General

Researchers have discovered an explanation for why cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs)—clusters of dilated blood vessels in the brain—can suddenly grow to cause seizures or stroke. Specifically, they found that a specific, acquired mutation in a cancer-causing gene (PIK3CA) could exacerbate existing CCMs in the brain. Furthermore, repurposing an already existing […]

Scientists have made a promising step towards developing a new drug for treating acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare blood disorder. In a study published today in Nature, Cambridge researchers report a new approach to cancer treatment that targets enzymes which play a key role in translating DNA into proteins and which […]

A new way to identify tumours that could be sensitive to particular immunotherapies has been developed using data from thousands of NHS cancer patient samples sequenced through the 100,000 Genomes Project. The MMRDetect clinical algorithm makes it possible to identify tumours that have ‘mismatch repair deficiencies’ and then improve the personalisation of cancer therapies to exploit […]

Professor Naoto Hirano of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and collaborators have developed a new technology that rigorously and robustly identifies the immune cells that are capable of recognizing and eliminating cancer cells. The findings, published in Nature Biotechnology, pave the way for novel immunotherapies to help more patients, regardless of their genetic ancestry, […]

New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine has shed light on the No. 1 cause of epilepsy deaths, suggesting a long-sought answer for why some patients die unexpectedly following an epileptic seizure. The researchers found that a certain type of seizure is associated with sudden death in a […]

Cryopreservation, or the long-term storage of biomaterials at ultralow temperatures, has been used across cell types and species. However, until now, the practical cryopreservation of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) — which is crucial to genetics research and critical to scientific breakthroughs benefiting human health — has not been available. […]

Stretching out the DNA in all 46 chromosomes packed into one human cell would make a string of DNA two meters long. Accurately replicating all that DNA is vital to survival; cells must control this process with tremendous precision in time and space. Origin recognition complexes (ORCs) initiate the task […]

From cancer treatment to sunlight, radiation and toxins can severely damage DNA in both harmful and healthy cells. While the body has evolved to efficiently treat and restore damaged cells, the mechanisms that allow this natural repair remain misunderstood. In a new study, Northwestern University researchers have used cryogenic electron […]

A multi-institutional team of researchers has identified both the genetic abnormalities that drive pre-cancer cells into becoming an invasive type of head and neck cancer and patients who are least likely to respond to immunotherapy. “Through a series of surprises, we followed clues that focused more and more tightly on […]

How do different parts of the brain communicate with each other during learning and memory formation? A new study by researchers at the University of California San Diego takes a first step at answering this fundamental neuroscience question. The study was made possible by developing a neural implant that monitors […]

In almost ten per cent of myocardial infarctions, no obvious cause in the coronary artery can be found. Some of the patients are diagnosed with the broken-heart syndrome, while others are left without a diagnosis. A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that early magnetic resonance (MR) imaging […]

COVID-19 patients who are overweight or obese have more severe symptoms and are highly likely to require invasive respiratory support, according to a new international study. The research, led by The University of Queensland and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), found obese patients had a 73 per cent greater chance of […]

The COVID-19 vaccine isn’t having any trouble attracting suitors. But there’s another, an older model that’s been mostly ignored by the young men of America: the HPV vaccine. Using data from the 2010-2018 National Health Interview Surveys, Michigan Medicine researchers found that just 16% of men who were 18 to […]

When a person views a familiar image, even having seen it just once before for a few seconds, something unique happens in the human brain. Until recently, neuroscientists believed that vigorous activity in a visual part of the brain called the inferotemporal (IT) cortex meant the person was looking at […]

Traits that allow cancer cells to escape the body’s natural defence system and develop into tumours are actually a good indicator to a patient’s survival prognosis, according to University of Queensland researchers. UQ Diamantina Institute researcher Dr Janin Chandra described the discovery as a “catch-22 situation” and good news for patients with either […]

The heart damage seen in many severely ill COVID-19 patients results in part from infection-activated immune cells called macrophages, which infiltrate the heart and secrete cell-damaging chemicals, according to a study co-led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai and Columbia University Irving […]

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found links between certain blood groups and a total of 49 diseases, including a new finding that having blood group B seems to be a protective factor against kidney stones. The study, which includes data on more than five million people and over 1,000 diseases, […]

Millions of people face the loss of their eyesight from degenerative eye diseases. The genetic disorder retinitis pigmentosa alone affects 1 in 4,000 people worldwide. Today, there is technology available to offer partial eyesight to people with that syndrome. Argus II, the world's first retinal prosthesis, reproduces some functions of […]

Obesity is associated with an increased risk for a broad spectrum of tumors, including colon cancer. And once cancer develops, statistics show that overweight or obese individuals are at higher risk of cancer recurrence and have a decreased chance of survival. The underlying mechanisms for this are unclear. One of […]

The human papillomavirus is fueling an epidemic of head and neck cancer globally, with 100,000 new cases worldwide each year. A new study suggests Taiwan may be in the same spot the United States was a few decades ago when this trend first emerged. But in Taiwan, HPV’s impact is obscured […]

Researchers at Penn Medicine uncover more genetic mutations that predispose women to peripartum cardiomyopathy, with implications for the future of increased genetic testing. Researchers at Penn Medicine have identified more genetic mutations that strongly predispose younger, otherwise healthy women to peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), a rare condition characterized by weakness of […]

One of the biggest challenges in Alzheimer’s research is to identify biomarkers that can determine who is at risk of developing dementia. Such biomarkers could be used to screen people so they might be helped before they develop dementia. Researchers have focused primarily on three such biomarkers. Two are Alzheimer’s-related proteins, amyloid and […]

Researchers here show that increased levels of cap-independent translation (CIT) of messenger RNA (mRNA) take place in a diverse set of interventions known to modestly slow aging in mice, suggesting it to be a common phenomenon in these shifts of metabolism towards a slower pace of aging. CIT is a […]

If you’ve ever experienced shift work, you know it can be extremely taxing on your overall wellbeing. On the other hand, in some places it is simply unavoidable – you have to keep some factories and healthcare institutions running. Now scientists at the University of Waterloo found that irregular work […]

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that a calorie labelled is not the same as a calorie digested and absorbed when the food source is almonds. The findings, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, should help alleviate concerns that almonds contribute to weight gain, which persist despite the widely […]

Imagine you’re walking your dog down the street when you see someone ahead of you collapse. Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, you’d rush to their side, check to see if they are breathing, feel for a heartbeat. Unable to detect either, you’d begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with chest compressions […]

For reasons not yet clear, pregnant women infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 are more likely to experience preterm births, pre-eclampsia, and other neonatal problems than non-infected women. A team of Yale scientists decided to investigate whether the virus could be affecting the placental tissue of infected expectant mothers. […]

Fentanyl, oxycodone, morphine—these substances are familiar to many as a source of both pain relief and the cause of a painful epidemic of addiction and death. Scientists have attempted for years to balance the potent pain-relieving properties of opioids with their numerous negative side effects—with mostly mixed results. Work by John […]

Researchers have identified the mechanisms of scar formation in skin and demonstrated in mice a way to make wounds heal with normal skin instead of scar tissue. A simple question from a mentor — Why do we scar after an injury or surgical incision? — set Michael Longaker, MD, on a […]

Resolving a missing link of research, Canadian researchers find significant microbiome changes in crew who spent 520 days in isolation to simulate a mission to Mars Crew members who took part in the Mars500 experiment showed significant changes in their gut microbiota from their 520 days in confinement, according to […]