2021

An exciting new way has been found in which the body senses a bacterial infection within 4 hours and uses nerve pathways to trigger an immune response in distant organs. The speed by which an infection can be identified, and how the defence mechanisms are triggered is critical to infection […]

The progressive age-related dysfunction of microglia in the aging brain is implicated in the progression of neurodegenerative disease, as well as the increased inflammation and forms of pathology found in the brain tissue of older individuals. In mice, clearance of microglia can be efficiently achieved and leads to a rapid […]

Cancerous tumors thrive on blood, extending their roots deep into the fabric of the tissue around them. They alter the genetics of surrounding cells and evolve to avoid the protective attacks of immune cells. Now, Penn State researchers have developed a way to study the relationship between solid, difficult-to-treat tumors and the […]

There is enthusiasm in the research community for in vivo cellular reprogramming as a path to treat aging. Reprogramming somatic cells to pluripotency recaptures some of the processes that take place in the developing embryo, and has been shown to restore youthful patterns of gene expression, leading to improved mitochondrial […]

Passing down a healthy genome is a critical part of creating viable offspring. But what happens when you have harmful modifications in your genome that you don’t want to pass down? Baby plants have evolved a method to wipe the slate clean and reinstall only the modifications that they need to grow […]

It comes after a successful pilot between Cardiff University’s Wales Research and Diagnostic PET Imaging Centre at the University Hospital of Wales, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales. From this week the technology will be available across all health boards – and it is hoped […]

“Organoids.” It’s a word that has a science-fiction sound to it, but, in fact, organoids are at the core of what scientist Jeff Wrana calls “revolutionizing biology.” That’s because organoids offer the promise of new treatments for a host of diseases and conditions, from inflammatory bowel disease to autism spectrum disorder. “An […]

A new study from researchers at Rice University has found that bodily inflammation after the death of a spouse can predict future depression. “Inflammation and future depressive symptoms among recently bereaved spouses” will appear in the June 2021 edition of the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. Lead author Lydia Wu, a Rice psychology […]

Harvard Medical School researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have discovered how amyloid-beta—the neurotoxin believed to be at the root of Alzheimer’s disease—forms in axons and related structures that connect neurons in the brain, where it causes the most damage. Their findings, published in Cell Reports, could serve as a guidepost for […]

Researchers at UVA Cancer Center have unveiled important new insights into how hormones known as androgens act on our cells – and the discovery could boost efforts to develop better treatments for prostate, ovarian and breast cancers. The findings shed light on how androgens interact with their receptors inside cells […]

The research team found they could detect heart abnormalities in infants and toddlers months or years after their exposure to the virus. A new device will let doctors monitor infants and toddlers who are asymptomatic with Zika after contracting the virus in utero from their mothers, according to a recently published report in the […]

Antiretroviral therapy, the common approach in the treatment of HIV, halts replication of the virus and has saved the lives of millions of people. However, for patients, the drug cocktail becomes a lifetime necessity because they continue to harbour latent HIV in a small number of immune system cells. In […]