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Chronic inflammation, which results when old age, stress or environmental toxins keep the body’s immune system in overdrive, can contribute to a variety of devastating diseases, from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to diabetes and cancer. Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a molecular “switch” that controls the […]

The phrase “Pavlov’s dogs” has long evoked images of bells, food and salivating dogs. Even though this tried-and-true model of repetitive patterns mimics a variety of learning processes, what happens on a cellular level in the brain isn’t clear. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire took a closer look […]

Scientists suggest a new strategy that uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to regulate immune reaction to transplanted tissues. The team, led by Professor Ken-ichiro Seino of Hokkaido University’s Institute for Genetic Medicine, found that thymic epithelium cells derived from mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can regulate immune response […]

The patch significantly prolonged survival, inhibited growth of tumors in mice. An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has developed a medicated patch that can deliver immune checkpoint inhibitors and cold plasma directly to tumors to help boost the immune response and kill cancer cells. […]

Cancer’s genetic causes are more diverse than previous scientific studies have indicated – a conclusion reached by researchers from ETH Zurich and University Hospital Zurich. Through their participation in an international research collaboration, they helped compile the most comprehensive catalogue to date of gene alterations associated with cancer. Their work […]

A new study finds that one side effect of lupus could also make patients with the autoimmune condition more vulnerable to a skin infection, or spreading the infection to others. In the paper, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers found that 50% of skin rashes in patients with lupus contained an […]

A merger of math and medicine may help to improve the efficacy of immunotherapies, potentially life-saving treatments that enhance the ability of the patient’s own immune system to attack cancerous tumors. By creating mathematical models that represent the complex interactions within the tumor microenvironment (TME), the nonmutated cells, connective tissues […]

Using sophisticated algorithms to explore regions of the genome whose roles in cancer have been largely uncharted, an international team of researchers has opened the door to a new understanding of the disease’s genetic origins. The discovery involves areas of DNA that do not directly code for the proteins that […]

Therapeutic solutions for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) could be on the horizon thanks to unexpected findings by University of Arizona researchers. Disease-prompting bundles of proteins found within cells are cleared by unexpected processes. ALS is the progressive degeneration of motor neurons that causes people to lose […]

A single cell contains the genetic instructions for an entire organism. This genomic information is managed and processed by the complex machinery of chromatin — a mix of DNA and protein in chromosomes whose function and role in disease are of increasing interest to scientists and engineers. Using mathematical modeling […]

A new treatment for stimulating the growth of new blood vessels in the heart will be investigated by researchers at the University of Bristol thanks to the funding of over £100,000 from national charity Heart Research UK. A heart attack is caused by a blockage of one or more coronary […]

A new technique could offer a targeted approach to fighting cancer: low-intensity pulses of ultrasound have been shown to selectively kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed. Ultrasound waves—sound waves with frequencies higher than humans can hear—have been used as a cancer treatment before, albeit in a broad-brush approach: […]