2021

Using a novel technique for expanding tissue, MIT and Harvard Medical School researchers have devised a way to label individual molecules of messenger RNA within a tissue sample and then sequence the RNA. This approach offers a unique snapshot of which genes are being expressed in different parts of a […]

Porphyrins are interesting drug delivery vehicles that can specifically accumulate in cancer cells. However, how the structure of the drug-conjugated porphyrin affects its ability to penetrate and accumulate within cancer cells is not well understood. Researchers from Tokyo University of Science now investigate the correlation between the structure and tumor […]

Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) are a form of metabolic waste, sugary compounds that can interact harmfully with structures and cells in the body. A few forms of persistent AGE can form lasting cross-links in the extracellular matrix that change the structural properties of tissues, contributing to the loss of elasticity […]

It was an unexpected discovery that started with an analysis of more than 1,000 genes. The question: why game-changing cancer immunotherapy treatments work for only a fraction of patients. The analysis shone a light on one that popped up repeatedly in patients and mouse models that did not respond to […]

Working to develop new treatments for osteoarthritis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have genetically engineered cartilage to deliver an anti-inflammatory drug in response to activity similar to the bending of a knee or other motions that put stress on joints. Among the early symptoms of […]

What makes one person drive above the speed limit while another navigates steadily in the right lane? What motivates someone to leave a job with a steady paycheck to launch their own business while the other sticks to one employer for an entire career? “People have different tendencies to engage […]

A new University of Alberta study shows that losing weight before knee replacement surgery doesn’t lead to better outcomes for patients. In a systematic review published in Joint Bone Spine, researchers in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine found that weight loss before surgery may not be beneficial for people with advanced knee osteoarthritis. Medical practitioners have long advised […]

Inside a tumor, chatter abounds. Multiple cell types are constantly communicating with each other, exchanging various types of information. Some are working together against the tumor, while others help the tumor grow. Researchers have a good handle on who the main players are, but it can be difficult to tell […]

Martin Monti, a Professor of Psychology and Neurosurgery at UCLA, and colleagues have recently published a paper in the journal Brain Stimulation, describing their success in jump-starting the brains of two patients in a long-term “minimally conscious state”. While Monti had already performed a similar procedure on a 25-year-old man […]

The problem of protein folding is one of the most important and hard tasks in computational biochemistry. Recently, deep learning models, such as AlphaFold, were shown to be more effective in this task than classical techniques. The likely advance of quantum computing could help to improve current algorithms further. A […]

McMaster researchers have established in lab settings that a novel combination of two forms of immunotherapy can be highly effective for treating lung cancer, which causes more deaths than any other form of cancer. The new treatment, yet to be tested on patients, uses one form of therapy to kill […]

A team of international researchers who study how gene mutations associated with autism interfere with social behaviour have found injections of the hormone oxytocin can normalize brain activity. The findings, which were presented recently at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome, point to the potential of oxytocin—known to influence behaviours […]