General

Studies of the various approaches to raising NAD+ levels in aged mitochondria are a good illustration of the importance of the loss of mitochondrial function in degenerative aging. Researchers have studied this effect in numerous tissues and organs, with most such work examining muscle or the brain, both energy-hungry tissues and thus more dependent […]

Current tests for male fertility include measuring the concentration and motility of spermatozoa. However, other characteristics of sperm, such as their ability to follow a chemical trail to the egg, can influence the likelihood of fertilization. Now, researchers reporting in Analytical Chemistry have devised a quick and convenient microfluidic chip to assess […]

The brain is a ravenous organ. A three-pound adult human brain consumes about a fifth of the body’s energy, yet it cannot store energy on its own and requires constant nourishment from the cardiovascular system. The organ’s energy needs fluctuate greatly depending on neural activity, and sufficient blood must be […]

Due to Zika virus, more than 1,600 babies were born in Brazil with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads, from September 2015 through April 2016. The epidemic took health professionals by surprise because the virus had been known since 1947 and was not linked to birth defects. As scientists scrambled to […]

In the UK, ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in females*. A new study has found evidence to suggest that statins could lower the risk of women developing ovarian cancer. The research led by the University of Bristol, and funded by Cancer Research UK, is published in JAMA. […]

Researchers hope confirmation of association will lead to novel therapeutics for infants and adults. Breastfeeding affects infant growth and, researchers have found, helps prevent obesity, both in childhood and later in life. However, the components of breast milk responsible for these beneficial effects remain mostly a mystery. Human milk is […]

Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a control system that could make CAR T-cell therapy safer and more powerful when treating cancer. By programming CAR T cells to switch on when exposed to blue light, the researchers controlled the cells to destroy skin tumors in mice […]

Researchers in a new study provide evidence for significant levels of cell death to occur in the brain earlier than expected in the development of Alzheimer's disease, during the stage of mild cognitive impairment thought to be driven by the aggregation of amyloid-β. The researchers identify some portions of a mechanism by which […]

There are many ongoing discussions about the possibility to reduce the effects of biological aging, or even eliminating/reversing it completely. Here, the video presented below briefly summarizes the main concepts and research trends in the field of aging, and provides interesting commentaries from two world-wide recognized scientists, professor David Sinclair […]

Over 46 million people in the world suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, a common type of dementia named after the doctor who first identified it. It has been 110 years since the disease was first reported, but a fundamental treatment has yet to be discovered. One reason why could be that […]

Usher syndrome, a genetic condition that results in hearing and vision loss in childhood, affects about four out of every 100,000 Canadians and accounts for over 50 percent of the Deafblind community. Now, with new funding from Fighting Blindness Canada (FCB), Vincent Tropepe, professor and chair of the department of cell and systems biology in […]

Scientists at Dongguk University successfully treated Alzheimer’s disease in mice using the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9. They used the tool to edit out the Alzheimer’s causing gene in the mice, thereby improving their memory and other cognitive functions. While this is only a first step and much research remains to be […]

An analysis of 149 scientific studies has identified 24 genetic variants that predispose women to endometrial cancer. The systematic review, led by Emma Crosbie, Professor of Gynaecological Oncology from The University of Manchester, part of the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), could help scientists develop targeted screening and prevention […]

Life is usefully defined on the basis of process: any set of entities that participates in the process of evolution by natural selection is alive. But how does evolution by natural selection – and thus life – get started? The answer is far from obvious. Lack of insight haunts origins […]

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Milan in Italy have identified a gene in human neurons that protects against the degeneration of motor neurons in the deadly diseases ALS and SMA. Gene therapy in animal models of these diseases was shown to protect against cell death […]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder, impairing the motor functions of millions of elderly people worldwide. Often, people with PD will experience disturbances in gastrointestinal function, such as constipation, years before motor symptoms set in. Postmortem examinations of the brains of people with PD have shown that their […]

A new study that reveals the dozens of molecular changes that bring about endometrial cancer offers insight into how physicians might be able to better identify which patients will need aggressive treatment and why a common treatment is not effective for some patients. The study appears in the journal Cell. […]

Six research discoveries with the potential to provide benefit to society have been awarded funding from the University’s Intellectual Property Accelerator Fund, which aims to speed the development of innovative projects into real-world applications. The projects address a range of societal challenges, from new treatments for cancer, hepatitis B and obesity, […]

Many people consult their friends and neighbors before making a big decision. It turns out that cells also consult their neighbors — in the human body. Scientists and physicians have long known that immune cells migrate to the site of an infection, which individuals experience as inflammation — swelling, redness […]

New research has shed fresh light on how the build-up of two proteins in the brain might affect the activity of genes involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at the University of Exeter worked in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to examine the brains of mice carrying mutations in the genes for […]

Researchers at the University of Oxford are now closer to finding the cell of origin of ovarian cancer, and their ultimate aim of developing a much needed screening tool for ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women, with around 7,500 new cases diagnosed in the […]

Scientists have created one of the most detailed maps of breast cancer ever achieved, revealing how genetic changes shape the physical tumour landscape, according to research funded published in Nature Cancer. An international team of scientists, brought together by a £20 million Grand Challenge award from Cancer Research UK, has developed […]

The key to a better understanding of schizophrenia may exist in a genetic disorder so rare that researchers haven’t been able to conduct an adequate study — until now. The genetic disorder 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS), caused by a small segment of missing DNA on chromosome 22, is the strongest […]

Plant cells tend to grow longer instead of wider due to the alignment of the many layers of cellulose that make up their cell walls, according to a new study that may have implications for biofuels research. The study, which appeared in the Journal of Experimental Botany, reveals that the protein CSI1 […]

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is progressive, but slow to develop — or at least to reveal itself. In a new study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues elsewhere, report that early, subtle differences in cognitive performance, such as fewer […]

Bioengineers are on the brink of developing artificial organisms that will open up new applications in medicine and industry. Beat Christen discusses their risks and benefits. Every living creature on earth has parents, grandparents, great-​grandparents and so on – representing an unbroken line of ancestry all the way back to […]

A type of fatty liver disease that commonly affects patients with HIV can be safely treated with vitamin E, a McGill-led study has found. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a severe form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and is characterized by liver inflammation and cell damage. It is a potentially […]

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Several previous studies have reported an increased risk of colorectal cancer in patients with Crohn's disease, but these studies are older and have often shown uncertain risk estimates. Now researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Örebro University and Aarhus University, Denmark, published the […]

Experts have been unable to explain why cells from bacteria to humans leak essential chemicals necessary for growth into their environment. New mathematical models reveal that leaking metabolites — substances involved in the chemical processes to sustain life with the production of complex molecules and energy — may provide cells […]

There are more than 100 different autoimmune diseases. But what unites them all is that they arise from an individual’s own cells – rare and mysterious immune cells that target not external viruses and bacteria but the body’s own healthy organs and tissues. For the first time, a team led […]