General

Exotic molecule linked to ozone also at work in chronic diseases and cancers, and even the decomposition of food. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have made a surprising discovery that could help explain our risk for developing chronic diseases or cancers as […]

It’s known that genetics, or an inherited genome, is a major determinant of one’s risk for autoimmune diseases, like Type 1 diabetes. In human cells, a person’s genome—about six feet of DNA—is compressed into the micrometer space of the nucleus via a three-dimensional folding process. Specialized proteins decode the genetic […]

Cats share around 250 types of genetic diseases with humans, and they are seen as a next-generation animal model for diseases. During his days as a veterinarian, Project Professor Watanabe saw many animals succumb to diseases, including genetic diseases which were incurable. He presses forward with his research on cat […]

Researchers have converted human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and demonstrated in mice infused with such cells that blood sugar levels can be controlled and diabetes functionally cured for nine months. The findings, from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, are published online in the journal […]

The Alberta government’s plan for many arthritis, diabetes, and Crohn’s disease patients to switch to less expensive medications by July 1 could create legal challenges for doctors, say two researchers at the University of Alberta. “If a physician has concerns about switching, there may be a legal obligation as a […]

Development of a novel technology to generate maps of interaction between RNA and genomic DNA reveals that different classes of transcripts play a significant role in chromatin organization and regulation of gene expression. The results are published in Nature Communications by an international collaboration lead by researchers at RIKEN in […]

While many of us worry about proteins aggregating in our brains as we age and potentially causing Alzheimer’s disease or other types of neurodegeneration, we may not realize that some of the same proteins are aggregating in our muscles, setting us up for muscle atrophy in old age. University of […]

To improve how broken bones heal in people with diabetes, the School of Dental Medicine’s Henry Daniell, Sheri Yang, and colleagues are leading work to develop an affordable oral therapy—grown in plants. People with diabetes are at a higher risk of fracturing a bone than the general population. And if […]

X-ray studies reveal atomic-level distortions that enhance generation of heat for killing tumor cells or improving response to chemotherapy/radiation Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have uncovered key details of magnetic nanoparticles that may improve their use in an innovative treatment known as magnetic hyperthermia—literally […]

Researchers said the wavelengths at sunrise and sunset have the biggest impact to brain centers that regulate our circadian clock and our mood and alertness. Their study, “A color vision circuit for non-image-forming vision in the primate retina,” published in Current Biology Feb. 20, identifies a cell in the retina, which […]

Studies of the various approaches to raising NAD+ levels in aged mitochondria are a good illustration of the importance of the loss of mitochondrial function in degenerative aging. Researchers have studied this effect in numerous tissues and organs, with most such work examining muscle or the brain, both energy-hungry tissues and thus more dependent […]

Current tests for male fertility include measuring the concentration and motility of spermatozoa. However, other characteristics of sperm, such as their ability to follow a chemical trail to the egg, can influence the likelihood of fertilization. Now, researchers reporting in Analytical Chemistry have devised a quick and convenient microfluidic chip to assess […]