Related Science News

May 27, 2020

More effective human antibodies possible with chicken cells

Antibodies for potential use as medicines can be made rapidly in chicken cells grown in laboratories. Researchers refer to their technique as the human ADLib system, short for autonomously diversifying libraries. The technique automatically builds vast numbers, or libraries, of diverse antibodies using chicken immune system cells’ natural method for […]
May 27, 2020

Troublemaking ‘lesion’ singled out in UV-caused skin cancer

Upon exposure to human skin, ultraviolet light from the sun almost instantly generates two types of “lesions” that damage DNA. It has long been unknown, though, whether one of these lesions is more responsible for activating a process that may increase cancerous mutations in cells. In a new paper, scientists […]
May 27, 2020

Ketostasis: nature’s sweet spot

For followers of popular science news—or of the latest diet craze—the term “intermittent fasting” is decidedly trending. Each new mention of the eating plan brings with it more revelations about the health benefits it could offer. In the last six months alone, new studies have tied fasting to a reduced […]
May 27, 2020

Exploring the frontiers of immunity and healing

During a 1989 lecture at the Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology, Yale School of Medicine professor Charles Janeway, MD, hypothesized the existence of an innate immune system and special receptors on immune cells (currently known as toll-like receptors) that trigger the body’s response to infection. Janeway’s research later […]
May 26, 2020

Deep learning accurately stains digital biopsy slides

Tissue biopsy slides stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) dyes are a cornerstone of histopathology, especially for pathologists needing to diagnose and determine the stage of cancers. A research team led by MIT scientists at the Media Lab, in collaboration with clinicians at Stanford University School of Medicine and Harvard […]
May 26, 2020

New method reveals where DNA is at risk in the cell

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new sequencing method that makes it possible to map how DNA is spatially organised in the cell nucleus – revealing which genomic regions are at higher risk of mutation and DNA damage. The technique is described in an article published in the scientific […]
May 26, 2020

Study reveals first evidence inherited genetics can drive cancer’s spread

Sometimes cancer stays put, but often it metastasizes, spreading to new locations in the body. It has long been suspected that genetic mutations arising inside tumor cells drive this potentially devastating turn of events. Now researchers have shown for the first time that our own pre-existing genetics can promote metastasis. […]
May 26, 2020

Nanodevices show how cells change with time, by tracking from the inside

For the first time, scientists have added microscopic tracking devices into the interior of cells, giving a peek into how development starts. For the first time, scientists have introduced minuscule tracking devices directly into the interior of mammalian cells, giving an unprecedented peek into the processes that govern the beginning […]
May 25, 2020

How a Key Protein Juggles Multiple Demands to Keep Neurons Firing

In a tour-de-force of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), UC San Francisco researchers have become to the first to solve the structure of a hard-working protein that helps reload neurons for repeated firing, enabling signals to be relayed along nerve pathways throughout the brain. More importantly, the scientists were able to use […]
May 25, 2020

Blood flow recovers faster than brain in micro strokes

Increased blood flow to the brain after a microscopic stroke doesn’t mean that part of the brain has recovered. At least not yet. A study in Science Advances by Rice University neuro engineers Lan Luan and her colleagues used advanced neural monitoring technology to discover a significant disconnect between how long it […]
May 24, 2020

Transgene and NEC Demonstrate High Accuracy of AI-based Neoantigen Prediction for the Design of Individualized Cancer Vaccine TG4050

TG4050 is being evaluated in two Phase 1 clinical trials. It combines Transgene's proprietary myvac platform with NEC's cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to select patient-specific neoantigens – Data confirm that the prediction algorithm successfully identifies immunogenic cancer mutations, even among a large set of candidate mutations – Data will […]
May 21, 2020

Scientists find a new way to reverse symptoms of Fragile X

MIT scientists have identified a potential new strategy for treating Fragile X syndrome, a disorder that is the leading heritable cause of intellectual disability and autism. In a study of mice, the researchers showed that inhibiting an enzyme called GSK3 alpha reversed many of the behavioral and cellular features of […]
May 21, 2020

Gene sequencing guides girl’s life-changing arthritis treatment

A four-year-old girl with a severely painful, rare immune disorder received life-changing targeted therapy, following whole genome sequencing at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Karla, now six years old, has a rare gene variant that affects an immune ‘checkpoint’ protein, resulting in an imbalance in her immune system that […]
May 21, 2020

Mapping cell types by single cell sequencing in a Parkinson’s disease cell therapy model

Many severe symptoms in Parkinson’s disease are caused by the degeneration of the brain’s dopamine neurons. Transplantation of stem cell-derived dopamine neurons to patients with Parkinson’s disease is a therapeutic approach that is getting close to clinical application. The strategy uses pluripotent stem cells that are cultured under conditions that […]
May 21, 2020

Simple blood test may help predict MS progression, study finds

A simple blood test may help predict which people with multiple sclerosis (MS) will get worse during the following year, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published online in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “In a disease like MS that […]
May 21, 2020

Family environment affects adolescent brain development

Childhood environment and socioeconomic status affect cognitive ability and brain development during adolescence independently of genetic factors, researchers at Karolinska Institutet report in a new study published in the journal PNAS. The study demonstrates how important the family environment is, not just during early infancy but also throughout adolescence. While […]
May 21, 2020

Nanobowls serve up chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells

For decades, scientists have explored the use of liposomes –– hollow spheres made of lipid bilayers –– to deliver chemotherapy drugs to tumor cells. But drugs can sometimes leak out of liposomes before they reach their destination, reducing the dose received by the tumor and causing side effects in healthy […]
May 21, 2020

Ketogenic Diets Alter Gut Microbiome in Humans, Mice

Study Suggests Potential Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Ketone Bodies Via Effects on Gut Microbial Ecosystems. Low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diets, which have attracted public interest in recent years for their proposed benefits in lowering inflammation and promoting weight loss and heart health, have a dramatic impact on the microbes residing in the […]
May 20, 2020

Researchers discover new method of detecting endometrial cancer

In the largest study of its kind, researchers have confirmed a new non-invasive test can be used to help with the early detection of endometrial cancer and at-risk patients. Published in the journal, Cancers, the study signals the next step forward in providing an inexpensive tool for diagnosing patients with endometrial cancer […]
May 20, 2020

New Study Confirms Important Clues to Fight Ovarian Cancer

Researchers examine proteins to identify what is 'broken' in tumor cells The rogue cellular engine that drives a majority of ovarian cancers remains frustratingly difficult to disable. A new study comparing cancerous tissue with normal fallopian tube samples advances important insights about this machinery and confirms biological hallmarks of survival. High-grade […]
May 19, 2020

New Analytic Tool Designed to Help Guide Precision Cancer Research and Treatment

Recent large scale efforts to categorize the molecular data of multiple cancer types has yielded so much information that researchers now have a new question: How to turn all this data into meaningful information that guides cancer research and patient care. A new analytic tool developed by the University of […]
May 19, 2020

Study finds that aging neurons accumulate DNA damage

MIT neuroscientists have discovered that an enzyme called HDAC1 is critical for repairing age-related DNA damage to genes involved in memory and other cognitive functions. This enzyme is often diminished in both Alzheimer’s patients and normally aging adults. In a study of mice, the researchers showed that when HDAC1 is […]
May 19, 2020

Making an impact through chemical engineering

As a chemical engineer, Hadley Sikes loves studying complex systems such as networks of chemical reactions. But in her work designing practical devices for diagnostics and other applications, she embraces simplicity. Sikes, an associate professor who recently earned tenure in MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering, devotes much of her lab’s […]
May 19, 2020

Grant will help ISU scientists break new ground in gene editing

A new grant will help Iowa State University researchers develop innovative gene-editing technology to better understand how human genetics affect susceptibility to disease. The four-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health allows Maura McGrail, an associate professor of genetics, development and cell biology and principal investigator, and her […]
May 18, 2020

Mechanisms of Calorie Restriction and Intermittent Fasting

This open access paper provides a good high-level overview of what is known of the molecular mechanisms underpinning the beneficial response to calorie restriction and intermittent fasting. In short-lived species, quite sizable gains in life span are possible, though this is not the case for longer-lived species such as our own. The metabolic responses to […]
May 18, 2020

On Nutraceutical Senolytics

Nutraceuticals are compounds derived from foods, usually plants. In principle one can find useful therapies in the natural world, taking the approach of identifying interesting molecules and refining them to a greater potency than naturally occurs in order to produce a usefully large therapeutic effect. Unfortunately, in practice the nutraceutical industry […]
May 18, 2020

Subcellular chatter regulates longevity

As people get older, they often feel less energetic, mobile or active. This may be due in part to a decline in mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses inside of our cells, which provide energy and regulate metabolism. In fact, mitochondria decline with age not only in humans, but in many species. […]
May 18, 2020

‘Cells-Soldiers’ Turned to Be More Resistant Than ‘Cells Combat-Medics’

Researchers from Sechenov University (a Project 5-100 participant) and University of Pittsburgh (USA) discovered that the resistance of innate immune cells, macrophages, to ferroptosis – a type of programmed cell death – depends on the type of their activation. It turned out that cells helping tissues to recover from inflammation […]