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For over a decade, Stefania Nicoli, PhD, has used zebrafish to study disease. The remarkable similarities between humans and these tiny freshwater fish provide valuable information about the genetic root of human disease. The Nicoli lab investigates how microRNAs (miRNAs) play a role in the physiology of the cardiovascular system. The lab […]

University of Virginia researchers are pioneering the use of focused ultrasound to defy the brain’s protective barrier so that doctors could, at last, deliver many treatments directly into the brain to battle neurological diseases. The approach, the researchers hope, could revolutionize treatment for conditions from Alzheimer’s to epilepsy to brain […]

Men are more susceptible to COVID-19. However, those who have cancer are even more vulnerable as they face a 1.8-​fold increased risk of COVID-​19 infection compared to the whole male population. Men with cancer also develop more severe symptoms and are harder to treat. However, a new study at the […]

A common feature of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) is the progressive loss of synapses – the anatomical sites of communication between brain cells – throughout the brain and spinal cord. Typically, synapse loss becomes pervasive before the outward appearance […]

Many nerve cells in the brain region hypothalamus have unexpected origins and go through complex development programs, where millions of neurons assemble into a precisely knit network by birth. That is according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the Medical University of Vienna published in […]

According to many observations, certain virus infections may play a part in the autoimmune attack that leads to type 1 diabetes. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and their Finnish colleagues have now produced a vaccine for these viruses in the hope that it could provide protection against the disease. […]

A group of researchers from the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children have developed a new way to deliver molecules that target specific genes within cells. The platform, which uses a modified form of diphtheria toxin, has been shown to “downregulate” critical genes in cancer cells, and could be […]

Both old and young people can get COVID-19. However, healthy young people usually get better without any treatment at all, while older patients can experience some life-threatening complications. Why older people are at higher risk of more difficult COVID-19 cases? Scientists from ETH Zurich have a good hypothesis. As you […]

Researchers are learning more about how to harness the immune system to find new treatment options for deadly brain cancer that strikes young children. Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, tumors can’t be surgically removed due to their location on a critical structure of the brain called the brain stem. […]

Whole body diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW MRI) may aid in the assessment of cancer treatment response in children and youth at much lower levels of radiation than current approaches, suggests a small study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The results appear in Radiology. Researchers compared DW MRI, which […]

Most electrical activity in vertebrates and invertebrates occurs at extremely low frequencies, and the origin — and medical potential — of these frequencies have eluded scientists. Now a Tel Aviv University study provides evidence for a direct link between electrical fields in the atmosphere and those found in living organisms, including humans. […]

A group of researchers at the University at Buffalo have published a paper that clarifies certain cellular mechanisms that could lead to improved outcomes in patients with globoid cell leukodystrophy, commonly known as Krabbe disease. The paper, titled “Macrophages Expressing GALC Improve Peripheral Krabbe Disease by a Mechanism Independent of […]

The massive international effort to map the entire human genome, completed in 2003, opened a new field we now know as personalized medicine. The breakthrough, which identified the location and function of every human gene, offered the promise of medical care tailored specifically to individual patients, based on their personal […]

Precision medicine has the potential to tailor treatments to a patient’s unique genetic sequence. But achieving this precision — or developing new drugs — requires knowing which genes are involved in the disease. “Unfortunately, we don’t really have a good understanding of how these genetic differences can derive differences in […]

Disabling a gene in specific mouse cells, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have prevented mice from becoming obese, even after the animals had been fed a high-fat diet. The researchers blocked the activity of a gene in immune cells. Because these immune cells — called […]

Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a public health concern of global interest on Jan. 30, more than one million have tested positive for the illness in the United States and more than 62,000 have died. With no FDA–approved treatments available to date, the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine has emerged as […]

Approximately 10 percent of infants are born with a congenital heart defect, with one of the most common being persistent truncus arteriosus—a hole in the heart. In a healthy baby, deoxygenated blood is pumped through a one-way blood vessel to the lungs, where it becomes oxygenated and is pumped through […]

It has long been known that disrupted sleep can increase the risk of dementia and anecdotal evidence suggests COVID-19 anxiety is having a detrimental effect on sleep. A new UK-wide study led by academics at the University of Bristol will focus on how the current lockdown is affecting sleep in […]

Children with the genetic condition neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) can develop brain and nerve tumors. If a tumor develops within the optic nerve, which connects the eye and the brain, the child may lose his or her vision. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates […]

Cancer and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, might not seem to have much in common, but some researchers now are pinning hopes on the same immune system cell – called the regulatory T cell, or Treg – to better fight both, through immunotherapies that manipulate these […]

Glasses to stop myopia or nearsightedness in children have been shown to work in a multi-site trial of 256 children and will go on sale later this year outside the United States. The glasses are the vision of scientists Jay and Maureen Neitz and ophthalmology colleagues at the University of […]

A molecule commonly produced by gut microbes appears to improve memory in mice. A new study is among the first to trace the molecular connections between genetics, the gut microbiome and memory in a mouse model bred to resemble the diversity of the human population. While tantalizing links between the […]

New USC research reveals how APOE4 — a genetic culprit for Alzheimer’s disease — triggers leaks in the brain’s plumbing system, allowing toxic substances to seep into the brain areas responsible for memory encoding and other cognitive functions. The damage is linked to future problems in learning and memory, even […]

Cornell scientists have developed a new technique for imaging a zebrafish’s brain at all stages of its development, which could have implications for the study of human brain disorders, including autism. Zebrafish are translucent when young, making them good models for live imaging, but they become opaque with age, which […]

Researchers at the Waisman Center made a significant step in understanding the function of a specific protein, FMR1, whose absence causes fragile X syndrome, or FXS. Waisman investigators Xinyu Zhao, Ph.D., and Anita Bhattacharyya, Ph.D., with research associate Meng Li, published their paper “Identification of FMR1-regulated molecular networks in human […]

Two top scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine are seeking answers to questions about spinal cord injuries that have long frustrated the development of effective treatments. The scientists, Jonathan Kipnis and Kodi Ravichandran, are teaming up to understand why critical nerve cells called neurons continue to die after […]

A $2 million grant will let UO developmental neurobiologist Judith Eisen probe the relationship between symbiotic bacteria and neural development, using zebrafish as a model organism that could shed light on disease processes in humans. The new five-year grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will allow Eisen to illuminate the […]

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a new mathematical machine-intelligence-based technique that spatially delineates highly complicated cell-to-cell and gene-gene interactions. The powerful method could help with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases ranging from cancer to COVID-19 through quantifying crosstalks between “good” cells and “bad” cells. By […]

It is widely appreciated that old people have a poor time of it when it comes to infectious disease. Seasonal influenza kills tens of thousands of older people every year in the US alone. The aged immune system functions poorly, and vaccinations for many conditions have low success rates in older people. Thus […]

Researchers here demonstrate a direct form of cellular reprogramming, converting skin cells directly into another cell type without going through intermediary stages of induced pluripotency and differentiation. In this case the goal is to produce patient-matched photoreceptor cells to treat retinal degeneration. Proof of concept is demonstrated in blind mice that exhibit restored light sensitivity following treatment. […]