Robot

An approved drug normally used to treat fungal infections could also do the job of a protein channel that is missing or defective in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis, operating as a prosthesis on the molecular scale, says new research from the University of Illinois and the University […]

Scientists at the University of Illinois have found that free fatty acids in the blood appear to boost proliferation and growth of breast cancer cells. The finding could help explain obese women’s elevated risk of developing breast cancer after menopause. “When taken up by estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer cells, these […]

Researchers from DTU and the University of Copenhagen are now pointing out that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. This may be important to future treatment of this chronic disorder. Between 2,500 and 3,000 Danes suffer from the sleep disorder narcolepsy—which is characterized by a sudden and overwhelming urge to sleep. […]

Scientists have long known that the protein p53, when mutated, is a critical factor in the onset of many different kinds of cancer. In its unmutated form, however, it is known to protect against cancer. These dueling qualities make the p53 protein and the gene that makes it among the […]

Scientists puzzled for two decades over this seemingly unnecessary withholding. Now researchers at Princeton University have shown that the inhibiting mechanism, controlled by an enzyme known as RNR, is key to the embryo’s survival. Too much material early on leads to disaster for the fledgling lifeform. “This study shows us […]

The jawbone is not typically connected to the rib bone, but it might be in an emergency. Rice University bioengineers and their colleagues have developed a technique to grow live bone to repair craniofacial injuries by attaching a 3D-printed bioreactor — basically, a mold — to a rib. Stem cells and blood vessels from […]

It was surprisingly simple. University of California, Berkeley, scientists inserted a gene for a green-light receptor into the eyes of blind mice and, a month later, they were navigating around obstacles as easily as mice with no vision problems. They were able to see motion, brightness changes over a thousandfold […]

Light physical activity such as gardening, strolling through a park, and folding clothes might be enough to significantly lower the risk of cardiovascular disease among women 63 and older, a new study has found. This kind of activity, researchers said, appears to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease events such […]

A group of researchers from the University of Cambridge have grown a miniature (roughly pea-sized) brain in a dish which they claim might “improve our understanding of human brain development and neurological disorders”. The paper accompanying the work, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, details how a grey blob of […]

Catheter ablation, a common cardiovascular procedure, appears no more effective than drug therapies in preventing strokes, deaths, and other complications in patients with atrial fibrillation. However, patients who get the procedure experience much greater symptom relief and long-term improvements in the quality of life, including  fewer recurrences of the condition […]

Thinking you could wait till your 50th birthday to worry about colorectal cancer? Maybe not. New guidelines from the American Cancer Society recognize recent studies that have found increasing rates of colorectal cancer among younger people. In response, they lowered the recommended age to begin screening from 50 to 45. “Research […]

Older children and teenagers may have a higher risk of obesity if they consistently don’t get enough sleep, according to recent Michigan Medicine research. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found the highest levels of obesity in adolescents who weren’t sleeping enough night after night, even more so than […]