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Jellyfish undergo an amazing metamorphosis, from tiny polyps growing on the seafloor to swimming medusae with stinging tentacles. This shape-shifting has served them well, shepherding jellyfish through more than 500 million years of mass extinctions on Earth. “Whatever they’re doing has really worked for them,” said David Gold, an assistant professor […]

A study of the dual pathways that process the essential vitamin folate by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators unexpectedly revealed a new way the cancer drug methotrexate works and may suggest strategies to boost its cancer-killing effects. For the study, published in Cell, the investigators used genome editing and biochemical experiments […]

As if a cancer diagnosis isn’t bad enough, women with one of the most common forms of ovarian cancer face a hard reality. By the time they get the news, the cancer has likely already spread, and the drugs doctors use to fight back will likely stop working within just […]

Immune cells known as microglia have been found to protect the brain from injury and infection and are critical during brain development, helping circuits wire properly. They also seem to play a role in disease—showing up, for example, around brain plaques in people with Alzheimer’s. In an ambitious study, perhaps […]

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Or just stick with recycle. A plant relies on cellular machinery to recycle materials during times of stress, but that same machinery has a remarkable influence on the plant’s metabolism even under healthy growing conditions, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis. Autophagy is […]

Heart disease kills millions every year. It is one of the leading causes of death, because of how crucial heart is for our survival. However, situation is completely different for some animals. A tiny Mexican tetra fish is able to repair its own heart. Scientists from UCL and the University […]

Proteins are the workhorses of our cells, carrying out essential tasks to keep our cells – and our bodies ­– functioning properly. But proteins can only do their jobs if they fold into the right shape. When a protein mis-folds, the cell can try to salvage the situation by re-folding […]

Death is something we will all have to go through. It is something inevitable and something we should all be aware of. However, for some of us it is going to come sooner. A new UCL-led study has identified the key signs and symptoms that allow palliative care doctors to […]

You know that smoking is not good for you, but do you know exactly how? Most smokers do not really care to hear about the damaging effects of smoking, although they definitely should remember them. It is not just about an increased risk of lung cancer, yellow teeth, bad smell, […]

Baby kicking in mother‘s belly is somewhat of milestone in his development. Everyone puts their hands on the growing belly trying to feel it move. But scientists from UCL say that there may be more to kicking than previously believed – it may actually serve a very important function. Scientists […]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first ever inhibitor drug specifically approved for treating patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a mutation in the Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) gene. Patients with these mutations who have relapsed or refractory AML have very […]

A new, low-cost wound dressing developed by University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers could dramatically speed up healing in a surprising way. The method leverages energy generated from a patient’s own body motions to apply gentle electrical pulses at the site of an injury. In rodent tests, the dressings reduced healing times […]