General

Women awaiting liver transplants in the United States are known to be about one-third more likely than men to become too ill to undergo surgery or die before receiving a liver. Now a study headed by UC San Francisco and Columbia University highlights the role that frailty plays in this […]

The human body is filled with friendly bacteria. However, some of these microorganisms, such as Veillonella parvula, may be too nice. These peaceful bacteria engage in a one-sided relationship with pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis, helping the germ multiply and cause gum disease, according to a new University at Buffalo-led study. The […]

Small studies have suggested that a group of medications called RAS inhibitors may be harmful in persons with advanced chronic kidney disease, and physicians therefore often stop the treatment in such patients. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now show that although stopping the treatment is linked to a lower risk of […]

In a new study led by the University of Washington School of Medicine, researchers demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 – the pathogen behind COVID-19 disease – can enter the brain of mice, just like many other viruses before it. People who develop COVID-19 often experience intense bodily inflammation called a cytokine storm, […]

The authors of this open access papers discuss the prominent role of cell signaling in the better known classes of intervention that have been shown to slow aging in worms, flies, and mice. The body is a network in which cells in one tissue influence the behavior of cells in […]

Psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease, has long been known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attack and stroke. Now, researchers have identified a key culprit: the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn), a condition that includes obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension, and is highly prevalent […]

When surgeons remove cancer, one of the first questions is, “Did they get it all?” Researchers from Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have created a new microscope that can quickly and inexpensively image large tissue sections, potentially during surgery, to find the answer. The […]

Metolazone, a drug used to treat hypertension, activates a mitochondrial stress response that prolongs lifespan in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans A stress response of mitochondria, the part of our cells that produce energy to power bodily functions, is important to a longer life. A team of scientists from Osaka City […]

Baylor College of Medicine researcher Meng Wang had already shown that bacteria that make a metabolite called colanic acid (CA) could extend the lifespan of worms in her lab by as much as 50%, but her collaboration with Rice University synthetic biologist Jeffrey Tabor is providing tools to answer the bigger question of how […]

James Cook University’s Professor Edward Strivens and Associate Professor Sarah Russell from JCU’s Healthy Ageing Research Team have found were part of a group that examined 276 Torres Strait residents aged between 45 and 93. The study took in all 18 island and 5 mainland communities in the Torres Strait […]

Artificial intelligence is able to analyze vast amounts of information very quickly and efficiently. And, therefore, unsurprisingly it is very useful in medicine. Scientists from UCL and the Western Eye Hospital have now developed a new eye test, which takes advantage of AI technology to predict wet age-related macular degeneration […]

Type 2 diabetes is oftentimes called a lifestyle disease, because it is associated with obesity, poor levels of physical activity and a terrible diet. It can be prevented through lifestyle changes, but what are other options? A team of scientists led by the University of Adelaide conducted a 2 year […]

For the first time, scientists have recorded how our brains navigate physical space and keep track of others’ location. Researchers used a special backpack to wirelessly monitor the brain waves of epilepsy patients as each one walked around an empty room hunting for a hidden, two-foot spot. In an article […]

A new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU) presents an innovative treatment for deafness, based on the delivery of genetic material into the cells of the inner ear. The genetic material “replaces” the genetic defect and enables the cells to continue functioning normally. The scientists were able to prevent the gradual deterioration […]

Researchers at three Canadian universities find the key to unlocking the antidepressant effect of ketamine in the brain. A group of proteins called 4E-BPs involved in memory formation are key to unlocking the antidepressant effect of ketamine in the brain, according to a new study by researchers from three Canadian […]

UC San Francisco and BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBIO) today announced a partnership to drive the advancement of academic innovations in genetically driven diseases into potential therapeutics for patients. “The BridgeBio team is developing close relationships with our investigators at UCSF with the mission of bringing potential therapies into the […]

How genes get ‘switched on’ has fascinated scientists for decades, but equally important questions about how they are ‘turned off’ have been largely overlooked. As the messengers carrying instructions from DNA for the creation of proteins, the formation and decay of cellular RNAs is critical to maintaining cell stability and […]

What microbes are in your gut, and where? Cornell researchers developed an imaging tool to create intricate spatial maps of the locations and identities of hundreds of different microbial species, such as those that make up the gut microbiome. The tool will help scientists understand how complex communities of microorganisms […]

Scientists have known that females of many species eat more to meet the demands of reproduction, and that females undergo widespread physiological and behavioral changes after mating. The mechanisms of these changes, however, are not well understood. A new study of the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) has identified a […]

Have you recently wondered how social-distancing and self-isolation may be affecting your brain? An international research team led by Erin Schuman from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research discovered a brain molecule that functions as a “thermometer” for the presence of others in an animal’s environment. Zebrafish “feel” the […]

How can you build neuronal networks that are more complex than anything known today? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany, have mapped the development of inhibitory neuronal circuitry and report the discovery of distinct circuit formation principles. Their findings enable scientists to monitor the […]

By growing mouse stem cells in a special gel, a Berlin research team succeeded to grow structures similar to parts of an embryo. The trunk-like structures develop the precursors for neural, bone, cartilage and muscle tissues from cellular clumps within five days. This could allow the investigation of the effects […]

A newly developed compound starves cancer cells by attacking their “power plants” – the so-called mitochondria. The new compound prevents the genetic information within mitochondria from being read. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and the University of Gothenburg […]

As known from diseases such as arteriosclerosis, cholesterol deposits along blood vessels can be harmful. Similar problems occur in neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Here, defects occur in the regeneration of cholesterol-rich myelin sheaths. The normal recycling of cholesterol from defective myelin sheaths by phagocytes is impaired. This leads […]

Most autism spectrum disorders have a complex, multifactorial genetic component, making it difficult to find specific treatments. Rett syndrome is an exception. Babies born with this form of the disorder have mutations specifically in the MECP2 gene, causing a severe impairment in brain development that primarily affects females. Yet there is still […]

Many neurodegenerative conditions, from glaucoma to Alzheimer’s disease, are characterized by injury to axons — the long, slender projections that conduct electrical impulses from one nerve cell to another, facilitating cellular communications. Injury to axons often leads to neuronal impairment and cell death. Researchers know that inhibiting an enzyme called […]

Pregnant women who are infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, during the third trimester are unlikely to pass the infection to their newborns, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study followed 127 pregnant women who were admitted to Boston hospitals during the spring […]

How the immune system adapts to pregnancies has puzzled scientists for decades. Now, findings from an international group of researchers, led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, reveal important changes that occur in the thymus to prevent miscarriages and gestational diabetes. The results are published in the journal Nature. […]

For even the most routine of medical checkups, a blood test is often the first order of business. But, for all its diagnostic power, this common test provides only a snapshot of the blood during a single moment in time. “A blood test is great, but it can’t tell you, […]

A woman who defied a genetic mutation that guarantees early-onset Alzheimer’s donates her brain to research. Her life was nothing short of a miracle. Born into an extended family of 6,000, all of whom share a rare genetic mutation that inescapably leads to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by the age of […]