General

Scientists at UCSF and Boston Children’s Hospital have developed a new technique for making mice with brains that combine the genetics of two different mouse strains. The authors aim to use this technique to learn more about how brain cancers form, about how genetic alterations in different parts of the […]

Since he took the reins of the Abramson Cancer Center in July 2017, there hasn’t been one day where Robert H. Vonderheide hasn’t felt a thrill. “This place is on fire,” he says. “Drugs are being approved, there are new discoveries, we are excited by all the Nature, Science, and Cell papers. People are flocking here to find […]

About 15 percent of breast cancers are classified as triple-negative, lacking receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and Her2. These cancers do not respond to targeted hormonal therapies, and they tend to be particularly aggressive, often resisting systemic chemotherapy and metastasizing to other tissues. Researchers had observed that triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) […]

A newly developed light seeks to reduce degradation of the brain in patents with Alzheimer’s disease. The technology has been approved, a company has been founded, and clinical trials await. A dramatic breakthrough in the treatment of patients with Alzheimer’s may be underway at DTU. For 18 months, a group […]

Even though we know the benefits of physical activity, many of us would rather watch TV than exercise. The reason we avoid working out may stem from our childhood experiences. Iowa State University researchers are working to understand how the emotional connection we develop with physical activity as children influences […]

Scientists at UC San Francisco have painstakingly assembled a searchable database of normal human immunity that researchers can now use as an instant comparison group in studies of the immune system and immune dysfunction. The new open-access data tool, called the 10,000 Immunomes Project (10KIP), pieces together the results of […]

The new cell-based immunotherapy, which has not yet been tested in humans with pancreatic cancer, led to mice being completely cancer-free, including cancer cells that had already spread to the liver and lungs. Each year around 9,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The disease is particularly […]

An oral therapy called ibudilast significantly reduced the rate of brain tissue loss in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), according to the results of a recent phase II trial. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, support further study of the drug to determine if they might also translate […]

Car accidents, sports injuries, even too much typing and texting can injure the peripheral nerves, leaving people with numbness, tingling and weakness in their hands, arms or legs. Recovery can take months, and doctors have little to offer to speed it along. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine […]

Nobody knows why some children’s backs start to curve to one side just as they hit puberty. Most children diagnosed with scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, have no known risk factors. A new study suggests that the body’s inability to fully utilize the essential dietary mineral manganese might be […]

In multiple sclerosis, a defective response of the body’s own immune system leads to brain tissue damage. Gastrointestinal microbiota could play a far greater role in the pathogenesis of the disease than previously assumed, researchers at the University of Zurich have now found. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in […]

Researchers say they have discovered a gene mutation that slows the metabolism of sugar in the gut, giving people who have the mutation a distinct advantage over those who do not. Those with the mutation have a lower risk of diabetes, obesity, heart failure, and even death. The researchers say […]

The results of a study led by Harvard Medical School researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital support evidence from previous studies suggesting the regular use of aspirin can reduce the risk of developing primary liver cancer, also called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Analyzing data from two long-term epidemiologic studies, the team […]

Genetic testing after a breast cancer diagnosis can offer clues to individualized treatment decisions for a patient and her treatment team. But many patients aren’t aware it exists and could be missing out on that opportunity, according to a new study published in Cancer. A team at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer […]

There is no cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that gradually kills off the motor neurons that control muscles and is diagnosed in nearly 6,000 people per year in the United States. In an advance that could help scientists develop and test new drugs, MIT engineers have designed […]

Antibody-based imaging of a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer is undergoing clinical trials worldwide, but the path from trial to application is being hampered by a major obstacle: safety. Concerns stem from inefficient tumor targeting, which can result in accumulation in the bone marrow, liver and kidneys of the […]

Toddlers with asthma are more likely to become obese children, according to an international study led by USC scientists. The finding is a turnabout for children’s health as obesity has often been seen as a precursor to asthma in children, not the other way around. The study, conducted by a […]

The trial involved 14 patients receiving a single injection into the back of the eye of a virus containing the missing gene and began in 2011 at the Oxford Eye Hospital – part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. By the end of the study there was a […]

Cancers pose the greatest danger when they become invasive and then spread from their originating tissues throughout the body. Although scientists have long known that cells have a chemical means of breaking free, Stanford researchers have discovered that breast cancer cells can also physically push their way out of their […]

A study published in the journal Nature Genetics used genetic data from nearly a million people across Europe and North America to highlight some of the key ways in which type 2 diabetes develops, and to find several genes which could be attractive targets for the creation of new therapeutic drugs. Together […]

Almost 10 million older adults in the U.S. have cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s Disease, or other related dementias. Penn State researchers are looking into how early life adversity, specifically child maltreatment, can affect cognitive aging later in life in a new project. According to Chad Shenk, associate professor of human development […]

Congenital mutations of the CDKN2A gene are the strongest known risk factors for inherited skin cancer. Individuals with melanoma who carry mutations in this gene also have poor prognosis, according to previous research. Melanoma that has metastasised has a limited response to traditional chemotherapy. In recent years, new immunological treatments […]

The Medical Research Council-funded study, led by University of Bristol researchers, aimed to understand whether a short period of sleep can help us process unconscious information and how this might affect behaviour and reaction time. The findings further reveal the benefits of a short bout of sleep on cognitive brain function and found that even during short bouts […]

Brown University researchers have uncovered new clues about the progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a surprisingly common disease that causes the death of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles such as those involved in walking, talking, chewing or breathing. A team led by Anne Hart, a professor of neuroscience […]

Inspiration can be a hard thing to find. The history of science is filled with elusive “eureka moments” taking place under unlikely circumstances—Archimedes’ jump in a bath to intuit displacement, Issac Newton’s observation of a falling apple to grasp gravity, and Nikola Tesla’s inspiration for the electric induction motor, which […]

A large, multiethnic study of healthy individuals found that high blood levels of an inflammatory marker are linked with long-term decline of kidney function. The results may shed light on biological mechanisms that spur chronic kidney disease. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Research was […]

Her father’s cancer diagnosis threw Kimberly Moss into a world of unknowns and anxiety. Moss, an assistant professor of art and visual culture and coordinator of the biological and premedical illustration program at Iowa State University, has an extensive background as a medical illustrator. But she wasn’t prepared for the complexity of esophageal cancer, […]

USC scientists have created the most detailed atlas yet of the hippocampus, the brain’s memory bank. Using fluorescent tracers and 3D animation, the scientists show structures, nerve connections and functions in vivid detail. The study appeared in the journal Nature Neuroscience. “Like a new atlas, we’ve constructed the most detailed diagram of […]

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have found a critical component for growing self-healing muscle tissues from adult muscle—the immune system. The discovery in mice is expected to play an important role in studying degenerative muscle diseases and enhancing the survival of engineered tissue grafts in future cell therapy applications. The […]

Early diagnosis of cancer greatly improves the odds of successful treatment. Yet many people, especially in developing countries, lack access to facilities to detect the disease. To address this issue, a University at Buffalo-led research team is creating a new cancer-spotting tool that health care providers could eventually use in […]