General

Mistakes in DNA are known to drive cancer growth. But a new study, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, heavily implicates a genetic phenomenon commonly known as “jumping genes” in the growth of tumors. The study is published in the journal Nature Genetics. Since jumping genes aren’t […]

An experimental combination drug therapy attacking the DNA integrity of cancer cells is showing promise for a possible new cancer therapy in the future. Scientists at the University of Alberta used two drugs together to enhance DNA damage to human breast cancer cells in mice and reduce their capacity to […]

In a breakthrough study of sickle cell disease, biomedical engineers in the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering have revealed that the building blocks of the disease are much less efficient at organizing than previously thought. The findings open the door to new treatments, including new medicines that […]

When scientists attempt to slip big molecules, like the Cas9 enzyme that is key to CRISPR gene editing, into cells, things can get messy. One popular technique, bulk electroporation, involves jolting cells with electricity. This blows holes everywhere in the cell, allowing anything and everything to get inside. Delicate cells, […]

Bioscientists are moving closer to 3D-printed artificial tissues to help heal bone and cartilage typically damaged in sports-related injuries to knees, ankles and elbows. Scientists at Rice University and the University of Maryland reported their first success at engineering scaffolds that replicate the physical characteristics of osteochondral tissue – basically, hard bone beneath a […]

A team of physical chemists led by Berkeley Lab has unraveled the inner workings of a process that allows hard-working T cells to tune out fake signals. For the first time ever, scientists have imaged the process by which an individual immune system molecule is switched on in response to […]

Cells that line the intestinal tract are replaced every few days, a high rate of turnover that relies on a healthy population of intestinal stem cells. MIT and University of Tokyo biologists have now found that aging takes a toll on intestinal stem cells and may contribute to increased susceptibility […]

A team of researchers from New York University has engineered nanoscale protein micelles capable of both delivering chemotherapeutic drugs and of being tracked by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The innovation falls into the category of “theranostics,” meaning that it combines diagnostic capability and drug delivery, allowing researchers to administer therapy […]

Researchers with The Ohio State University College of Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have identified a metabolic process in the heart that, if treated, could someday prevent or slow the progression of heart failure. The American Heart Association journal published in the Circulation. Before any physical signs or symptoms of heart […]

A new study led by scientists in the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) sheds light on one way tumors may continue to grow despite the presence of cancer-killing immune cells. The findings, published in Science, suggest a way to enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapies […]

One of the largest ever clinical trials in children with Rolandic epilepsy, coordinated by the University of Liverpool, is launching on ‘Purple Day’, the family-focused epilepsy awareness day. Researchers from the Clinical Trials Research Centre at the University of Liverpool have been involved with designing and coordinating the nationwide CASTLE trial, which is one […]

People who are diabetic, prediabetic or obese are at high risk of developing diabetic neuropathy, which is chronic nerve damage that often affects the feet and hands. Researchers at Michigan Medicine may have identified a new way to reverse this common, painful and debilitating condition through simple changes in diet. […]

Researchers from Aarhus University have studied a new group of medicinal products which increase the muscle- and bone mass of mice over a few weeks. This offers hope to the elderly and people suffering from weak muscles and bones due to illness. It is common knowledge that as people grow […]

In a great stride toward finding an effective treatment for early-stage neurodegenerative diseases, UC Santa Barbara neurobiologist Kenneth S. Kosik and collaborators have uncovered a “druggable” mechanism of pathological tau protein aggregation. For the millions of people at risk for frontotemporal dementia and a host of other such conditions including Alzheimer's, this […]

All parents want their children to be not only healthy but also better than them in many ways. Can genetic engineering help them achieve that? Scientific and Moral Aspects of Genetic Modification Gene manipulation has made colossal strides over the last decades. Scientists claim that genetic engineering of children has […]

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered the underlying cause of a hereditary muscle disease first characterised in a Swedish family in 1980. It proves to be the first identified disease caused by defective myoglobin, the protein that transports oxygen in muscle cells. The study is published in Nature Communications. Sarcoplasmic body […]

Pregnant women who use cannabis may slightly increase the risk their unborn child will develop psychosis later in life, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis. “Our research shows that prenatal marijuana exposure after maternal knowledge of pregnancy is associated with a small increase in psychosis proneness during […]

Scientists at the University of Virginia and elsewhere have mapped out how the body transports testosterone, and their surprising findings may explain low testosterone levels seen in men with diabetes or patients on certain medications. The discovery allows scientists to understand exactly how testosterone, the male sex hormone, binds to a […]

An adhesive gel packed with light-activated chemicals can seal cuts or ulcers on the cornea, the clear surface of the eye, and then encourage the regeneration of corneal tissue, according to a preclinical study by Harvard Medical School researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear published online in Science Advances. The new […]

A new UW Carbone Cancer Center study, published online in EBioMedicine, has developed a model that mimics the tumor’s blood supply on a three-dimensional  platform designed in the laboratory of Dr. David Beebe, professor of biomedical engineering and pathology. The authors of the study, led by Drs. Jose “Tony” Jimenez-Torres and Maria […]

In one of the longest follow-up studies of its kind, researchers found that their specially bioengineered blood vessels evolved into living tissue after human implantation. Researchers from Yale and the North Carolina-based company Humacyte published results in Science Translational Medicine on the progress of their bioengineered human vessels (HAVs). The results show […]

Brain stem cells in people with the most severe form of multiple sclerosis look much older than they really are, according to a study led by UConn Health and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The prematurely old cells act differently in the brain than normal ones, […]

A healthy adult makes about 2 million blood cells every second, and 99 percent of them are oxygen-carrying red blood cells. The other one percent are platelets and the various white blood cells of the immune system. How all the different kinds of mature blood cells are derived from the […]

A new study in mice suggests that consuming the chemical compounds found in thermally abused cooking oil may trigger genetic changes that promote the progression of late-stage breast cancer. Thermally abused frying oil – cooking oil that has been repeatedly reheated to high temperatures – may act as a toxicological […]

Your baby delights you but he’s causing you concern. Why is it so hard to get him to look at you? Why doesn’t he gesture as much as other babies you know? Your relatives say you worry too much. They blame your parenting for the child’s frequent tantrums. Still, you […]

The human brain is one of the most complex organs. Its complexity challenges our ability to study its structure and function. As a result, many brain-related diseases are not fully understood and adequate treatments are often lacking. Scientists from Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry were able to model a developmental […]

High BMI and mental ill-health go increasingly hand-in-hand to present a combined health risk for children from mid-childhood, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Liverpool and University College London analysed data on more than 17,000 children born across the UK in 2000-01, who are taking part […]

A frontline chemotherapy drug given to patients with pancreatic cancer is made less effective because similar compounds released by tumor-associated immune cells block the drug’s action, research led by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center found.The chemotherapy drug gemcitabine is an anti-metabolite. It’s similar to normal metabolites taken up by the […]

Researchers identified two novel genes that affect bone-formation cells relevant to fractures and osteoporosis; understanding these genes could lead to more effective treatments. Examining a person’s DNA can help scientists understand if the individual is at risk for osteoporosis, the chronic bone-weakening condition that affects millions of Americans. In a […]

Physical exercise is good for you. You already know that and if you are not exercising is just because you are too lazy. However, it is still quite strange that exercising is not only good for your body, but for your brain as well. How? An international team from The […]