General

One afternoon in July, deep within the labyrinthine halls of the Medical Sciences Building at UC San Francisco’s hilltop campus on Parnassus Avenue, the laboratory of Alex Marson, MD, PhD, is buzzing. Doors clap. Gloves snap. Keyboards clack. Cells incubate in nutrient baths the color of Kool-Aid while machines resembling […]

As a wrestler at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, Adam Kuchnia lost a lot of pounds so he could compete in a particular weight class. And that didn’t always lead to the best nutritional choices. “I started to notice how good and bad nutrition felt when I was competing and the outcomes […]

DNA-damaging agents, or “DDAs,” make up the most widely used group of cancer drugs. Yet their therapeutic success has been curtailed by drug resistance—either present in cancer cells from the disease onset or arising during treatment. Now, biologists at the University of California San Diego have discovered a new way […]

Led by UCLA bioengineer, researchers design delivery system to guide drugs directly to cancer cells ‘hiding’ in bone marrow. Researchers led by a UCLA bioengineer have developed a therapy — based on two types of cells joined into a single unit — that could help strengthen existing treatments for acute […]

A new Florida State University College of Medicine study involving data from 12,000 participants collected over 10 years confirms the heavy toll that loneliness can take on your health: It increases your risk of dementia by 40 percent. The risk is across the board, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity or […]

Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health have discovered a mathematical relationship that sheds new light on the rate at which cancer cells mutate and why some survive and rapidly multiply, yet others do not. The discovery by members of the laboratory of Jeffrey Townsend, Ph.D., the Elihu Professor […]

Within a few years, Jim Johnsen and Delaney Van Riper may be among the first to benefit from CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, a breakthrough that has already revolutionized biology research and promises to resurrect gene therapy. UC San Francisco doctors working closely with UC Berkeley scientists plan to edit their genomes […]

The Bristol Bone Biologists, Elizabeth Lawrence, PhD student in Dynamic Molecular Cell Biology, and Jessye Aggleton, PhD student in Anthropology and Archaeology, were one of two teams chosen to run their research with ESA Academy as part of their annual student hypergravity experiment campaign 'Spin Your Thesis!'. The students used a Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC), which ran for 48 […]

Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are a group of antibodies that target endogenous tissue, including the fat molecule cardiolipin and the plasma protein β2glycoprotein-I. Cardiolipin is found in the membranes of blood vessel and blood platelet cells, whereas β2glycoprotein-I is found in the blood and is thought to help the body rid […]

The cells in a tissue are surrounded by a net-like structure called the extracellular matrix. To attach itself to the matrix the cells have receptor molecules on their surfaces, which control the assembly of large protein complexes inside them. These so-called adhesion complexes connect the outside to the cell interior […]

A diverse group of collaborators posed a novel question over the last year: What if  seniors could test technology designed to improve their lives in residential space that doubles as a laboratory where academic researchers could get real-world, real-time data on the technology’s performance? The 2,400-square-foot Smart Living Lab was […]

Investigating the different types of cells in glioblastoma, the research team have gained a valuable insight into what fuels slow and fast dividing cancer cells, unveiling the potential to target aggressive brain cancer more effectively. Dr Florian Siebzehnrubl, European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute at Cardiff University, said: “Glioblastoma is […]

Bad vision is not a tragedy these days. You can always wear glasses and there are certain surgical procedures that can fix your eyes up pretty well. However, bad vision should be addressed early in life, because, as this new study has shown, abnormal vision in childhood can affect the […]

People at high genetic risk of stroke can still reduce their chance of having a stroke by sticking to a healthy lifestyle, in particular stopping smoking and not being overweight, finds a study in The BMJ. Stroke is a complex disease caused by both genetic and environmental factors, including diet and […]

T cells help fight off infection, but they can go overboard. A new study led by researchers at the School of Dental Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows that a subset of T cells contributes to the problematic inflammation and bone loss that is associated with periodontitis, a severe form of […]

Contrary to the advice most cancer patients receive when they go through radiation treatment, topical skin treatments, unless applied very heavily, do not increase the radiation dose to the skin and can be used in moderation before daily radiation treatments. A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine found that while […]

Breast cancer patients will soon have a better chance of fighting the disease thanks to new pathology guidelines created by University of Queensland researchers. The guidelines allow pathologists to identify which patients have more aggressive forms of breast cancer, which means they can be classified appropriately and their treatment can […]

Researchers have revealed the structure of an essential immune system protein, creating future possibilities to develop more effective medicines for a range of illnesses from cancer to neurological diseases. University of Tokyo researchers made this discovery with computerized image analysis and modern electron microscope imaging. Researchers verified the structure of […]

Patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma are often treated by irradiating their bone marrow to destroy the diseased cells. After the treatment, patients are vulnerable to infection and fatigue until new blood cells grow back. MIT researchers have now devised a way to help blood cells regenerate […]

Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) and Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Daikichiro Kobayashi, “Meiji”) announced that an application seeking manufacturing and marketing approval in Japan was submitted as of today by Meiji for the Parkinson’s disease treatment ME2125 (safinamide mesylate, “safinamide”). This application […]

In experiments using mice, a team of UC San Francisco researchers has discovered a gene that plays an essential role in noise-induced deafness. Remarkably, by administering an experimental chemical—identified in a separate UCSF lab in 2013—that acts on the pathway linking this gene to hearing loss, they found that they […]

A pioneer in the study of neural cells revealed how a single mutation affecting the most common protein in a supporting brain cell produces devastating, fibrous globs. These, in turn, disturb the location of cellular processing units, harm the flow of energy and signals through the brain, and reduce the […]

“Bees have complex social behaviors, and with this species of bee, we can directly compare individuals that live in social groups to those that don’t live in social groups,” said Sarah Kocher, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University, who led the research. “We […]

The school has named three initial teams, two in emerging areas of biotechnology and one in robotics and “cyber-physical” systems. Each will receive $250,000 per year for three years, after which they will be evaluated to determine whether the initiative should continue, evolve into a larger effort or conclude. “The […]

Pioneering research into the mechanisms controlling gene activity in the brain could hold the key to understanding Alzheimer’s disease and might help identify effective treatments in the future. An international research team led by scientists at the University of Exeter and the University of Essex have uncovered a link between […]

The entrainment of theta brain waves with a commercially available device not only enhances theta wave activity, but also boosts memory performance. That’s according to new research from the Center for Neuroscience at the University of California, Davis, published in the journal Cognitive Neuroscience. Electrical activity in the brain causes different […]

Using a novel biomarker panel to track and measure kidney function, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and University of California San Francisco School of Medicine report that lowering systolic blood pressure to less than 120 mm Hg does not damage the kidney organ itself. Instead, […]

CU Boulder engineers have developed a 3D printing technique that allows for localized control of an object’s firmness, opening up new biomedical avenues that could one day include artificial arteries and organ tissue. The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Communications, outlines a layer-by-layer printing method that features […]

While exercise has been known to be an effective means to improve mood for a long time now, the effects of specifically aerobic exercise (AE) in the context of treating major depression have not been clearly supported by the literature. A new systematic review and meta-analysis of the research, published […]

Using already tested and approved drugs for a new purpose is a new and growing trend. It allows saving time and introducing new therapies quicker and cheaper. Now scientists from the University of Waterloo have discovered that antidepressant medications can be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. While antidepressants, of course, […]