2021

In response to brain injury, neural stem cells cluster and migrate to the site of injury. The clustering is key – without it, the cells don’t travel. But what causes it? To investigate, Yale researchers created a 3-D model of the brain’s workings. The results of the study, led by […]

Scientists at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have identified the specialized environment, known as a niche, in the bone marrow where new bone and immune cells are produced. The study, published in Nature, also shows that movement-induced stimulation is required for the maintenance of this niche, […]

The new material, which the Advanced Photon Source helped characterize, is strong yet stretchable, and could be ideal for creating artificial tendons and ligaments for prosthetics and robotics. A research team led by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has developed a new method to make synthetic biomaterials that […]

A team led by scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI) has noninvasively visualized the light-sensing cells in the back of the eye, known as photoreceptors, in greater detail than ever before. Published in Optica, the researchers report how they improved imaging resolution by a third by selectively blocking the […]

First of its kind study reveals dynamic interactions between dendritic growth and synaptic connectivity in the brain cells of developing mice. A little competition is never a bad thing, especially when it comes to fledging neurons growing in the brain, finds a new Stanford University study. In a first of […]

Scientists at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have determined the structure of protein “fibrils” linked to Lou Gehrig’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders—findings that provide clues to how toxic proteins clump and spread between nerve cells in the brain. Their results may also lead to developing drugs […]

Results published to show it is possible to identify Parkinson’s Disease based on compounds found on the surface of the skin. The findings offer hope that a pioneering new test could be developed to diagnose the degenerative condition through a simple and painless skin swab. Scientists at The University of Manchester […]

Changes in the gut microbiome have a role in aging, and the activities of microbial species (generation of beneficial metabolites, versus generation of harmful inflammation) may be as important as lifestyle choices such as exercise when it comes to the pace of aging. Certainly there is good evidence for rejuvenation […]

A new genome-wide CRISPR screening technique conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University is offering new insights about how tumors in 80 to 90 percent of all cancers grow. This novel approach developed by Maria Fomicheva, a graduate student in the lab of Ian Macara, Louise B. McGavock Professor and professor of cell […]

Approximately two years after establishing a human cerebral organoid system to study Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), National Institutes of Health researchers have further developed the model to screen drugs for potential CJD treatment. The scientists, from NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), describe their work in Scientific Reports. Human […]

Researchers have identified changes in the metabolism of liver and skeletal muscle cells in live mice that are likely connected to obesity-associated metabolic disorders. This study was led by Professor Shinya Kuroda, head of the Systems Biology Lab at the University of Tokyo and an expert in trans-omics research, which […]

Stopping smoking leads to healthier, wealthier and happier lives say researchers from University of Bath’s Addiction & Mental Health Group. New evidence published in the Cochrane Library suggests that smokers who quit can feel the positive benefits within weeks. The research, led by Dr Gemma Taylor from the University of Bath’s Addiction & […]