Robot

Our DNA is under constant attack. The delicate molecule that contains our genetic information is extremely vulnerable to everything from environmental agents, such as radiation, to the chemicals in the air we breathe and the food we eat. Genome instability can lead to genetic disorders, chronic diseases and a predisposition […]

A handful of brain cells deep in the brain may play a surprising role in controlling women’s bone density, according to new research by UC San Francisco and UCLA scientists. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers showed that blocking a particular set of signals from these cells causes female […]

During normal pregnancy, mothers always gain body weight within a proper range. However, many women worry that extra pounds put on during pregnancy will not be lost after childbirth and, in fact, past studies have shown that excessive gestational weight gain is associated with immediate postpartum weight retention. But in […]

Studying fruit flies, an international team led by Harvard Medical School researchers reports that it has uncovered one of the molecular roots of cachexia, a poorly understood and currently incurable muscle-wasting and fat-loss condition responsible for as many as one-third of cancer deaths. The findings, published online in Developmental Cell, suggest […]

A large-scale study conducted among East Asians and led by Vanderbilt researchers has identified multiple, previously unknown genetic risk factors for colorectal cancer. Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, Anne Potter Wilson Professor of Medicine, said the research published recently in Gastroenterology is the second largest discovery of novel genetic risk variants for colorectal […]

Poor sleep is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. People with the disease tend to wake up tired, and their nights become even less refreshing as memory loss and other symptoms worsen. But how and why restless nights are linked to Alzheimer’s disease is not fully understood. Now, researchers at Washington […]

Our DNA is under constant attack. The delicate molecule that contains our genetic information is extremely vulnerable to everything from environmental agents, such as radiation, to the chemicals in the air we breathe and the food we eat. Genome instability can lead to genetic disorders, chronic diseases and a predisposition […]

Missing GP appointments is associated with early death, and those with long-term mental health conditions are at particular risk. The study was co-authored by Dr David Ellis from Lancaster University with Dr Ross McQueenie from the University of Glasgow, along with colleagues from the University of Aberdeen. In the largest […]

With the help of sponges inserted in the bloodstream to absorb excess drugs, doctors are hoping to prevent the dangerous side effects of toxic chemotherapy agents or even deliver higher doses to knock back tumors, like liver cancer, that don’t respond to more benign treatments. The “drug sponge” is an […]

It is often expected that as parents age, the children they once cared for will need to care for them. Expectations become less clear in non-traditional families and can be even murkier when the aging adult might be responsible for his or her situation. In a new study about responsibility […]

Scientists at UW Medicine’s Institute for Protein Design  have created a new protein that mimics the action of a key immune regulatory protein, interleukin 2 (IL-2).  IL-2 is a potent anticancer drug and an effective treatment for autoimmune disease, but its toxic side effects have limited its clinical usefulness. In a paper in […]

How does your garden grow? A paper published in the journal Nature gives scientists a deeper understanding of that very thing – the molecular mechanisms that cause plant tissues and organs to get larger and more complex after seeds germinate. Ross Sozzani, an NC State University plant biologist, is part of an […]