General

A group of researchers at the University at Buffalo have published a paper that clarifies certain cellular mechanisms that could lead to improved outcomes in patients with globoid cell leukodystrophy, commonly known as Krabbe disease. The paper, titled “Macrophages Expressing GALC Improve Peripheral Krabbe Disease by a Mechanism Independent of […]

The massive international effort to map the entire human genome, completed in 2003, opened a new field we now know as personalized medicine. The breakthrough, which identified the location and function of every human gene, offered the promise of medical care tailored specifically to individual patients, based on their personal […]

Precision medicine has the potential to tailor treatments to a patient’s unique genetic sequence. But achieving this precision — or developing new drugs — requires knowing which genes are involved in the disease. “Unfortunately, we don’t really have a good understanding of how these genetic differences can derive differences in […]

Disabling a gene in specific mouse cells, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have prevented mice from becoming obese, even after the animals had been fed a high-fat diet. The researchers blocked the activity of a gene in immune cells. Because these immune cells — called […]

Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a public health concern of global interest on Jan. 30, more than one million have tested positive for the illness in the United States and more than 62,000 have died. With no FDA–approved treatments available to date, the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine has emerged as […]

Approximately 10 percent of infants are born with a congenital heart defect, with one of the most common being persistent truncus arteriosus—a hole in the heart. In a healthy baby, deoxygenated blood is pumped through a one-way blood vessel to the lungs, where it becomes oxygenated and is pumped through […]

It has long been known that disrupted sleep can increase the risk of dementia and anecdotal evidence suggests COVID-19 anxiety is having a detrimental effect on sleep. A new UK-wide study led by academics at the University of Bristol will focus on how the current lockdown is affecting sleep in […]

Children with the genetic condition neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) can develop brain and nerve tumors. If a tumor develops within the optic nerve, which connects the eye and the brain, the child may lose his or her vision. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates […]

Cancer and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, might not seem to have much in common, but some researchers now are pinning hopes on the same immune system cell – called the regulatory T cell, or Treg – to better fight both, through immunotherapies that manipulate these […]

Glasses to stop myopia or nearsightedness in children have been shown to work in a multi-site trial of 256 children and will go on sale later this year outside the United States. The glasses are the vision of scientists Jay and Maureen Neitz and ophthalmology colleagues at the University of […]

A molecule commonly produced by gut microbes appears to improve memory in mice. A new study is among the first to trace the molecular connections between genetics, the gut microbiome and memory in a mouse model bred to resemble the diversity of the human population. While tantalizing links between the […]

New USC research reveals how APOE4 — a genetic culprit for Alzheimer’s disease — triggers leaks in the brain’s plumbing system, allowing toxic substances to seep into the brain areas responsible for memory encoding and other cognitive functions. The damage is linked to future problems in learning and memory, even […]

Cornell scientists have developed a new technique for imaging a zebrafish’s brain at all stages of its development, which could have implications for the study of human brain disorders, including autism. Zebrafish are translucent when young, making them good models for live imaging, but they become opaque with age, which […]

Researchers at the Waisman Center made a significant step in understanding the function of a specific protein, FMR1, whose absence causes fragile X syndrome, or FXS. Waisman investigators Xinyu Zhao, Ph.D., and Anita Bhattacharyya, Ph.D., with research associate Meng Li, published their paper “Identification of FMR1-regulated molecular networks in human […]

Two top scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine are seeking answers to questions about spinal cord injuries that have long frustrated the development of effective treatments. The scientists, Jonathan Kipnis and Kodi Ravichandran, are teaming up to understand why critical nerve cells called neurons continue to die after […]

A $2 million grant will let UO developmental neurobiologist Judith Eisen probe the relationship between symbiotic bacteria and neural development, using zebrafish as a model organism that could shed light on disease processes in humans. The new five-year grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will allow Eisen to illuminate the […]

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a new mathematical machine-intelligence-based technique that spatially delineates highly complicated cell-to-cell and gene-gene interactions. The powerful method could help with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases ranging from cancer to COVID-19 through quantifying crosstalks between “good” cells and “bad” cells. By […]

It is widely appreciated that old people have a poor time of it when it comes to infectious disease. Seasonal influenza kills tens of thousands of older people every year in the US alone. The aged immune system functions poorly, and vaccinations for many conditions have low success rates in older people. Thus […]

Researchers here demonstrate a direct form of cellular reprogramming, converting skin cells directly into another cell type without going through intermediary stages of induced pluripotency and differentiation. In this case the goal is to produce patient-matched photoreceptor cells to treat retinal degeneration. Proof of concept is demonstrated in blind mice that exhibit restored light sensitivity following treatment. […]

“I’ve always been interested in science from a very young age, and my grandmother was actually a really big influence in that regard,” says Tarun Kamath, when asked about his academic inspirations. “She was a big believer in being very passionate and very good at what you might want to […]

African Americans with severe sleep apnea and other adverse sleep patterns are much more likely to have high blood glucose levels — a risk factor for diabetes — than those without these patterns, according to a new study funded in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), […]

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Stanford University have identified a biomarker in newborns that may signal autism spectrum disorder months or even years before troubling symptoms develop and such diagnoses typically are made. The researchers found that babies diagnosed with autism later in childhood […]

Lactating mothers who use e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapies may be putting their breastfed babies at risk for skull defects, a new study in animals suggests. Cigarette smoking has already been linked to increased risk for these abnormalities in previous research. This study tested the effects of nicotine alone on […]

New research by academics at the University of Bristol has found evidence that prolonged treatment of synthetic corticosteroid drugs increases adrenal gland inflammation in response to bacterial infection, an effect that in the long-term can damage adrenal function. Synthetic corticosteroid drugs are widely prescribed to treat many inflammatory and autoimmune […]

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of North Carolina have mapped out the cell types behind various brain disorders. The findings are published in Nature Genetics and offer a roadmap for the development of new therapies to target neurological and psychiatric disorders. One interesting finding was that cells from […]

A biological marker in infants that appears to predict an autism diagnosis has been identified in a small study led by researchers at the School of Medicine. The study of 33 individuals showed that the biomarker, a hormone called vasopressin, was present at lower levels during infancy in the cerebrospinal fluid of babies […]

Histology images hold great potential as a resource for target and biomarker discovery activities. However, in order to use such complex phenotypic data, it is imperative that robust image analysis tools are developed. Novo Nordisk is seeking an image analysis algorithm for the robust segmentation of histology sections. This is […]

Stanford University chemist Paul Wender and his colleagues are working to improve treatments for cancer, HIV, and Alzheimer’s – and they are betting that a drab, weedy marine invertebrate is the means to achieving that end. They have focused on this seemingly unremarkable organism, called Bugula neritina, because it cooperates with a […]

Researchers have discovered how cancer of the kidneys, or renal cancer, causes inflammation throughout the whole body. Stopping this inflammation might lead to effective treatments for patients whose renal cancer has spread, or metastasized. The American Cancer Society estimates that renal cancer will kill 9,860 men and 4,970 women in 2020. In Japan, […]

A key area of our biology targeted for potential interventions to slow down or even reverse aging are the caps on the ends of chromosomes called telomeres. These protective caps become shorter each time a cell divides and over time lead to the “fraying” of DNA and the eventual death […]