General

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 […]

One of the key difficulties in the treatment of cancer is the fact of its evolution being parallel to our own. This makes developing effective drugs a complex and on-going process. Another challenge faced by researchers is the effective delivery of drugs directly to malignant cells without damaging healthy organs […]

White blood cells are part of many immune system responses in the human body. New research shows that a specific type of those cells may cause brain cancer tissues to die — but that’s not good news, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine. They said that higher amounts […]

In cell-based immunotherapy, a treatment being explored for cancer, the body’s immune cells are modified to eliminate cancer cells more effectively. Immune cells can kill cancer cells on their own but have some difficulty recognizing the substance produced by tumors that provides information on what cells to target. Researchers at […]

The absence of a protein that works to prevent tumor formation may explain why some patients are resistant to a common cancer therapy, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. They said that testing cancers for the presence of this protein may help clinicians identify patients who may be resistant to […]

Fibrous proteins such as collagen and fibrinogen form a thin solid layer on the surface of an aqueous solution similar to the “skin” that forms on warm milk, according to a team of Penn State Researchers, who believe this finding could lead to more efficient bioprinting and tissue engineering. In […]

Scientists have tracked the very early stages of human foetal gut development in incredible detail, and found specific cell functions that appear to be reactivated in the gut of children with Crohn’s Disease. The results are an important step towards better management and treatment of this devastating condition. The research from the University of […]

Injecting a gene therapy vector into one eye of someone suffering from LHON, the most common cause of mitochondrial blindness, significantly improves vision in both eyes, scientists have found. In a landmark phase 3 clinical trial, the international team, coordinated by Dr Patrick Yu-Wai-Man from the University of Cambridge and Dr José-Alain […]

Researchers have identified the driving force behind a cellular process linked to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and motor neurone disease. In a study published in Science Advances, researchers from the University of Cambridge show that tiny components within the cell are the biological engines behind effective protein production. The endoplasmic […]

Calcification of blood vessel walls progresses with age, an issue that sees cells behave as through they are in bone tissue, a maladaptive reaction to the altered signaling environment and damage of aged tissue. The resulting deposition of calcium makes normally flexible cardiovascular tissue stiff and dysfunctional, ultimately contributing to […]

Sophia Ceder and Klas Wiman and their colleagues at Department of Oncology-Pathology have together with researchers from Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, University of Melbourne, University of Cambridge and Aprea Therapeutics published a study in EMBO Molecular Medicine that provides novel understanding on the mechanisms of mutant p53 targeting compound APR-246. […]

For the first time, scientists at the University of Zurich have been able to observe stem cells in the adult mouse brain that divide over the course of several months to create new nerve cells. The study shows that brain stem cells are active over a long period, and thus […]

Here, researchers explore the mechanisms governing changes in cell behavior during reprogramming. Many of the aspects of aging found in cells taken from old tissues can be reversed via the process of reprogramming these cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. Mitochondrial function is restored to youthful levels, for example, as […]

University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers in the Department of Chemistry have created a new polymer to deliver DNA and RNA-based therapies for diseases. For the first time in the industry, the researchers were able to see exactly how polymers interact with human cells when delivering medicines into the body. […]

Daniela Latorre wanted to be a scientist since she was a child. At the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, affiliated to the USI in Bellinzona and the Institute of Microbiology, she is finding evidence that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. She has now received the Pfizer Prize for Research 2020 […]

A new study, led by researchers at the University of Bristol and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has revealed that where fat is on our body may lead to different health outcomes for men and women. The research, co-funded by World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), Cancer Research […]

Individuals with high ADHD-traits that do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis are less able to perform tasks involving attentional regulation or emotional control after a sleepless night than individuals with low ADHD-traits, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging reports. While […]