General

A molecular process involved in the action of anti-leukemia drugs has been discovered at Université de Montréal’s Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC). While calling into question a central tenet of oncology, this discovery, published in the journal Cancer Cell, also holds promise for the development of effective treatments in the […]

Researchers in Japan have edited plant mitochondrial DNA for the first time, which could lead to a more secure food supply. Nuclear DNA was first edited in the early 1970s, chloroplast DNA was first edited in 1988, and animal mitochondrial DNA was edited in 2008. However, no tool previously successfully […]

A simple set of decision-support tools combined with institutional buy-in can help increase the number of cancer patients who engage in treatment to help them quit tobacco, data from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania show. The study is based on researchers’ clinical experience with […]

Researchers in many fields of science and medicine engineer different types of human cells for drug testing and other purposes. They often begin with stem cells—unspecialized cells that have the potential to form many different types of tissue. By turning on certain genes, scientists attempt to coax stem cells into becoming […]

After thyroid cancer surgery, many patients should be in the position of deciding with their doctors whether to pursue treatment with radioactive iodine to help ease long-term follow-up and offer reassurance that the cancer is gone. A new survey by researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and U-M Institute […]

A happy cell is a balanced cell, but for every stupendously twisted protein it creates, it must tear the old ones asunder. That means untangling a convoluted pretzel-like mass for recycling. Cdc48 plays a critical role in unraveling the spent proteins. “Cdc48 is like a Swiss army knife of the […]

A small chemical change — shifting the position of two hydrogen atoms — makes the difference between mice that are healthy and mice with insulin resistance and fatty liver, major risk factors for diabetes and heart disease. Making the change prevented the onset of these symptoms in mice fed a […]

Pancreatic cancer is especially challenging to treat – only eight percent of patients are still alive five years after diagnosis. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are of limited benefit, and even immunotherapy – which revolutionized treatment for other kinds of cancer by activating the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells – […]

Simply introducing a default physician order — a “nudge” — into electronic health records (EHRs) cut the use of unnecessary daily imaging in half during palliative radiation therapy sessions for patients with advanced cancer, according to a Penn Medicine study published in JAMA Oncology. While daily imaging is typically used […]

Using advanced technology, scientists at Chan Zuckerberg (CZ) Biohub, Mayo Clinic and UC San Francisco, have discovered an autoimmune disease that appears to affect men with testicular cancer. Called “testicular cancer-associated paraneoplastic encephalitis,” the disease causes severe neurological symptoms in men. They progressively lose control of their limbs, eye movements, […]

New research that uncovers the mechanism behind the newest generation of cancer drugs is opening the door for better targeted therapy. PARP inhibitors are molecular targeted cancer drugs used to treat women with ovarian cancer who have the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations. The drugs are showing promise in late-stage […]

The standard treatment for aggressive skin cancer is to surgically remove the tumour. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now show that a 2 cm operational margin is sufficient, as opposed to the close to 4 cm margin previously applied by surgeons. For the study, which is published in The […]

In a world first, scientists have found a new way to direct stem cells to heart tissue. The findings, led by researchers at the University of Bristol and published in Chemical Science, could radically improve the treatment for cardiovascular disease, which causes more than a quarter of all deaths in […]

Tooth decay and gum disease impact on illness and healthcare spending, yet the role of genetics in dental problems is largely unknown. New research led by an international team, including researchers at the University of Bristol, suggests hereditary traits and factors such as obesity, education and personality could play a […]

Getting mom’s milk is extremely important for babies. It is not only nutrition, but also immunity benefits and ability to heal and recover quicker. However, a lot of babies are nowadays fed with formula. It is a convenient way to maintain a healthy and growing child. Now scientists say that […]

Scientists at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital have used a novel gene-editing approach to salvage the hearing of mice with genetic hearing loss and succeeded in doing so without any apparent off-target effects as a result of the treatment. The animals—known as Beethoven mice—were treated for the same […]

New findings show how a genetically aberrant, fused protein promotes a rare form of liver cancer in adolescents and young adults. The researchers also saw that a certain mix of drugs could target the fused protein and the enzymes that it recruits.  In the lab, this drug combination slowed down […]

Thirdhand smoke can damage epithelial cells in the respiratory system by stressing cells and causing them to fight for survival, a research team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has found. The finding could assist physicians treating patients exposed to thirdhand smoke. “Our data show that cells […]

As medical science links certain genetic mutations with a greater variety of cancers, the names for these risk syndromes are falling out of step. It’s more than just a name. These outdated designations could keep the tests from being offered to many people and families whose health is at stake […]

Findings from a study of patients who received radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment for hyperthyroidism show an association between the dose of treatment and long-term risk of death from solid cancers, including breast cancer. The study, led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of […]

A new technology discovered by a team including UConn School of Dental Medicine researchers records cellular communication in real time – providing a closer look into the dynamics of cell secretion and a greater understanding of how cells repair tissue. Kshitiz, an assistant professor (who goes by just his first […]

Arriving early or late can have big consequences for early-stage cells that gather to form a new kidney, USC researchers discovered. The scientists showed how progenitor cells that form the kidney’s filtering units, called nephrons, mature into entirely different types of cells based on when they reach the scene of […]

USC researchers have discovered a secret sauce in the brain’s vascular system that preserves the neurons needed to keep dementia and other diseases at bay. The finding, in a mouse model of the human brain, focuses on a specific cell called a pericyte and reveals that it plays previously unknown […]

Our mucosal surfaces are constantly exposed to numerous bacterial species, some of which can induce DNA damage in host cells. Normally this remains inconsequential, as the rapid turnover of the mucosa means damaged cells are shed within days. However, if the long-lived stem cells that continually give rise to new […]

Different African killifish species vary extensively in their lifespans – from just a few months to several years. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne investigated how different lifespans have evolved in nature and discovered a fundamental mechanism by which detrimental mutations accumulate in the […]

Understanding the normal molecular interactions could aid in the development of therapeutics to prevent the formation of clumps associated with ALS and frontotemporal dementia. Most of the well-studied proteins in our bodies are like metal; some can change shape easily, like aluminum foil, and others are rigid, like steel beams, […]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurological condition that affects motor neurons — the nerve cells that control breathing and muscles. Under a microscope, researchers have noticed that the motor neurons of patients with ALS contain excessive aggregation of a protein called TDP-43. Since TDP-43 proteins stuck in these aggregates […]

New research led by The University of Western Australia has shown that the social conditions that a male experiences while growing up can influence the amount of X and Y chromosome sperm that he produces as an adult. The findings, published in Evolution Letters, provide insight into how exposure to […]

Researchers from King’s College London have uncovered the earliest signs of Parkinson’s disease in the brain, many years before patients show any symptoms. The results, published in The Lancet Neurology, challenge the traditional view of the disease and could potentially lead to screening tools for identifying people at greatest risk. […]

From a biological standpoint, the earliest stages of life are the most mysterious. A developing human embryo undergoes a flurry of rapid changes, and these changes are exceedingly difficult to study because they transpire within the confines of a womb. But with new technology, it might soon be possible to […]