Related Science News

April 16, 2019

Mutation behind incurable disease mapped

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have mapped the genetic mutation behind the incurable disease systemic mastocytosis. The results give insights into the origin of the disease, and the researchers also discovered a protein with potential to improve disease diagnosis. The results are published in the journal EBioMedicine. Systemic mastocytosis is an incurable […]
April 15, 2019

Scientists found a way to restore motivation of people with Parkinson's

Incurable diseases distort people's world view. It is a very well-known fact that people who suffer from Parkinson’s lose all their motivation. However, now scientists from the Monash University proved that dopamine levels in the brain can help people with Parkinson’s disease to combat cognitive apathy and regain cognitive motivation […]
April 15, 2019

Precise Decoding of Breast Cancer Cells Creates New Option for Treatment

Researchers at the University of Zurich and from IBM Research have investigated the varying composition of cancer and immune cells in over one hundred breast tumors. They've found that aggressive tumors are often dominated by a single type of tumor cell. If certain immune cells are present as well, an […]
April 15, 2019

Cataracts and Amyloid Beta: Early Marker and New Drug Target?

I’ve just had cataract surgeries, so I wasn’t thrilled to find a new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences comparing the protein glitch behind them to the one behind Alzheimer’s. Fortunately the similarity is only in how the proteins fold. The amyloid beta buildup of cataracts could be an early […]
April 12, 2019

Anti-inflammatory drugs ineffective for prevention of Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers have known for decades that inflammation accompanies Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain lesions. Several early studies suggested that “super-aspirins” or Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) could help avoid the disease. However, after clinical trials showed that NSAIDs don’t help patients who already have AD symptoms, doctors wondered whether these drugs could […]
April 12, 2019

New resource expands use of lab technique to visualise DNA in cells

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet present a publicly available resource that can accelerate the use of so-called FISH techniques for studying how the genome is spatially organised in the cell nucleus. The new platform, which enables more cost-effective analyses for both research and diagnostic labs, is described in the scientific journal Nature […]
April 12, 2019

Turning patients’ own cells into cancer fighters

The next cancer therapy could be a patient’s own cells. Tactiva Therapeutics, a Buffalo-based immuno-oncology startup, is developing a personalized cancer treatment based on engineered immune cells derived from patients’ own cells. The company’s approach involves attaching proteins called receptors to these cells. The receptors target antigens present in cancer […]
April 12, 2019

Personalized medicine for children with cancer

This may help identify the cause of the cancer, so that the children can receive more precise treatment in the long term and avoid unnecessary side effects. Personalized medicine is now a reality for Danish children with cancer. If children can be prevented from dying from the disease, receive a […]
April 12, 2019

Blood-based screen for colon cancer shows promise

If caught early, nearly all cases of colon cancer are curable. Though this should make screening tests straightforward, colon cancer screening suffers from a paradoxical combination of low compliance rates and overdiagnosis. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists identified four blood-based fingerprints – […]
April 12, 2019

NASA’s Landmark Twins Study Reveals Resilience of Human Body in Space

Results from NASA’s landmark Twins Study, which took place from 2015-2016, were published Thursday in Science. The integrated paper — encompassing work from 10 research teams — reveals some interesting, surprising and reassuring data about how one human body adapted to — and recovered from — the extreme environment of space. The Twins Study provides the […]
April 12, 2019

In cellular world, strong relationships the key to healing old wounds

Yale scientists with colleagues at University College London have taken the next step towards unravelling how cells work together during wound closure, a question that could be fundamental to determining optimal healing rates after injury or disease. How cells behave, the rate at which they repair skin tissue, and how […]
April 11, 2019

A New Role for Genetics in Cancer Therapy-Induced Cardiomyopathy

Recent advances in the development of cancer therapies have increased long-term survival and prognosis. However, the increased burden and prevalence of harmful side effects, including cardiomyopathy, have emerged alongside those therapeutic benefits. In particular, there have been increases in cancer therapy-induced cardiomyopathy (CCM) — a heart condition which may compromise […]
April 11, 2019

New tool helps find genetic culprits in cancer’s spread

The ability of cancer to establish itself in distant parts of the body — called metastasis — causes 90% of deaths from solid tumors. Metastasis is the result of complex genetic interactions that have proven difficult for scientists to study. Now Yale researchers have devised a way to identify some […]
April 11, 2019

Screening also prevents rare types of cervical cancer

Rare types of cervical cancer can be effectively prevented with screening, a comprehensive study of identified cases of rare cervical cancer over a ten-year period in Sweden concludes. The study was conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and is published in The BMJ. The main aim of cervical screening is to […]
April 11, 2019

Long-lived Bats Appear to Hold Secrets of Mammal Longevity

University of Maryland researchers analyzed a DNA-based evolutionary tree for a majority of known bat species and found four bat lineages that exhibit extreme longevity. They also identified for the first time two traits that predict extended life spans in bats. Their work is described in a research paper, published […]
April 11, 2019

New quantum material could warn of neurological disease

By speaking the brain’s language, the material is a portal between electronics and the brain. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — What if the brain could detect its own disease? Researchers have been trying to create a material that “thinks” like the brain does, which would be more sensitive to early signs […]
April 10, 2019

Tidying up: A new way to direct trash to autophagy

Researchers find new way to clean up cells; discovery could aid attack on human disease. Marie Kondo herself couldn’t do it any better. Usually cells are good at recognizing what doesn’t spark joy. They’re constantly cleaning house — picking through their own stuff to clear out what no longer works. […]
April 10, 2019

New hope for treating childhood brain cancer

There could be new treatments on the horizon for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, a devastating form of brain cancer that afflicts young children and is currently incurable. Recent experiments in animal models of the disease have identified an experimental drug that effectively destroys DIPG cells. And a team […]
April 10, 2019

Brain Alterations Make It Difficult for Parkinson’s Disease Patients to Turn While Walking

The ability to turn while walking is impaired among patients with Parkinson's disease. This difficulty is also associated with freezing of gait and falls, which can have devastating medical consequences in an older population. A new Tel Aviv University study advances the understanding of turns in Parkinson's patients, providing new insights into […]
April 9, 2019

This New Biochip Can Detect Beginning Stages of Disease in Your Body

Some of the deadliest cancers have mostly silent symptoms. By the time people go to their doctors because of worrisome changes, cancer may have already reached a late stage, giving physicians limited treatment options. Scientists are always looking for ways to detect cancer and other diseases through tests that show […]
April 9, 2019

A step toward recovering reproduction in girls who survive childhood cancer

Leukemia treatments often leave girls infertile, but a procedure developed by researchers at the University of Michigan working with mice is a step toward restoring their ability to be biological mothers. Ovarian follicles are the “nests” that carry eggs and support them to grow and become viable. The researchers demonstrated […]
April 9, 2019

New formula better predicts speed of tumor growth in 12 cancers

University at Buffalo researchers have developed a new method to more accurately predict tumor growth rates, a crucial statistic used to schedule screenings and set dosing regimens in cancer treatment. The mathematical method successfully estimated the doubling time — the amount of time for a tumor to double in size […]
April 9, 2019

Robots created with 3D printers could be caring for those in golden years

Purdue University researchers have developed a new design method to create soft robots that may help in caregiving for elderly family members. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The world’s elderly population is booming. The number of older people — those age 60 years or older — is expected to more than […]
April 8, 2019

A New Biological Aging Clock: Ribosomal DNA

Chronological aging is easy to track – birthdays. Biological aging can be obvious too – graying hair, sagging skin, and other inexorable signs of impending decrepitude. But measuring biological aging isn’t as easy as noting the passage of time. The best-studied measure of biological age is the shrinking of chromosome tips, or telomeres, […]
April 8, 2019

Lifespan Links

Scientists have known for decades that caloric restriction leads to a longer lifespan. It has also been observed that chronic inflammation increases with age. But any relationship between the two had remained unexplored. But in a new study, published in Cell Metabolism,  Harvard Medical School researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have uncovered […]
April 8, 2019

Immunotherapy Kicks, Kills HIV by Exploiting a Common Virus

In a first on the quest to cure HIV, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health scientists report in EBioMedicine that they’ve developed an all-in-one immunotherapy approach that not only kicks HIV out of hiding in the immune system, but also kills it. The key lies in immune cells designed to recognize an […]
April 8, 2019

Witnessing the dance of RNAs around droplets of cellular degradation machinery

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, a video is perhaps worth much more. For the first time, scientists have observed a dynamic localization of a single RNA with processing bodies—the membraneless organelles present in the cytoplasm of nearly all mammalian cells that play an important role in RNA regulation. […]
April 8, 2019

DTU develops breast cancer scanning equipment

DTU has entered into collaboration with the UK company Kromek aimed at developing a scanner that can improve breast cancer diagnostics. Advanced technology developed for space research often has great potential in other fields. The new industrial research and development partnership between DTU Space and the UK company Kromek Group plc is a good […]
April 8, 2019

Older women have the highest risk of dying from cervical cancer

New research from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital shows that women aged 65 and older have a higher risk of dying from cervical cancer than previously thought – although this age group is not covered by the Danish screening programme. Denmark has one of highest incidences of cervical cancer […]