General

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have uncovered a specialised population of skin cells that coordinate tail regeneration in frogs. These ‘Regeneration-Organizing Cells’ help to explain one of the great mysteries of nature and may offer clues about how this ability might be achieved in mammalian tissues. It has long […]

Mitochondria, the ‘batteries’ that produce our energy, interact with the cell’s nucleus in subtle ways previously unseen in humans, according to research published in the journal Science. The study, led by scientists at the University of Cambridge, suggests that matching mitochondrial DNA to nuclear DNA could be important when selecting […]

Researchers report that a protein known to be important to protein synthesis also influences muscle regeneration and regrowth in an unexpected manner. The discovery, reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could one day lead to new methods for treating disorders that result in muscle weakness and loss of muscle […]

Your body’s cellular structure is programmable, making it possible for it to be changed into other kinds of cells. And today, already a number of scientific studies have found at least a couple of ways to reprogram certain types of human cells. Using these methods, the body can potentially become […]

Pain is an unpleasant sensation that is part of the body’s protective mechanism designed to give a warning of potential or actual tissue damage. When pain is not managed effectively, it can persist and become debilitating, resulting in an overwhelming burden of suffering and poor quality of life. Due to […]

The immune system is programmed to rid the body of biological bad guys—like viruses and dangerous bacteria—but its precision isn’t guaranteed. In the tens of millions of Americans suffering from autoimmune diseases, the system mistakes normal cells for malicious invaders, prompting the body to engage in self-destructive behavior. This diverse […]

In a study that highlights racial disparities in the everyday impact of eczema, new research shows Hispanic and black children are more likely than white children to miss school due to the chronic skin disease. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania examined more than a […]

Long-term exposure to ambient ozone appears to accelerate arterial conditions that progress into cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to a new University at Buffalo study. It’s the first epidemiological study to provide evidence that ozone might advance subclinical arterial disease — injuries that occur to the artery walls prior to […]

As we age, many of us experience minor changes to memory, language and decision-making. These changes may represent mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an intermediate stage between age-related cognitive changes and the more serious condition of dementia. A number of behavioral interventions have shown promise to slow the advancement of MCI to dementia […]

An international team of scientists is getting closer to perfecting molecule-sized motors that drill through the surface of cancer cells, killing them in an instant. Researchers at Rice University, Durham (U.K.) University and North Carolina State University reported their success at activating the motors with precise two-photon excitation via near-infrared light. Unlike […]

Cardiomyopathy is a heart condition involving abnormalities of the muscle fibers, which contract with each heartbeat. Nearly half of children with this type of heart disease either undergo a heart transplant or die within two years of being diagnosed. That somber statistic is part of an American Heart Association (AHA) […]

New research from Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet shows that viruses interact with proteins in the biological fluids of their host which results in a layer of proteins on the viral surface. This coat of proteins makes the virus more infectious and facilitates the formation of plaques characteristic of neurodegenerative […]

Sleep is very important for you physical and mental health. Sleeping too little is one of the most prevalent poor health habits of our times. But did you know that sleeping too little or too much may have a negative effect on your memory? Scientists from UCL found that sleeping […]

Tiny channels between nerve cells are involved in a newly discovered mechanism of how Parkinson’s disease can spread throughout the brain. Researchers from LiU demonstrate that harmful protein aggregates can “hitch a lift” with channel-forming proteins, and in this way spread to healthy cells. Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s […]

An international research team developed a new method for determining cell types in a tissue sample. The scientists determined the link between the activity of genes in the same cell type and made a model capable of “recognizing” different cell types in mixed samples based on this relation. This approach […]

Highly effective modern cancer therapies rely on immune cells to attack and shrink tumours. Medicine instructs body’s immune system to attack cancer cells, which is a safer approach, but scientists from the University of Edinburgh found a way to boost this effect. They found a molecule that boosts the function […]

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is an inherited form of vision loss that causes people to have trouble with their colour vision and difficulty seeing in the centre of their visual field. Due to the founder effect from the filles du roi, there is a disproportionate preponderance of a particular LHON mutation among […]

Designing and building organisms from scratch could be the Holy Grail of synthetic biology. It therefore comes as no surprise that genome synthesis works get a lot of attention and are celebrated as high profile works form the community. In 2016 J. Craig Venter Institute scientists reported the synthesis of […]

In a pair of recently published papers, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, along with local and international collaborators, shed light on how specific circuits in the brain can simultaneously make decisions and learn from their outcomes. Consider eating brunch at your favorite restaurant: How do you know whether the eggs […]

Deep learning — a form of artificial intelligence — was able to detect malignant lung nodules on low-dose chest computed tomography (LDCT) scans with a performance meeting or exceeding that of expert radiologists, reports a new study from Google and Northwestern Medicine. This deep-learning system provides an automated image evaluation […]

In a study published in the journal Environmental Research, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found higher blood pressure and pesticide exposures in children associated with a heightened pesticide spraying period around the Mother’s Day flower harvest. This study involved boys and girls living near flower […]

Treating diseases on cellular level is extremely difficult because of the microscopic scale. It is especially true for cancer, which is why contemporary therapies are affecting a lot of the surrounding tissue. However, chemical and biomedical engineers from the UNSW Sydney proved that it is possible to design effective miniscule […]

Researchers at Cardiff and Swansea Universities are running a new trial to investigate whether a medicine currently used for the skin condition psoriasis could also be used to help people with type 1 diabetes produce some of their own insulin. Over 300,000 people in the UK have Type 1 diabetes […]

Cancer patients getting proton therapy instead of traditional photon radiation are at a significantly lower risk of experiencing side-effects from their radiation therapy, while cure rates are almost identical between the two groups. Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania conducted the largest review of its […]

A mobile phone app designed to promote physical activity, combined with an activity tracker and brief personal counseling, was effective in encouraging women to exercise for three months and to continue their activity for six more months after their app use ended, according to a study by researchers at UC […]

Strabismus, also known as being cross-eyed or having a wandering eye, is one of the most common reasons that children undergo eye surgery. But little has changed in its treatment since the 1800s, according to Jolene Rudell, acting assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. […]

A close look at the rapidly developing zebrafish embryo is helping neuroscientists better understand the potential underpinnings of brain disorders, including autism and schizophrenia. Researchers at The Ohio State University were interested in understanding changes in neurological development that arise from a genetic defect associated with neurological disease – specifically, […]

Stem cells are surrounded and protected by the stem-cell niche – the microenvironment – of the tissue in which they are found. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have mapped the stem-cell niche in the bone marrow of mice and studied how it is influenced by developing leukemia. Their results, which are […]

Up until now it was believed that various organs and structures float in cytoplasm inside a cell. Scientists thought that messages through the cells are transferred via waves. However, this understanding is quickly changing as scientists from the University of Edinburgh discovered a cell-wide web – a communication network constructed […]

Black men are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and nearly 2.5 times more likely to die of the disease compared to non-Hispanic white men. The question is why. Are black men more likely to carry genes that drive deadlier forms of the disease? What societal disparities might […]