2021

Millions of people face the loss of their eyesight from degenerative eye diseases. The genetic disorder retinitis pigmentosa alone affects 1 in 4,000 people worldwide. Today, there is technology available to offer partial eyesight to people with that syndrome. Argus II, the world's first retinal prosthesis, reproduces some functions of […]

Obesity is associated with an increased risk for a broad spectrum of tumors, including colon cancer. And once cancer develops, statistics show that overweight or obese individuals are at higher risk of cancer recurrence and have a decreased chance of survival. The underlying mechanisms for this are unclear. One of […]

The human papillomavirus is fueling an epidemic of head and neck cancer globally, with 100,000 new cases worldwide each year. A new study suggests Taiwan may be in the same spot the United States was a few decades ago when this trend first emerged. But in Taiwan, HPV’s impact is obscured […]

Researchers at Penn Medicine uncover more genetic mutations that predispose women to peripartum cardiomyopathy, with implications for the future of increased genetic testing. Researchers at Penn Medicine have identified more genetic mutations that strongly predispose younger, otherwise healthy women to peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a rare condition characterized by weakness of […]

One of the biggest challenges in Alzheimer’s research is to identify biomarkers that can determine who is at risk of developing dementia. Such biomarkers could be used to screen people so they might be helped before they develop dementia. Researchers have focused primarily on three such biomarkers. Two are Alzheimer’s-related proteins, amyloid and […]

Researchers here show that increased levels of cap-independent translation (CIT) of messenger RNA (mRNA) take place in a diverse set of interventions known to modestly slow aging in mice, suggesting it to be a common phenomenon in these shifts of metabolism towards a slower pace of aging. CIT is a […]

If you’ve ever experienced shift work, you know it can be extremely taxing on your overall wellbeing. On the other hand, in some places it is simply unavoidable – you have to keep some factories and healthcare institutions running. Now scientists at the University of Waterloo found that irregular work […]

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that a calorie labelled is not the same as a calorie digested and absorbed when the food source is almonds. The findings, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, should help alleviate concerns that almonds contribute to weight gain, which persist despite the widely […]

Imagine you’re walking your dog down the street when you see someone ahead of you collapse. Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, you’d rush to their side, check to see if they are breathing, feel for a heartbeat. Unable to detect either, you’d begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with chest compressions […]

For reasons not yet clear, pregnant women infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 are more likely to experience preterm births, pre-eclampsia, and other neonatal problems than non-infected women. A team of Yale scientists decided to investigate whether the virus could be affecting the placental tissue of infected expectant mothers. […]

Fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine—these substances are familiar to many as a source of both pain relief and the cause of a painful epidemic of addiction and death. Scientists have attempted for years to balance the potent pain-relieving properties of opioids with their numerous negative side effects—with mostly mixed results. Work by John […]

Researchers have identified the mechanisms of scar formation in skin and demonstrated in mice a way to make wounds heal with normal skin instead of scar tissue. A simple question from a mentor — Why do we scar after an injury or surgical incision? — set Michael Longaker, MD, on a […]