General

The brain is a ravenous organ. A three-pound adult human brain consumes about a fifth of the body’s energy, yet it cannot store energy on its own and requires constant nourishment from the cardiovascular system. The organ’s energy needs fluctuate greatly depending on neural activity, and sufficient blood must be […]

Due to Zika virus, more than 1,600 babies were born in Brazil with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads, from September 2015 through April 2016. The epidemic took health professionals by surprise because the virus had been known since 1947 and was not linked to birth defects. As scientists scrambled to […]

In the UK, ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in females*. A new study has found evidence to suggest that statins could lower the risk of women developing ovarian cancer. The research led by the University of Bristol, and funded by Cancer Research UK, is published in JAMA. […]

Researchers hope confirmation of association will lead to novel therapeutics for infants and adults. Breastfeeding affects infant growth and, researchers have found, helps prevent obesity, both in childhood and later in life. However, the components of breast milk responsible for these beneficial effects remain mostly a mystery. Human milk is […]

Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a control system that could make CAR T-cell therapy safer and more powerful when treating cancer. By programming CAR T cells to switch on when exposed to blue light, the researchers controlled the cells to destroy skin tumors in mice […]

Researchers in a new study provide evidence for significant levels of cell death to occur in the brain earlier than expected in the development of Alzheimer's disease, during the stage of mild cognitive impairment thought to be driven by the aggregation of amyloid-β. The researchers identify some portions of a mechanism by which […]

There are many ongoing discussions about the possibility to reduce the effects of biological aging, or even eliminating/reversing it completely. Here, the video presented below briefly summarizes the main concepts and research trends in the field of aging, and provides interesting commentaries from two world-wide recognized scientists, professor David Sinclair […]

Over 46 million people in the world suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, a common type of dementia named after the doctor who first identified it. It has been 110 years since the disease was first reported, but a fundamental treatment has yet to be discovered. One reason why could be that […]

Usher syndrome, a genetic condition that results in hearing and vision loss in childhood, affects about four out of every 100,000 Canadians and accounts for over 50 percent of the Deafblind community. Now, with new funding from Fighting Blindness Canada (FCB), Vincent Tropepe, professor and chair of the department of cell and systems biology in […]

Scientists at Dongguk University successfully treated Alzheimer’s disease in mice using the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9. They used the tool to edit out the Alzheimer’s causing gene in the mice, thereby improving their memory and other cognitive functions. While this is only a first step and much research remains to be […]

An analysis of 149 scientific studies has identified 24 genetic variants that predispose women to endometrial cancer. The systematic review, led by Emma Crosbie, Professor of Gynaecological Oncology from The University of Manchester, part of the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), could help scientists develop targeted screening and prevention […]

Life is usefully defined on the basis of process: any set of entities that participates in the process of evolution by natural selection is alive. But how does evolution by natural selection – and thus life – get started? The answer is far from obvious. Lack of insight haunts origins […]