Related Science News

November 20, 2020

Diagnostic Imaging May Increase Risk of Testicular Cancer

Early and repeated exposures to diagnostic imaging, such as X-rays and CT scans, may increase the risk of testicular cancer, suggests a new study from Penn Medicine researchers published online in PLOS ONE. “The steady rise in testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) cases over the past three or four decades suggests there is an […]
November 19, 2020

Unraveling a mystery surrounding embryonic cells

Last year, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, identified the early origins of neural crest cells — embryonic cells in vertebrates that travel throughout the body and generate many cell types — in chick embryos. Now the researchers have used a human model to figure out when neural crest cells […]
November 19, 2020

Working to better understand the brain

Case Western Reserve University researchers are part of an international team striving to crack the secrets of how our neurons—the nerve cells that send and receive signals to and from the brain—work together to regulate physical movements. The work is supported by a $3 million grant from the National Institutes […]
November 19, 2020

Study explores sleep apnea, autoimmune disease link

New research by University of Georgia scientists sheds light on why people with obstructive sleep apnea may have associated autoimmune disorders. The results could lead to better approaches to treatment and possibly new drug therapies. The study, led by Bradley Phillips, builds on previous research showing that obstructive sleep apnea increases the […]
November 19, 2020

Broadening the Taxonomy of Cellular Senescence in Aging

Cells enter a senescent state constantly throughout life, largely because they have reached the Hayflick limit on replication, but also due to molecular damage, cancerous mutations, injury to tissue, radiation, or other causes. A senescent cell stops replicating, swells in size, and begins to secrete a mix of inflammatory signals, […]
November 18, 2020

Student team develops noninvasive endometriosis test

When Meghan Martin ’21, a biochemistry and American Sign Language double major, was a sophomore in high school, she began experiencing intense, chronic pain. An avid runner and soccer player, she was crippled by cramps, nausea, and back spasms that left her unable to participate in the sports she loved. […]
November 18, 2020

Wound-healing biomaterials activate immune system for stronger skin

Researchers at Duke University and the University of California, Los Angeles have developed a biomaterial that significantly reduces scar formation after wounding, leading to more effective skin healing. The U.S. National Science Foundation-funded research demonstrates that activating an immune response can trigger regenerative wound healing. The work builds on the team's previous research […]
November 18, 2020

SMART researchers develop gelatin microcarrier for cell production

Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, have developed a novel microcarrier for large-scale cell production and expansion that offers higher yield and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional methods and reduces steps required in the cell retrieval process. Microcarriers are particles used in bioreactor-based […]
November 18, 2020

The SynergyAge Database: Which Genetic Effects on Life Span are Additive?

The SynergyAge database is intended to collect information on interactions between longevity-related mutations. Many such genetic alterations have been studied in laboratory species – yeast, flies, worms, mice, and so forth – but interactions between mutations are only sparsely investigated in comparison. This is true for all interventions in aging, […]
November 17, 2020

Predicting the risk of severe side effects of cancer treatment

The risk of serious adverse effects on the blood status and bone marrow of patients during chemotherapy can be predicted by a model developed at LiU. This research may make it possible to use genetic analysis to identify patients with a high probability of side effects. It is often difficult […]
November 17, 2020

Killing Cancer Naturally: New Process to Produce Compounds with Anti-Cancer Properties

Scientists from the Tokyo University of Science have made a breakthrough in the development of potential drugs that can kill cancer cells. They have discovered a method of synthesizing organic compounds that are four times more fatal to cancer cells and leave non-cancerous cells unharmed. Published in the American Chemical […]
November 17, 2020

Shift workers at increased risk of asthma, research shows

An international team of scientists led by The University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust has found that shift workers, especially those working permanent night shifts, showed increased risks of asthma, especially moderate or severe asthma. The study of 280,000 UK Biobank participants also revealed that irregular night shift workers […]
November 17, 2020

Data on OneSkin's Peptide 14, a Topical Senotherapeutic, in Human Skin Models and Skin Biopsies

You might recall that OneSkin recently launched a cosmetic product claimed to reduce levels of senescent cells in aged skin, as measured by the usual markers for cellular senescence, such as p16 expression and senescence-associated β-galactosidase. Removal of senescent cells is more or less literal rejuvenation, given that the accumulation […]
November 17, 2020

Biomedical engineers investigate engineered tissue to treat lung disease

Research by University at Buffalo biomedical engineers Ruogang Zhao and Yun Wu may help discover new drugs to treat pulmonary fibrosis, a severe lung disease that can be life-threatening. Pulmonary fibrosis has many causes, including smoking, ageing, environmental factors and viral infections, such as those associated with COVID-19. There is […]
November 17, 2020

Gene-edited monkey embryos give researchers new way to study HIV cure

A gene that cured a man of HIV a decade ago has been successfully added to developing monkey embryos in an effort to study more potential treatments for the disease. Timothy Brown, known for years as “the Berlin Patient,” received a transplant of bone marrow stem cells in 2007 to […]
November 16, 2020

First study on effects of smoked cannabis on brain development

University of Saskatchewan (USask) pharmacologist Robert Laprairie will use a Brain Canada research grant to determine how a mother’s use of cannabis during pregnancy affects the brain of the developing fetus she’s carrying. Laprairie is one of 20 Canadian neuroscientists each awarded $100,000 today as part of Brain Canada’s Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program.  “Following on Canada’s legalization of cannabis in […]
November 16, 2020

Fujitsu and Tokyo Medical and Dental University Leverage World's Fastest Supercomputer to Perform Cancer Gene Network Analysis in Less than a Day

Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) and Fujitsu Laboratories Limited have recently completed, in less than a day, estimation of the network that represents the influence relationship between genes and prediction of their relationship with infiltration and metastasis based on genes highly likely to be involved in cancer development. TMDU […]
November 16, 2020

Alzheimer’s Breakthrough

James Cook University researcher Dr Brandon Mahan worked with a team of French researchers at the Université de Paris, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (UP, IPGP; Paris, France) who compared brains with and without Alzheimer’s to discover what made them different. “Our study is the first time it […]
November 16, 2020

A Change of Heart

For the first time, medication has impacted heart muscle thickness and function for patients with the most common inherited heart condition, rather than simply addressing their symptoms. “This is the first study to show a favourable impact of a medication on cardiac structure and function in any form of hypertrophic […]
November 16, 2020

Implicating TFAM in the Mitochondrial Dysfunction that Accelerates Immune Aging

This short commentary looks at just one cell type, T cells of the adaptive immune system, in which loss of mitochondrial function produces issues such as cellular senescence that contribute to broader degenerative aging throughout the body. Every cell contains hundreds of mitochondria, responsible for producing adenosine triphosphate, an energy […]
November 16, 2020

‘Rewiring’ metabolism in insulin-producing cells may aid Type 2 diabetes treatment

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown way that pancreatic cells decide how much insulin to secrete. It could provide a promising new target to develop drugs for boosting insulin production in people with Type 2 diabetes. In a pair of papers recently published in Cell Metabolism, scientists from the University of […]
November 16, 2020

Promising MS Drug Could Worsen Disease, UVA Reaserch Suggests

A drug that has shown promise for treating multiple sclerosis may actually make the debilitating disease worse, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests. The drug has not yet made it to human trials for MS, but the UVA scientists are warning their fellow researchers to proceed […]
November 13, 2020

Sugar work: U-M study finds sugar remodels molecular memory in fruit flies

A high-sugar diet reprograms the taste cells in fruit flies, dulling their sensitivity to sugar and leaving a “molecular memory” on their tongues, according to a University of Michigan study. Examining fruit flies, researchers Monica Dus, Anoumid Vaziri and collaborators found that high-sugar diets completely remodelled the flies’ taste cells, […]
November 13, 2020

Cellular Survivors

When it comes to complex life — that of the multicellular variety — cell death can be just as important as survival. It allows organisms to clean house and prevent the proliferation of damaged cells that could compromise tissue function. Several years ago, biologist Denise Montell, a distinguished professor at UC […]
November 13, 2020

Penn Researchers Discover Two Key Events That Turn Normal Cells into Cancer

More than 100 different cancers can arise all over the body, but two universal metabolic pathways may tie them all together, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in a new study published online in Cell Metabolism. Researchers have long believed all cancers are […]
November 13, 2020

A new test for chronic fatique syndrome

Developed by researchers at UdeM and the CHU Sainte-Justine, the innovation allows testing of patients who cannot participate in clinical studies due to the severity of their condition. Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), better known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is a complex chronic disease affecting some 600,000 Canadians and up to 2.5 […]
November 13, 2020

Molecular atlases reveal how human cells develop and grow

UW Medicine researchers at the Brotman Baty Institute in Seattle have created two cell atlases that track gene expression and chromatin accessibility during the development of human cell types and tissues. One atlas maps gene expression within individual cells across 15 fetal tissues. The second atlas maps the chromatin accessibility […]
November 13, 2020

Detecting Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms arise

Both of Andrew Kiselica’s grandfathers developed dementia when he was in graduate school. As Kiselica was going through neuropsychology training in graduate school, he saw his mother’s father become unable to walk or speak due to severe dementia. The University of Missouri researcher said that personal experience has motivated his work to […]