General

Intermittent fasting (such as alternate day fasting) is not as effective as calorie restriction (consistent reduction in calories every day) in extending life span in animal models such as mice, but it does have many of the same effects on health and longevity. Even when total calorie intake is held […]

How do cis-regulatory genome elements regulate gene expression, what are the critical components involved, and can we therapeutically target them? By investigating how corepressors modulate enhancers and silencers during inflammatory macrophage activation, BioNut researchers have found some unexpected answers to these fundamental questions. The study is published in Molecular Cell. […]

How cells develop and the diseases that arise when development goes wrong have been a decades-long research focus in the laboratory of Distinguished Professor of Biology Ellen Rothenberg. In particular, the lab studies the development of immune cells known as T cells, which act as “intelligence agents”—they circulate throughout the body, […]

An individual's personality does not lie in their behavior or their genes but in the brain, according to a new theoretical study. Do you value courage and bravery or intelligence and learning? Your answer may indicate whether you end up in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, according to a Harry Potter-themed personality […]

University of Alberta researchers have taken another step forward in developing an artificial intelligence tool to predict schizophrenia by analyzing brain scans. In recently published research, the tool was used to analyze functional magnetic resonance images of 57 healthy first-degree relatives (siblings or children) of schizophrenia patients. It accurately identified the […]

Researchers in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School have pieced together the near-atomic structures of a pair of proteins crucial for B cell function—immune cells that produce antibodies and remember how to fight specific invaders long after infection. The work provides invaluable details that may guide the design of […]

Contrary to previous findings, low-dose aspirin therapy before conception and during early pregnancy may increase pregnancy chances and live births among women who have experienced one or two prior miscarriages, suggests a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. Rather than looking solely at the difference in pregnancy […]

Pioneering research into how our bodies manufacture the cells that make blood has moved us closer to regrowing tissues and organs. The findings also may let doctors grow cells for transplantation into people to battle cancer, blood disorders and autoimmune diseases. Researcher Karen K. Hirschi of the University of Virginia’s […]

The University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR®) has entered into an exclusive multi-year agreement with Advanced Accelerator Applications International, SA (AAA), a Novartis company, to provide a key ingredient in a targeted therapy for certain types of cancerous tumors. The agreement covers medical markets in the U.S. and around the […]

The mainstream of the scientific community has for decade after decade followed an entirely incorrect strategy in the matter of aging, and it was only comparatively recently that this state of affairs was changed for the better by the advocacy of groups like the SENS Research Foundation, Methuselah Foundation, and […]

Heart disease deaths have declined among older people, but the trend is less encouraging among younger people, particularly women. Indeed, research suggests that heart disease and death rates from heart disease in these younger groups have remained unchanged or have even gone up slightly. To understand which factors put younger […]

Every living organism has DNA, and every living organism engages in DNA replication, the process by which DNA makes an exact copy of itself during cell division. While it’s a tried-and-true process, problems can arise. Break-induced replication (BIR) is a way to solve those problems. In humans, it is employed chiefly […]

Scientists have very precise instruments, but measuring properties of tiny little cells is still very difficult. Now researchers at the University of Queensland have developed a new tool to measure heat transfer inside living cells. It includes actual diamonds and it can work as both a heater and a thermometre. […]

Brain stimulation is a relatively new way to treat various neurological conditions. It is typically an invasive procedure because electrodes need to be implanted in the brain. However, now scientists at UCL have found a way to use non-invasive brain stimulation to ease tremors typically found in conditions such as […]

Macrophages – immune cells that both fight infections and fix the damage they cause – are often placed into two categories: those that increase inflammation (known as “M1”) to attack, and those that decrease inflammation to begin the healing process (“M2”). Researchers in the lab of Kathryn Miller-Jensen, associate professor […]

Scientists have identified a key factor in mental aging and shown that it might be prevented or reversed by fixing a glitch in the immune system’s front-line soldiers. Suppose Smokey Bear were to lose it and start setting forest fires instead of putting them out. That roughly describes the behaviour […]

A new study suggests that a lot of people might be going through life with symptoms that resemble concussion – a finding supporting researchers’ argument that athletes recovering from a brain injury should be assessed and treated on a highly individualized basis. In the national study, between 11% and 27% […]

When cancer is confined to one spot in the body, doctors can often treat it with surgery or other therapies. Much of the mortality associated with cancer, however, is due to its tendency to metastasize, sending out seeds of itself that may take root throughout the body. The exact moment […]

If you’ve ever had a bad case of jet lag, you know how a disruption to your body’s circadian rhythm makes it difficult to function. Molecular circadian “clocks” exist in cells throughout the body, governing more than just sleep and wake cycles — they are crucial to many aspects of […]

Exposure to mutagens, or mutation-causing agents, can not only bring about changes in DNA but also appear to induce errors when genes are transcribed to make proteins, which may be an important factor in age-related diseases. USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Assistant Professor Marc Vermulst and colleagues made the discovery by […]

Using stem cells to regenerate parts of the skull, USC scientists partially corrected a skull deformity and reversed learning and memory deficits in young mice with craniosynostosis, a condition estimated to affect 1 in every 2,500 infants born in the United States. The only current therapy is complex surgery within […]

The study, published in Science Immunology, analysed antibody and T cell responses in 136 London healthcare workers who had mild or asymptomatic Covid-19 infection dating back to March 2020. The team, including researchers from Queen Mary, Imperial College London and University College London, found that 89 per cent of healthcare workers […]

Researchers have discovered and identified sub-types of ovarian cancer cells, which can then be used to accurately identify which ovarian cancer subtypes are likely to lead to more severe cancer outcomes – an approach which has been dubbed the ‘Oxford Classification of Carcinoma of the Ovary’ or ‘Oxford Classic’ for […]

New study shows targeting arterial stiffening earlier in a person’s lifespan could provide cognitive benefits in older age and may help to delay the onset of dementia. Researchers at the University of Oxford and University College London investigated 542 older adults who received two measurements of aortic stiffness, at 64 […]

Research into motion sensitivity could lead to improved rehabilitation programmes and an improvement in building designs for people with a rare inner ear condition that affects their balance. Dr Jessica Tyrrell at the University of Exeter’s Medical School will use the VSimulators research facility at Exeter Science Park to explore the response […]

Dietary fiber found in grains is a large component of many diets, but little is understood about how we digest the fiber, as humans lack enzymes to break down the complex molecules. Some species of gut bacteria break down the fiber in such a way that it not only becomes […]

A new University of Saskatchewan (USask) study has found that stretching is superior to brisk walking for reducing blood pressure in people with high blood pressure or who are at risk of developing elevated levels. Walking has long been the prescription of choice for physicians trying to help their patients […]

The enzyme that makes RNA from a DNA template is altered to slow the production of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), the most abundant type of RNA within cells, when resources are scarce and the bacteria Escherichia coli needs to slow its growth. Researchers used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to capture the structures […]

Researchers have shown that the link between physical and mental illness is closer than previously thought. Certain changes in physical health, which are detectable in childhood, are linked with the development of mental illness in adulthood. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, used a sample of over 10,000 […]

Study shows how to determine the elusive motions of proteins that remain disordered. Researchers from the University of Cambridge, Google Research and the University of Milan have used machine learning techniques to predict how proteins, particularly those implicated in neurological diseases, completely change their shapes in a matter of microseconds. […]