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Each day, normal human cell tissues express a protein known as p53 that wages war against potential malignancies. However, between 30 and 40 percent of human breast cancers express a defective (mutant) form of p53 that helps cancer cells proliferate and grow. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that […]

One way to fight diseases including HIV infection and autoimmune disorders could involve changing how a naturally occurring enzyme called SAMHD1 works to influence the immune system, new research suggests. The study, led by researchers from The Ohio State University, details how the enzyme influences proteins that stimulate the immune […]

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are powerful weapons our body’s immune systems count on to fight infection and combat diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. Finding ways to spark these potent cells into action could lead to more effective cancer treatments and vaccines. While several chemical compounds have […]

One of the major side effects of chemotherapy is a sharp drop in white blood cells, which leaves patients vulnerable to dangerous infections. MIT researchers have now developed a portable device that could be used to monitor patients’ white blood cell levels at home, without taking blood samples. Such a device could […]

Most of the human genome — 98 percent — is made up of DNA but doesn’t actually encode genes, the recipes cells use to build proteins. The vast majority of genetic mutations associated with cancer occur in these non-coding regions of the genome, yet it’s unclear how they might influence […]

It took eight long years of research, but now an international team led by neuroscientists at Université de Montréal has discovered a basic molecular mechanism that better helps understand how Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), works. And that basic science could someday lead to new therapy for […]

Many patients receiving chemotherapy following surgery for bowel cancer may only need three months treatment rather than the six months currently given, new research published in Lancet Oncology has shown. An international clinical trial, funded by an NIHR and MRC partnership, has evaluated the effectiveness of a three-month course of adjuvant […]

Cancer patients always say that cancer is pain. People suffer from pain every day and sometimes it can be difficult to manage. It significantly deteriorates the quality of life of these people, leaving no choice but to resort to medicine. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh together with health practitioners […]

Scientists have long known that restricting calories can fend off physiological signs of aging, with studies in fruit flies, roundworms, rodents and even people showing that chronically slashing intake by about a third can reap myriad health benefits and, in some cases, extend lifespan. From a public health perspective, that […]

Ever notice how a cut inside the mouth heals much faster than a cut to the skin? Gum tissue repairs itself roughly twice as fast as skin and with reduced scar formation. One reason might be because of the characteristics of gingival mesenchymal stem cells, or GMSCs, which can give […]

The skeleton, discovered in a leather pouch behind an abandoned church, was pristine: a tiny figure, just six inches long, with a cone-shaped head, 10 pairs of ribs, and bones that looked like those of an 8-year-old child. Found in the Atacama Desert of Chile and later affectionately nicknamed “Ata,” […]

By the time he died in 1973, Harry Eastlack had two skeletons; the one he was born with, and the one that grew around it, gradually encasing him in a prison of his own bone. Forty-five years later, UConn researchers have shown in the journal Nature Communications that a certain type of […]