Related Science News

July 13, 2017

Fighting Cancer: Natural and Synthetic Progestin Therapies in Post-Menopausal Women Help Breast Cancer Grow and Spread

Hormone replacement therapies, or medications containing female hormones that substitute those no longer produced by the body, often are prescribed to reduce the effects of menopausal symptoms in women. Research has indicated that women who take hormone replacement therapies have a higher incidence of breast cancer. Now, researchers at the […]
July 11, 2017

Stem cell advance brings bioengineered arteries closer to reality

Stem cell biologists have tried unsuccessfully for years to produce cells that will give rise to functional arteries and give physicians new options to combat cardiovascular disease, the world’s leading cause of death. But new techniques developed at the Morgridge Institute for Research and the University of Wisconsin–Madison have produced, […]
July 1, 2017

Smart children live longer – how did scientists figure this one out?

There is an old saying that being smart is bad for you. Smarter people are usually less social and more often suffer from depression and anxiety. However, there are many advantages of being more intelligent. Scientists from The University of Edinburgh have conducted a research, which showed that children with […]
June 28, 2017

3D bone-like tissues made from pluripotent stem cells

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a cell culture method that generates three-dimensional bone-like tissues from mouse pluripotent stem cells—cells which can differentiate into various tissue types and have infinite growth potential—using only small molecules, in given conditions, as inducers. The current result serves as a step toward […]
June 28, 2017

Dementia patients may die sooner if family caregivers are mentally stressed

Patients with dementia may actually die sooner if their family caregivers are mentally stressed, according to a new UC Berkeley study. From 2007 until 2016, UC Berkeley researchers tracked the mortality of 176 patients with neurodegenerative diseases that are corrosive to brain function. They also measured the mental health of […]
June 26, 2017

Plan tests ancient Chinese tradition to help elders with balance

As calming music plays in the background, 11 older women listen as physical therapist Diane Brose enters a warm-up for a discipline known as Tai Chi Fundamentals: “Feel your feet. Feel the four corners of your feet. Your knees are soft, your tailbone is heavy. Don’t worry about yesterday, tomorrow […]
June 23, 2017

Grape-based compounds kill colon cancer stem cells in mice

Compounds from grapes may kill colon cancer stem cells both in a petri dish and in mice, according to a team of researchers. The compounds — resveratrol —which are found in grape skins and seeds, could also eventually lead to treatments to help prevent colon cancer, said Jairam K.P. Vanamala, […]
June 21, 2017

How growing human organs in a lab could be a boon to research

It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie — human organs, grown in a lab. But it’s real. In fact, it’s been going on for years, and you can learn all about them at a lecture put on by the UO’s Developmental Biology Program on Sunday, June 25. As […]
June 16, 2017

Long-term aspirin use linked to bleeding risk in over 75s

While short-term aspirin use after a stroke or heart attack has clear benefits, the authors say that patients over 75 who take aspirin on a daily basis should be prescribed a proton-pump inhibitor (heartburn drugs) to reduce the risk of bleeding. Roughly 40-60% of adults aged 75 or older in […]
June 16, 2017

Cardiac Stem Cells from Heart Disease Patients May Be Harmful

Patients with severe and end-stage heart failure have few treatment options available to them apart from transplants and “miraculous” stem cell therapy. But a new Tel Aviv University study finds that stem cell therapy may, in fact, harm heart disease patients. The research, led by Prof. Jonathan Leor of TAU's […]
June 8, 2017

Human Heart Tissue Grown from Stem Cells Improves Drug Testing

Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of A*STAR have engineered a three-dimensional heart tissue from human stem cells to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs on the heart. “Cardiotoxicity, which can lead to heart failure and even death, is a major cause of drug withdrawal […]
June 8, 2017

Stem Cells May Be the Key to Staying Strong in Old Age

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have discovered that loss of muscle stem cells is the main driving force behind muscle decline in old age in mice. Their finding challenges the current prevailing theory that age-related muscle decline is primarily caused by loss of motor neurons. Study authors hope to […]
June 8, 2017

Sowing Stem Cells: Lab-Grown Organoids Hold Promise for Patient Treatments

Ophir Klein is growing teeth, which is just slightly less odd than what Jeffrey Bush is growing – tissues that make up the face. Jason Pomerantz is growing muscle; Sarah Knox is growing salivary glands; and Edward Hsiao is printing 3-D bone using a machine that looks about as complex as […]
June 6, 2017

Two-part system turns stem cells into whatever you want

Whether using embryonic or adult stem cells, coercing these master cells to convert to the desired target cell and reproduce flawlessly is difficult. Now an international team of researchers has a two-part system that can convert the cells to the targets and then remove the remnants of that conversion, leaving […]
June 6, 2017

Chronic Pain Linked to Increased Risk of Dementia in Study of Older Adults

Researchers at UC San Francisco have found that older people with persistent pain show quicker declines in memory as they age and are more likely to have dementia years later, an indication that chronic pain could somehow be related to changes in the brain that contribute to dementia. The study, […]