General

Graphene enables structural analysis of naturally occurring amyloids. A new experimental method permits the X-ray analysis of amyloids, a class of large, filamentous biomolecules which are an important hallmark of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. An international team of researchers headed by DESY scientists has used a powerful X-ray […]

Cancer drops sparse chemical hints of its presence early on, but unfortunately, many of them are in a class of biochemicals that could not be detected thoroughly, until now. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have engineered a chemical trap that exhaustively catches what are called glycoproteins, including minuscule traces that have previously […]

A major hurdle to using neural stem cells derived from genetically different donors to replace damaged or destroyed tissues, such as in a spinal cord injury, has been the persistent rejection of the introduced material (cells), necessitating the use of complex drugs and techniques to suppress the host’s immune response. […]

A team from the University of Oxford and Cardiff University have used mathematical models to re-enact the complex process of brain development that occurs as initialising cells, otherwise known as progenitor cells, start to grow and begin to differentiate into more specialist cells at various points in time. By applying […]

Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer to affect dogs. It is a painful and aggressive disease. Affecting more than 10,000 dogs annually, predominantly larger breeds, it kills more than 85 percent within two years. Nicola Mason, a researcher and veterinarian at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, is working […]

How strong are your hands? What‘s your handshake – firm and strong or maybe sloppy and relaxed? These are just some curious questions, but your grip strength is actually very important in terms of diagnostics. Scientists from the University of Glasgow say that a week grip could be a sign […]

Research by University of Alberta scientists into PD-1, a cell surface receptor that naturally plays a major role in de-escalating the body’s immune system, may explain why it can go haywire and cause autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes. “PD-1 has caused a lot of excitement in recent years as […]

By studying a rare liver disease called Alagille syndrome, scientists from UC San Francisco and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have discovered the mechanism behind an unusual form of tissue regeneration that may someday reduce the need for expensive and difficult-to-obtain organ transplants. The team’s findings, published in Nature, show that […]

UC San Francisco researchers have discovered a promising new line of attack against lethal, treatment-resistant prostate cancer. Analysis of hundreds of human prostate tumors revealed that the most aggressive cancers depend on a built-in cellular stress response to put a brake on their own hot-wired physiology. Experiments in mice and […]

Biochemist Dr Jody Mason has been awarded a prestigious Pioneer Award from Cancer Research UK to work on a new way of screening molecules which could become new cancer medicines. CRUK Pioneer Awards are given to scientists with innovative, higher risk ideas that could revolutionise our understanding of cancer. Dr Mason’s work […]

Automated breast-density evaluation was just as accurate in predicting women’s risk of breast cancer, found and not found by mammography, as subjective evaluation done by radiologists, in a study led by researchers at UC San Francisco and Mayo Clinic. Both assessment methods were equally accurate in predicting both the risk […]

An easy-to-use implant sensor for at-home glaucoma monitoring developed by researchers at Caltech and tested at UC San Francisco could significantly benefit patients by providing convenient, on-demand self-monitoring and physicians by more effectively tailoring individual treatments. “Sensors based on nanostructures on a transparent butterfly wing may one day help preserve […]

Researchers at the University of Tokyo uncovered the molecular mechanism driving the activation of a human cancer-causing protein by the CagA pathogenic effector in Helicobacter pylori bacterial strains prevalent in Japan and other East Asian countries, which underlie the higher rate of gastric cancer onset in these regions compared to other parts […]

MIT biologists have discovered a function of a gene that is believed to account for up to 40 percent of all familial cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Studies of ALS patients have shown that an abnormally expanded region of DNA in a specific region of this gene can cause […]

An international team of researchers from NASA Ames Research Center, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate at Health Canada, Oxford University, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Insilico Medicine, the Biogerontology Research Center, Boston University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Lethbridge, Ghent University, Center for Healthy Aging and many […]

Automated breast-density evaluation was just as accurate in predicting women’s risk of breast cancer, found and not found by mammography, as subjective evaluation done by radiologists, in a study led by researchers at UC San Francisco and Mayo Clinic. Both assessment methods were equally accurate in predicting both the risk […]

Researchers have known for a couple of decades that early life adversity can affect the way that particular genes function through a process called epigenetics – a bit like a dimmer switch on a light, pushing gene activity up or down. What they haven’t been able to show until now […]

Physicians and patients need more guidance to help them navigate the complex array of clinical factors and personal preferences that must be considered when deciding how best to individualize their approach to breast cancer mammography screening. What makes the choice even more complicated is that the benefits of the screening […]

Our cerebral cortex, a sheet of neurons, connections and circuits, comprises “ancient” regions such as the hippocampus and “new” areas such as the six-layered “neocortex”, found only in mammals and most prominently in humans. But when in evolution did the components of cerebral cortex arise and how did they evolve? […]

As people age, their intestinal stem cells begin to lose their ability to regenerate. These stem cells are the source for all new intestinal cells, so this decline can make it more difficult to recover from gastrointestinal infections or other conditions that affect the intestine. This age-related loss of stem […]

Among more than 230,000 cardiac patients who had sustained a heart attack or undergone one of two common heart procedures, only 16 percent participated in a formal exercise program after their hospitalization – despite the program’s demonstrated benefits to health. The finding is published in the print journal Circulation. Lead investigator Alexis Beatty, a […]

When biomedical engineering students Genevieve Goelz, Maria Fernanda Larraga Martinez, Anna Rodriguez, and Ashten Sherman teamed up for their senior design course in September 2017 to find a solution to lymphedema in breast cancer patients, they didn’t know a lot about each other or the medical condition they were tapped […]

Depression is a debilitating condition, significantly reducing the quality of life and oftentimes ending with death. Scientists have been trying to improve depression therapy, but so far results have been limited. But now researchers from The Black Dog Institute, UNSW Sydney and Western Sydney University conducted an international study, which […]

The ‘deep learning’ computers in Anant Madabhushi’s diagnostic imaging lab at Case Western Reserve University routinely defeat their human counterparts in diagnosing heart failure, detecting various cancers and predicting their strength. But Madabhushi—even as he gladly touts three recent examples of apparent cyber superiority played out in his lab—also dismisses […]

The rabies virus wreaks havoc on the brain, triggering psychosis and death. To get where it needs to go, the virus must first trick the nervous system and cross the blood brain barrier — a process that makes it of interest in drug design. Now, scientists report in ACS Nano a way […]

Once upon a time in Europe, pregnant women avoided rabbits to prevent their babies from being born with a “harelip.” But, that apparently isn’t the only misconception about the condition now known as cleft lip. In the journal Cell Reports, UConn Health researchers report the popular modern belief that the condition […]

Longstanding Sandia, industry collaboration produces precise particles Sandia National Laboratories materials chemist Dale Huber has been working on the challenge of making iron-based nanoparticles the exact same size for 15 years. Imagion Biosystems and Huber have been working together synthesizing nanoparticles since the opening of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies in 2006.Now, […]

Taking a biopsy of a brain tumor is a complicated and invasive surgical process, but a team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is developing a way that allows them to detect tumor biomarkers through a simple blood test. Hong Chen, a biomedical engineer, and Eric C. Leuthardt, […]

We inherit many traits from our parents including the color of our eyes and hair. Unfortunately, we also inherit risk factors for certain diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Understanding those genetic connections can help prevention efforts and develop new life-saving treatments to combat these diseases. In the […]

While aging is familiar to all of us, exactly how it occurs on a molecular basis has been an area of intense study and interest. We take it for granted that different species age at different rates, yet we do not have a good understanding of why and how. Most […]