Related Science News

October 3, 2018

Middle-age drinkers don't consider alcohol when thinking about their health

Pretty much everyone knows that drinking has severe negative health effects – that is not a surprise to anyone. However, some people are still abusing alcohol, while completely ignoring all the warning signs. A new study from the University of Adelaide found that middle-age drinkers who only consume a moderate […]
October 2, 2018

Mitochondrial mechanisms focus of study

Mysteries remain in your mitochondria, but researchers led by Rice University bioscientist Natasha Kirienko plan to bring them to light. Kirienko is the first Rice faculty member to win a new class of grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health, called an R35. The five-year grant […]
October 2, 2018

Cell Death Protein also Damps Inflammation

Inflammation is one strategy your body uses to fight infection, but if it gets out of control it can kill instead of heal. In the journal Immunity, UConn Health immunologist Vijay Rathinam and colleagues show how the body damps down inflammation, making clever double use of a protein previously thought to be responsible […]
October 2, 2018

Egg cell seeks sperm

Through clever partner selection, animals can increase the future success of their offspring. With some species, this process continues even after the sex act. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön have discovered that among sticklebacks, the egg cells of the fish are involved in the […]
October 2, 2018

Gene therapy for mitochondrial diseases

Mitochondrial disease is now thought to be the second most commonly diagnosed genetic disease worldwide, and, unfortunately, there are still no proven treatment strategies for those diagnosed. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne were involved in collaborations to apply gene-therapy approaches in mice to […]
October 1, 2018

Fecal microbiota transplantation helps restore beneficial bacteria in cancer patients

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have shown that autologous fecal microbiota transplantation (auto-FMT) is a safe and effective way to help replenish beneficial gut bacteria in cancer patients who require intense antibiotics during allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In their study, patients who underwent the procedure were randomly […]
October 1, 2018

Chiropractic Treatment and Vision Loss: Examining the Connection

Many Americans visit chiropractors to address pain, often without informing their physicians. And they might not consider eye complications that could result, says Yannis Paulus, M.D., a retina specialist at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center. The energetic thrusts and rotations sometimes performed in high-velocity neck manipulation have been shown to create […]
September 29, 2018

People with dementia need support when hanging up the keys

We as human want to be mobile. We want to move around, see things and meet people. And a car is a great way to do that. However, once you reach a certain age you really shouldn‘t be driving. But that is such a difficult change. Scientists from the University […]
September 28, 2018

Could aspirin play role in treatment of cancer?

The systematic review, which looked at the survival of 120,000 patients with cancer who took aspirin, compared with 400,000 patients who did not, showed that at any time following the diagnosis of some cancers the proportion of patients who were still alive was 20-30% greater in those taking the drug.  The […]
September 28, 2018

New drug candidate makes cancer cells more sensitive to radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is one of the most common cancer treatments. It damages the DNA, causing cancer cells to stop growing and die if the damage is left unrepaired. Unfortunately, some cancers are resistant to radiotherapy and the treatment also damages the DNA in healthy cells, thus limiting the amount of radiation […]
September 28, 2018

Newest biomedical engineering faculty hopes to advance tools for cancer treatment

Hyeun Joong Yoon, Ph.D, is new to the College of Engineering this fall. An assistant professor in the electrical and biomedical department, Yoon's research interests focus on developing engineering methods in nanomaterial science and advanced bioMEMS tools to improve diagnostics for cancer research. Yoon joined the University of Nevada, Reno […]
September 27, 2018

Lung cancer drug could be repurposed to target leukaemia ‘zombie’ proteins

A new study by scientists at the University of Liverpool highlights how a clinically-approved lung cancer drug could potentially be ‘repurposed’ to design new treatments for future cancer therapies. The research, published in Science Signaling, focuses on a protein called TRIB2, which is linked to promoting survival and drug resistance in […]
September 27, 2018

Top researcher: digitize your health data

One of the most cited researchers in Denmark, Professor Jun Wang, participates in DTU High Tech Summit and urges all Danes to digitize their health data. Chinese top researcher and former Head of Beijing Genome Institute, Jun Wang, believes that digitization of health information is crucial for the choice of […]
September 27, 2018

Transplant-linked cancer deaths pose questions about safety

“4 get cancer from donated organ,” blared the headline above a news story. It described the case of a woman in Europe who died in 2007. Her undetected breast cancer was transmitted via transplant to four individuals who received her lungs, liver and kidneys. Only one recipient is alive today, after […]
September 27, 2018

Research Brief: Canadian clinics are marketing unproven stem cell treatments

New research from the University of Minnesota's Center for Bioethicsshows 30 Canadian businesses are marketing unproven stem cell treatments directly to consumers at 43 clinics across the country. Without new regulations and guidance, researchers say the Canadian direct-to-consumer marketplace for these purported treatments could result in patients making health-related decisions informed solely […]
September 27, 2018

Researchers identify marker in brain associated with aggression in children

Imagine a situation where one child is teasing another. While the child doing the teasing means it playfully, the other child views it as hostile and responds aggressively. Behavior like this happens all the time with children, but why some react neutrally and others act aggressively is a mystery. In a new […]
September 27, 2018

Study: Damaged liver cells undergo reprogramming to regenerate

In Greek mythology, Zeus punishes the trickster Prometheus by chaining him to a rock and sending an eagle to eat a portion of his liver every day, in perpetuity. It was the right organ to target – the liver has the ability to regenerate itself, though not overnight nor for […]
September 27, 2018

Researchers Evaluate Controversial Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis

In the wake of media and public reports about increased mortality linked to a new drug for treating Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP) — a symptom of the progressive nervous system disorder in which patients experience hallucinations and delusions — researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine conducted […]
September 26, 2018

Know the Symptoms and Risk Factors of Brain Aneurysm, Survivor Urges

Six years ago, Donna Poole was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm during a follow-up exam for a stroke she had suffered three years earlier. Due to unusual symptoms — including pain behind her right eye and ocular migraines — Poole was referred by her family doctor to a specialist who […]
September 26, 2018

VTCRI research team identifies a potential strategy in fight against brain cancer

Scientists with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute say a gene involved in the body’s sleep cycle is a potential target for therapies to help patients with a deadly form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma. This discovery, published in the journal Scientific Reports, points to a subtype of a particular […]
September 26, 2018

Lung inflammation from childhood asthma linked with later anxiety

Persistent lung inflammation may be one possible explanation for why having asthma during childhood increases your risk for developing anxiety later in life, according to Penn State researchers. In a study with mice, researchers found that childhood exposure to allergens was linked with persistent lung inflammation. It was also connected […]
September 25, 2018

Custom Circuits for Living Cells

A team of Caltech researchers has developed a biological toolkit of proteins that can be assembled together in different ways, like Legos, to program new behaviors in cells. As a proof-of-concept, they designed and constructed a circuit that can be added to human cells growing in a laboratory dish, detect […]
September 25, 2018

Study identifies stem cell that gives rise to new bone, cartilage in humans

A decade-long effort led by Stanford University School of Medicine scientists has been rewarded with the identification of the human skeletal stem cell. The cell, which can be isolated from human bone or generated from specialized cells in fat, gives rise to progenitor cells that can make new bone, the spongy stroma […]
September 25, 2018

Super Suppressor

For the first time, researchers have shown in preclinical models that it’s possible to treat cancer by delivering a gene that naturally suppresses tumors. Although no two tumors are alike, most cancer cells do a combination of two things: overexpress genes that drive tumor growth and lose normal genes that […]
September 25, 2018

High-intensity interval training provides significant benefits to survivors of testicular cancer, study shows

Testicular cancer survivors have a markedly better chance of staving off cardiovascular disease caused by the cancer treatment and report a higher quality of life if they undertake some kind of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) as part of their recovery, according to new University of Alberta research. Testicular cancer is […]
September 25, 2018

Stopping the Resistance of Cancer Cells to Treatment

One of the drawbacks of chemotherapy is that cancer patients can build up resistance to treatment over time, increasing their chances of possible relapse. Finding a way to suppress that resistance would be a major step toward boosting the therapeutic effects of some cancer-fighting drugs. UConn medicinal chemist M. Kyle […]