? Or having trouble remembering the name of the new neighbor? Unfortunately, these things seem to get worse as one gets older. A big question for researchers is where does benign forgetfulness end and true […]
March 19, 2021

Cells burn more calories after just one bout of moderate aerobic exercise

In a recent study testing the effects of exercise on overall metabolism, researchers at Oregon State University found that even a single session of moderate aerobic exercise makes a difference in the cells of otherwise sedentary people. Mitochondria are the part of the cell responsible for the biological process of […]
March 19, 2021

Identifying Cells to Better Understand Healthy and Diseased Behavior

In researching the causes and potential treatments for degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, neuroscientists frequently struggle to accurately identify cells needed to understand brain activity that gives rise to behaviour changes such as declining memory or impaired balance and tremors. A multidisciplinary team of the Georgia Institute […]
March 19, 2021

Double duty: Gut’s immune system helps regulate food processing, too

The small intestine is ground zero for survival of animals. It is responsible for absorbing the nutrients crucial to life and it wards off toxic chemicals and life-threatening bacteria. In a new study published in the journal Science, Yale researchers report the critical role played by the gut’s immune system […]
March 19, 2021

Mystery of four-stranded DNA begins to unravel

New insights into a little-understood DNA structure could provide the basis for new cancer therapies. DNA is usually depicted as double-stranded, but not much is known about parts of the genome that adopt four-stranded structures known as quadruplexes. UC Riverside researchers have discovered that they play a key role in […]
March 18, 2021

Age-Related Vision Impairment Correlates with Mortality

Researchers here note an association between vision impairment and mortality in later life. This has the look of a correlation that exists because aging is a global process at work throughout the body. It stems from the accumulation of a few classes of cell and tissue damage. That damage causes […]
March 18, 2021

Nanotechnology could enable test for early Alzheimer’s Disease

University of Manchester scientists have discovered previously unseen blood biomarkers which could one day be used to test for Alzheimer’s disease, years before its symptoms appear. The ground-breaking study, published in ACS Nano, used cutting-edge nanotechnology uniquely developed and patented by the Nanomedicine Lab in Manchester, to extract blood signals of […]
March 18, 2021

Study: One enzyme dictates cells’ response to a probable carcinogen

In the past few years, several medications have been found to be contaminated with NDMA, a probable carcinogen. This chemical, which has also been found at Superfund sites and in some cases has spread to drinking water supplies, causes DNA damage that can lead to cancer. MIT researchers have now […]
March 18, 2021

Immune Receptor Protein Could Hold Key to Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases

TARM1 is a receptor protein whose role in the functioning of the immune system is unknown. In a new study, scientists from Japan have explored the potential role of TARM1 in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis by analyzing mouse models. They found that TARM1 activated dendritic cells, and the development of […]
March 18, 2021

Cancer patients set to benefit from £3.5m funding for cell therapies

CytoSeek’s technology is designed to help target the immune cells to the solid tumour and improve their cancer cell-killing ability. Solid tumours account for the majority of deaths from cancer and are notoriously difficult to treat, even with existing immune cell therapies, because the tumour suppresses immune cells’ ability to […]
March 18, 2021

How sperm remember

It has long been understood that a parent’s DNA is the principal determinant of health and disease in offspring. Yet inheritance via DNA is only part of the story; a father’s lifestyle such as diet, being overweight and stress levels have been linked to health consequences for his offspring. This […]
March 18, 2021

More precise diagnoses made possible with whole genome sequencing

More than 1,200 people with rare diseases have received a diagnosis thanks to the integration of large-scale genomics into the Stockholm region’s healthcare system. This is according to a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden that analysed the result of the first five years of collaboration on whole-genome sequencing between […]
March 18, 2021

Escape Artist

The vast majority of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 clear the virus, but those with compromised immunity—such as individuals receiving immune-suppressive drugs for autoimmune diseases—can become chronically infected. As a result, their weakened immune defenses continue to attack the virus without being able to eradicate it fully. This physiological tug-of-war between […]