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Researchers can now determine the age and sex of living beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet thanks to a new DNA-based technique that uses information from small samples of skin tissue. Accurate age estimates are vital to conservation efforts for Cook Inlet belugas, which were listed as endangered following a significant population […]

In biological cells, proteins are everywhere: these building blocks of life perform countless important functions. A human cell contains thousands of different proteins at any given time, often with copies of each protein type present in their hundreds or even thousands simultaneously. In recent years, researchers have succeeded in using […]

We are gradually learning more about the cells of the human body than any researcher has ever dared to dream of. But what’s the purpose? The mere thought of what one plunges into when deciding to research cells is mind-blowing: The human body contains 37 trillion cells, plus/minus a few […]

A team of scientists from Japan have found success in growing small intestinal cells, akin to those found in the human body, from human-induced pluripotent stem cells. The scientists used a procedure they previously developed on embryonic stem cells for this discovery. They claim that the grown cells can be […]

Eating too much fat and sugar as a child can alter your microbiome for life, even if you later learn to eat healthier, a new study in mice suggests. The study by UC Riverside researchers is one of the first to show a significant decrease in the total number and […]

It took the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Ruiguo Yang far longer to devise a way to put that connection to the test, to ratchet up the stress with unprecedented precision, all while measuring the strain it could endure before reaching a breaking point. The pair in question? Human cells. Their connection? A […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have developed a new method for 3D printing living microbes in controlled patterns, expanding the potential for using engineered bacteria to recover rare-earth metals, clean wastewater, detect uranium and more. Through a novel technique that uses light and bacteria-infused resin to produce 3D-patterned microbes, the […]

New research has found that men who have the Western world’s most common genetic disorder are more likely to develop dementia, compared to those without the faulty genes. Researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Connecticut have previously found that men with two faulty genes that cause […]

Hormone therapy commonly is given as a targeted treatment for women whose cancer cells carry receptors for estrogen. But the therapy only works for about half of all patients. Until now, there hasn’t been a good way to reliably predict who will benefit and who will not. Researchers at Washington […]

If there was a superhero who relieved pain, millions would be overjoyed. More than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, costing in excess of $650 billion a year in medical treatments and lost productivity, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine. Vulnerable populations are far more likely to develop chronic pain […]

Scientists have identified a group of drugs that may help stop a leading cause of vision loss after making an unexpected discovery that overturns a fundamental belief about DNA. The drugs, known as nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, or NRTIs, are commonly used to treat HIV. The new discovery suggests that […]

The immune system is an extremely complex organ system capable of fighting disease. However, it can also create disease because immune cells may—so to speak—run riot and start attacking the healthy cells of the body. This very delicate balance has always fascinated Professor Sine Reker Hadrup, and she has embarked […]

A Canadian-led research project has confirmed that it is safe to procure organs for transplant from dying patients once the heart has stopped for a full five minutes, in newly published findings in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers monitored blood pressure and electrocardiographic (ECG) waveforms in 631 dying patients following […]

Blocking seizures after a head injury could slow or prevent the onset of dementia, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. “Traumatic brain injury is a major risk factor for dementia, but the reason this is the case has remained mysterious,” said Ted Allison, co-author and professor in the Department […]

Both inactivated and live-attenuated vaccines generally produce an adequate immune response and are safe to use in children suffering from autoimmune diseases treated with all but the most potent immunosuppressants, according to a research review. The team examined 37 original articles: 25 studied the inactivated vaccines influenza; hepatitis A virus; […]

A new study from scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing shows that the potential genetic burden of mutations arising from retrogenes is significantly greater than originally thought. Genetic information is stored in DNA and transcribed as […]

Childhood trauma could affect the trajectory of multiple sclerosis development and response to treatment in adulthood, a new study in mice found. Mice that had experienced stress when young were more likely to develop the autoimmune disorder and less likely to respond to a common treatment, researchers at the University […]

There are a great many ways to influence cellular metabolism to modestly slow the pace of aging, but few of them are of lll that much interest from a practical point of view, as a basis for therapies that might meaningfully extend human life spans. If an approach involves improvements […]

Biological sensors developed by MIT spinout Glympse Bio could help clinicians make decisions for individual patients. In the fight against severe diseases like cancer, patients often endure a discomforting, weekslong gap between when treatment begins and when doctors can tell if it’s working. The problem often stems from an inability […]

Near-infrared hyperspectral imaging combined with machine learning can visualize tumors in deep tissue and covered by a mucosal layer, scientists show Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are tumors of the digestive tract that grow underneath the mucus layer covering our organs. Because they are deep inside the tissue, these “submucosal tumors” are […]

ETH researchers have found a gene mutation that causes the sperm of boars to immobilize. Their discovery will help pig breeders to exclude animals with this genetic defect from breeding in future. In pig farming, natural mating between a boar and a sow has become rare. It is much more […]

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet and Gothenburg University have investigated a potential new drug target for the rare genetic disorder Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome that causes accelerated aging in children. The findings in mice are published in the scientific journal eLife and may aid in the development of more effective treatments for […]

3D printing is the way of the future. Someday our houses may be 3D printed. 3D printers are already used in medicine as well, mostly to print tailored implants. Now scientists at UNSW Sydney have developed a new ceramic-based ink, which enables 3D printing of bone parts complete with the […]

Findings hint that vaccination of pregnant women might also protect their newborns. Antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the blood of pregnant women cross the placenta efficiently and are were found at similar concentrations in the blood of their newborns, according to a large study from researchers at the Perelman […]

Yale researchers are developing a skin cancer treatment that involves injecting nanoparticles into the tumour, killing cancer cells with a two-pronged approach, as a potential alternative to surgery. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “For a lot of patients, treating skin cancer is […]

A new study shows that many abnormalities in fragile X syndrome cells are related to glitches with one of the body’s major quality control systems. Published in Nature Cell Biology, the research provides fresh insight into the molecular mechanisms of the disorder and a pathway to search for potential treatments. Fragile […]

Vivian Gama, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology, and Leon Bellan, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, have won a $2.3 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative.  The researchers will be developing three-dimensional brain organoids and related tissue—miniaturized and simplified versions produced in vitro—that resemble a human brain at 24 to 25 weeks post-conception. These will provide an unparalleled window […]

More than half of all Danes are overweight, and being overweight increases the risk of developing a wide range of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, strokes, various types of cancer, and, currently, an enhanced risk of serious complications resulting from COVID-19 infection. Globally, more than four million people die from […]

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and their collaborators found that inhaling unfragmented hyaluronan improves lung function in patients suffering from a severe exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Hyaluronan, a sugar secreted by living tissue that acts as a scaffold for cells, is also used in cosmetics […]

Five new research networks totaling $3.13 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health will allow investigators to refine and test key concepts that advance the study of emotional well-being. Emotional well-being has been defined as an overall positive state of one’s emotions, life satisfaction, sense of meaning and […]