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Synthetic biologists have added high-precision analog-to-digital signal processing to the genetic circuitry of living cells. The research, described online in the journal Science, dramatically expands the chemical, physical and environmental cues engineers can use to prompt programmed responses from engineered organisms. Using a biochemical process called cooperative assembly, Caleb Bashor of Rice University, Ahmad “Mo” […]

More than a quarter of children with autism spectrum disorder are also diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorders. For the first time, Yale researchers have identified a possible biological cause: a key mechanism that regulates emotion functions differently in the brains of the children who exhibit disruptive behavior. The study appears […]

Bacteria in the human body are sharing genes with one another at a higher rate than is typically seen in nature, and some of those genes appear to be traveling – independent of their microbial hosts – from one part of the body to another, researchers report in the journal […]

A prescription drug to treat high blood pressure has shown promise against conditions such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and forms of dementia in studies carried out in mice and zebrafish at the University of Cambridge. A common feature of these diseases – collectively known as neurodegenerative diseases – is the build-up […]

Children of mothers who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy could be at increased risk of type 1 diabetes themselves, according to a new study led by a team at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) that was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Early detection of […]

Two proteins that bind to stress hormones work together to maintain a healthy heart in mice, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health and their collaborators. These proteins, stress hormone receptors known as the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), act in concert to help support heart […]

In a major medical breakthrough, Tel Aviv University researchers have “printed” the world's first 3D vascularised engineered heart using a patient's own cells and biological materials. Their findings were published in a study in Advanced Science. Until now, scientists in regenerative medicine — a field positioned at the crossroads of biology and technology […]

UC San Francisco scientists have designed a large-scale screen that efficiently identifies drugs that are potent cancer-killers when combined, but only weakly effective when used alone. Using this technique, the researchers eradicated a devastating blood cancer and certain solid tumor cells by jointly administering drugs that are only partially effective […]

“A large majority of human cancers are carcinomas derived from epithelial cells,” said Kang, a professor of molecular biology and the corresponding author of the paper. Carcinomas grow from a single mutated cell into a tumor, a solid mass of cancerous cells. As long as it remains contained at its […]

A new study looking at the mental health of so-called Gen X-ers (i.e., people born between 1974-1983), published in the American Journal of Public Health, shows a marked increase in the tell-tale signs of despair, often characterised by depression, thoughts of suicide, drug use, and excessive drinking. Back in 2016, […]

A large number of genes have to be switched on or off at different times during development. A particular challenge occurs when two copies of the same gene must acquire opposing states of activation within the same cell, as it is the case, for example, for the two X chromosomes in […]

Many diseases are caused by genetic defects. However, their severity can vary among individual patients, so that even mild forms can occur. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim have now decrypted a molecular mechanism responsible for this phenomenon. Accordingly, the mRNA of […]

Before being tested in animals or humans, most cancer drugs are evaluated in tumor cells grown in a lab dish. However, in recent years, there has been a growing realization that the environment in which these cells are grown does not accurately mimic the natural environment of a tumor, and […]

More than a decade ago, UCI biology professor Arthur Lander, broadened the focus of his research. Instead of studying a particular biological molecule or specific cell type, he reasoned that biomedical researchers would learn more, at a faster pace, if they explored biological systems — how networks of molecules, cells, tissues, […]

Alzheimer’s is a disease of aggregation. Neurons in the human brain make a protein called amyloid beta. Such proteins on their own, called monomers of amyloid beta, perform important tasks for neurons. But in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid beta monomers have abandoned their jobs and joined together. First, […]

The recent emergence of immunotherapy has marked a sea change in research and care for many forms of cancer, bringing new hope to patients and families around the world. For those who respond to treatment, the results can be dramatic. Activation of a patient’s immune system against cancer can kill […]

Inflammation is a balanced physiological response – the body needs it to eliminate invasive organisms and foreign irritants, but excessive inflammation can harm healthy cells, contributing to aging and chronic diseases. To help keep tabs on inflammation, immune cells employ a molecular machine called the NLRP3 inflammasome. NLRP3 is inactive […]

Scientists from King's and Cambridge have developed a catalogue of DNA mutation ‘fingerprints’ that could help doctors pinpoint the environmental culprit responsible for a patient’s tumour – including showing some of the fingerprints left in lung tumours by specific chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Our DNA, the human genome, comprises […]

Medications known as PARP inhibitors have emerged as a promising therapy for several forms of cancer fueled by a defect in the cells’ DNA repair machinery. Yet many people with cancers caused by the defect, known as HR deficiency, who stand to benefit from PARP inhibitors, remain unidentified because standard […]

In the last six years, a tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has transformed genetic research, allowing scientists to snip and edit DNA strands at precise locations like a pair of tiny scissors. But sometimes, it takes more than scissors to do the job. Now, a collaborative international team has unveiled a new […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Vitamin D is very important to us. Unlike many other vitamins, vitamin D is produced in our own body as a response to sunlight. Vitamin D is praised for its health benefits, but they are not fully understood. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh found that the vitamin D might […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 – […]