General – Page 155 – Innovita Research
November 26, 2020

Stem cell study identifies enzyme with potential for cancer treatment

Scientists have found a new mechanism responsible for regulating stem cells in fruit flies, with possible implications for cancer therapies. The study, published by University of Alberta biologists, identifies an inhibition mechanism of an enzyme called Myt1 kinase, which manages how stem cells develop and differentiate during organ development in […]
November 26, 2020

The Link Between Obesity and Puberty

Puberty, the transformational period where a child reaches physical and sexual maturity, is a near-universal human experience, yet the fundamental processes behind how and when it starts is still a mystery. For girls, puberty can begin as early as eight years old, with most instances of early puberty linked to […]
November 26, 2020

Why young people use chemical substances

All over the world, chemical products such as stimulants, but also beauty products, (energy) drinks, vitamins and food supplements have become an integral part of young people's daily lives. Many of these products can be potentially harmful. The University of Amsterdam studied why young people use these products and how […]
November 25, 2020

Popular winter beverage may actually make you smarter

Cocoa is the cosy beverage of choice during dark winter evenings. You wrap yourself in a Christmas blanket, turn on an appropriate movie and just sip your hot cocoa. However, it is not just delicious – it is also good for your brain, as this new study from the University […]
November 25, 2020

Regulating the regulators

Tiny microRNAs help destroy unwanted messenger RNAs in cells. New research finds how the body keeps them in check. MicroRNAs are short RNA sequences that maintain a tight control on which genes are expressed and when. They do this by regulating which messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts — the single-stranded templates […]
November 25, 2020

Antibiotic Exposure in Children Under Age 2 Associated With Chronic Conditions

Children under age 2 who take antibiotics are at greater risk for childhood-onset asthma, respiratory allergies, eczema, celiac disease, obesity and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a paper written jointly by Mayo Clinic and Rutgers researchers. In a study published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the researchers looked at 14,572 children […]
November 25, 2020

Commonly used antibiotic shows promise for combating Zika infections

In 2015, hundreds of children were born with brain deformities resulting from a global outbreak of Zika virus infections. Recently, National Institutes of Health researchers used a variety of advanced drug screening techniques to test out more than 10,000 compounds in search of a cure. To their surprise, they found […]
November 24, 2020

Can jellyfish help regeneration medicine and bring us closer to immortality?

How those inconspicuous animals could be immortal and what potential brings stem cells they store? Not for many of us might be obvious that jellyfish is something more than 95% of water and rest of organic matter. Lack of brain, heart and blood doesn’t indicate them on being on evolutionary […]
November 24, 2020

Imaging method reveals a “symphony of cellular activities”

Within a single cell, thousands of molecules, such as proteins, ions, and other signalling molecules, work together to perform all kinds of functions — absorbing nutrients, storing memories, and differentiating into specific tissues, among many others. Deciphering these molecules, and all of their interactions is a monumental task. Over the […]
November 24, 2020

Well-managed type 2 diabetes patients have 21% higher risk of cardiovascular disease

Well managed adults with type 2 diabetes have a 21% higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to the general population, according to new research. The research from The University of Manchester, led by Professor Martin Rutter and Professor Darren Ashcroft, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, is published in the journal […]
November 24, 2020

HuBMAP: Hacking the Kidney

Our best estimates show there are over 7 billion people on the planet and 300 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. By comparison, the adult human body contains 37 trillion cells. To determine the function and relationship among these cells is a monumental undertaking. Many areas of human health would […]
November 24, 2020

New prediction algorithm identifies previously undetected cancer driver genes

A new study, led by U.S. National Science Foundation-funded researchers at the University of California, Irvine, has deepened the understanding of epigenetic mechanisms in tumorigenesis and revealed a previously undetected repertoire of cancer driver genes. The results were published in Science Advances. Using a new prediction algorithm, called DORGE (Discovery of Oncogenes and […]
November 24, 2020

Early signs of Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down’s syndrome

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have studied the incidence and regional distribution of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in the brains of people with Down’s syndrome. The results can bring new possibilities for earlier diagnosis and preventive treatment of dementia. The study is published in Molecular Neurodegeneration. While medical advances and improvements of […]
November 24, 2020

New type of immunotherapy may pave the way for better cancer treatments

Immunotherapy for cancer has made great advances and many patients can now receive effective treatments that were not available ten years ago. However, there are certain types of cancer that do not respond to existing immunotherapy. A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in Proceedings of the National Academy […]
November 24, 2020

Understanding frustration could lead to better drugs

Knowing precisely where proteins are frustrated could go a long way toward making better drugs. That’s one result of a new study by Rice University scientists looking for the mechanisms that stabilize or destabilize key sections of biomolecules. Atom-scale models by Rice theorist Peter Wolynes, lead author and alumnus Mingchen Chen […]
November 24, 2020

Cartographers of the brain

UCI’s Center for Neural Circuit Mapping is redrawing our understanding of mechanisms underlying several common disorders. Thanks to Xiangmin Xu and his team at the UCI School of Medicine’s Center for Neural Circuit Mapping, lazy eye, Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases could become a thing of the past. Opened earlier […]
November 24, 2020

Gut Immune Cells May Help Send Multiple Sclerosis Into Remission

An international research team led by UC San Francisco scientists has shown, for the first time, that gut immune cells travel to the brain during multiple sclerosis (MS) flare-ups in patients. These gut cells seem to be playing a protective role, helping drive MS symptoms back into remission. Scientists know […]
November 24, 2020

Conservation of resources is hardwired into the genetic code

When David Zeevi and Liat Shenhav began analyzing the genomes of marine microbes, their goal was to find biological tools to combat plastic pollution in the ocean. But in the course of their study, a curious observation led them to discover something much more universal: an aspect of evolution that […]
November 23, 2020

New atlas reveals the journey of human cells throughout development

All the cells of the body come from the same tiny clump of stem cells and share the same set of genes. But by following different patterns of activating those genes, they quickly embark towards different destinies, becoming tissues as diverse as liver, blood and brain.Tracking this process in humans—who […]
November 23, 2020

Alternative gene control mechanism based on organization of DNA within nucleus

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have identified how the architecture of the cell nucleus can change gene activity in plants. This discovery reveals fundamental knowledge about genome regulation and points towards future methods for potentially manipulating the expression of many genes simultaneously. The long strands of DNA and the […]
November 23, 2020

Breast cancer discovery could help stop disease's deadly spread

University of Virginia Cancer Center researchers have identified a gene responsible for the spread of so-called “triple-negative” breast cancer to other parts of the body – a process called metastasis – and developed a potential way to stop it. Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of breast cancer that […]
November 23, 2020

New treatments for hot flashes target neurons

As many as 75 percent of the women in North American experience hot flashes, and many of these women still look to hormone therapy to relieve the surge of hormones, otherwise known as vasomotor symptoms, or VMS. But new research, shared recently at the Annual North American Menopause Society Conference, shows the direction of […]
November 23, 2020

Yale-led project continues probe into biological markers of autism

Five years ago, a Yale-led partnership launched a landmark study to identify the biomarkers, or biological indicators, of autism that could help diagnose, track, and assess treatments in patients. Since then, the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials has discovered the first two biomarkers for any psychiatric disorder to be accepted into […]
November 23, 2020

Small molecule, big potential for treating prostate cancer

Prostate cancer growth is often driven by male sex hormones called androgens. Hormone therapy is commonly administered to lower the level of androgens in the body, but relapse is common when the cancer cells develop resistance to these therapies. A multidisciplinary team of cancer researchers led by Angela Koehler, the […]
November 23, 2020

A DNA-based nanogel for targeted chemotherapy

Current chemotherapy regimens slow cancer progression and save lives, but these powerful drugs affect both healthy and cancerous cells. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have designed DNA-based nanogels that only break down and release their chemotherapeutic contents within cancer cells, minimizing the impacts on normal ones and potentially eliminating painful […]
November 23, 2020

Frozen eggs and ovarian tissue helped women conceive children after breast cancer

Women with breast cancer whose eggs or ovarian tissue were frozen had more children after their diagnosis than women who did not undergo fertility preservation using those methods before the start of cancer treatment. That is according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, published in JAMA […]
November 22, 2020

New NIH BRAIN Initiative awards move toward solving brain disorders

The National Institutes of Health will fund more than 175 grants, totalling nearly $500 million, through the NIH’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, part of a large effort among federal and non-federal partners to use knowledge about how the brain works to develop more effective therapies for […]
November 21, 2020

A gene mutation that protects against disease

Researchers at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute, Université de Montréal and McMaster University think they’ve found a fountain of youth — and it’s unique to a few French Canadian families. Canadian scientists looking at a rare genetic mutation think they may have discovered the proverbial fountain of youth. But it’s […]
November 21, 2020

Research boost to find treatments for 'undruggable' cancers

A research team at the University of Bath, in collaboration with biotechnology company Sapience Therapeutics, is redoubling its efforts to discover new peptide-based treatments capable of acting upon 'undruggable' targets in cancer cells. Some cancers are notoriously resistant to treatment – it is these tumours that are the focus of the […]