2021

The Zika virus that ravaged the Americas, leaving many babies with permanent brain damage, may have a silver lining. The virus can activate immune cells to destroy an aggressive brain cancer in mice, giving a powerful boost to an immunotherapy drug and sparking long-lasting immunological memory that can ward off […]

There is much debate these days over the contribution of persistent infection (such as by herpesviruses) to the development of Alzheimer's disease. Not everyone with the evident risk factors, such as obesity, frailty, chronic inflammation, and so forth, progresses from mild cognitive impairment to full blown Alzheimer's disease. Why is […]

An analysis of several large studies involving participants from more than 60 countries, spearheaded by researchers from McMaster University, has found that eating oily fish regularly can help prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in high-risk individuals, such as those who already have heart disease or stroke. The critical ingredient is omega-3 […]

Extremely preterm infants can suffer from a life-threatening inflammation of the gut. A new clinical study has shown that supplements of a lactic acid bacterium may have positive effects by increasing the diversity of intestinal bacteria in these infants. The study has been published in the scientific journal Cell Reports […]

Rectal cancer, along with colon cancer, is the third-most common type of cancer in the United States, and treatment and surgery greatly affect the quality of life of patients. A multi-disciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed and tested an innovative imaging technique that is able to […]

The neurosurgeon who examined Sakhrat Khizroev after he lost his eyesight in a horrible accident told the young scientist that his vision would come back slowly. Then, after months of living in darkness, it finally started to return. At first, the images were blurry and fragmented, as if someone were […]

Oregon State University research has revealed a crucial mechanism behind one of humankind's most deadly physiological processes: the movement of malignant cells from one part of the body to another. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Science Foundation-funded study led by OSU biophysicist Bo Sun shows the role […]

In a major advance in the treatment of multiple myeloma, a CAR T-cell therapy has generated deep, sustained remissions in patients who had relapsed from several previous therapies, an international clinical trial has found. In a study posted online today by the New England Journal of Medicine, trial leaders report […]

A team of researchers, led by biomedical engineering professor Anirban Sen Gupta, is working toward innovating and advancing platelet-inspired nanotechnology systems to treat severe bleeding in surgery and trauma. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $2.1 million, four-year research grant to Sen Gupta and collaborators at the University of […]

Men with stable coronary artery disease who are on Viagra due to impotence seem to live longer and have a lower risk of experiencing a new heart attack, a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reports. Impotence can be an […]

A University of California, Riverside, study analyzing fourth-generation electronic cigarette, or EC, pod atomizer design features have found the pod atomizers are similar to those of previous generations and contain elements that may adversely affect health and accumulate in the environment. EC atomizers are chambers that hold nicotine-containing fluid and […]

Kinases are a class of enzymes that are responsible for transferring the main chemical energy source used by the body’s cells. As such, they play important roles in diverse cellular processes, including signalling, differentiation, proliferation and metabolism. But since they are so ubiquitous, mutated versions of kinases are frequently found […]

Patterns of epigenetic regulation of gene expression (and thus RNA and protein levels) change constantly in response to cell state and environment. Some of those changes are characteristic responses to the damage and dysfunction of aging. Since the demonstration of the first epigenetic clocks, those that predict age based on […]

Many viruses infect their hosts through mucosal surfaces such as the lining of the respiratory tract. MIT researchers have now developed a vaccination strategy that can create an army of T cells that are ready and waiting at those surfaces, offering a quicker response to viral invaders. The researchers showed […]

Most stroke victims don’t receive treatment fast enough to prevent brain damage. Scientists at Ohio State University have developed technology to “retrain” cells to help repair damaged brain tissue – an advancement that may someday help patients regain speech, cognition and motor function, even when administered days after an ischemic […]

Recent generations show a worrying decline in health compared to their parents and grandparents when they were the same age, a new national study reveals. Researchers found that, compared to previous generations, members of Generation X and Generation Y showed poorer physical health, higher levels of unhealthy behaviours such as […]

In a recent study led by the University of Bristol, scientists have shown how to simultaneously harness multiple forms of regulation in living cells to strictly control gene expression and open new avenues for improved biotechnologies. Engineered microbes are increasingly being used to enable the sustainable and clean production of […]

A team of researchers has found disrupting the interaction between cancer cells and certain immune cells is more effective at killing cancer cells than current immunotherapy treatments. The findings, which include studies in cell lines and animal models, appeared in JCI Insight and focus on a protein called CD6 as a target for […]

For 13 years, Daniel Carr had no idea he was missing part of his brain. One of the first clues occurred on the baseball field. The coach of his seventh-grade boys’ competitive team in suburban St. Louis noticed Daniel’s unusual, albeit effective, fielding tactic in the outfield. Daniel wore his […]

Every day in the U.S. in 2018, motor vehicle crashes killed more than 20 people over age 65 and injured almost 700. Older adults are the most responsible drivers of any age group — they tend to obey speed limits and avoid driving at night and in bad weather, for […]

Therapeutic ultrasound was a tool in Janice Yurick’s treatment arsenal for 15 years. Yurick, a now-retired physical therapist and former manager of supportive care services at the Cross Cancer Institute, had more than two decades of experience in oncology rehabilitation. She used the technology with patients and saw results, despite […]

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a way to use a cell’s own recycling machinery to destroy disease-causing proteins, a technology that could produce entirely new kinds of drugs. Some cancers, for instance, are associated with abnormal proteins or an excess of normally harmless proteins. By eliminating them, […]

The immune system becomes disordered and dysfunctional with age in numerous different ways. The B cell component accumulates inflammatory and problematic cells that are known as age-associated B cells. Here, researchers show that these errant B cells produce antibodies that provoke autoimmunity. B cell aging is a problem with a […]

The proteasome is a complex structure in the cell that is responsible for breaking down unwanted proteins. Like other recycling processes, proteasomal function is connected to life span in short-lived species. Better cell maintenance in response to stress and damage improves cell function, organ function, and longevity. The proteasome is […]

Electricity may slow – and in some cases, stop – the speed at which breast cancer cells spread through the body, a new study indicates. The research also found that electromagnetic fields might hinder the amount of breast cancer cells that spread. The findings, published recently in the journal Bioelectricity, suggest […]

A new study has found that about 35% of Americans with a cancer history had an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease in the next decade, compared with about 23% of those who didn’t have cancer. Based on a risk calculator that estimates a person’s 10-year chances of developing heart disease or stroke, […]

While the drug tamoxifen reduces the risk of developing breast cancer and prevents recurrence, the side-effects cause many women to discontinue their treatment. A study involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm has now found that a much lower dose than the standard produces a good effect with fewer adverse […]

Using artificial intelligence and mobile digital microscopy, researchers hope to create screening tools that can detect precursors to cervical cancer in women in resource-limited settings. A study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Helsinki now shows that AI screenings of pap smears carried out with portable […]

More than 37 million people in the United States have chronic kidney disease, the result of ever-increasing rates of common health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Normal kidneys work relentlessly to maintain a crucial balance of fluids inside our bodies. They also filter sodium, other minerals and […]

A long noncoding RNA whose function was previously unknown turns out to play a vital role in mobilizing the immune response following a bone marrow transplant or solid organ transplantation. This RNA molecule, catalogued in scientific databases simply as Linc00402, helps activate immune defenders known as T cells in response […]