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Researchers in the University of Minnesota Medical School have developed a process to regenerate skeletal muscle cells in animal models with muscular dystrophy. The unlikely source of those cells is a type of benign tumor called a teratoma that produces cells of all types, including glands and hair follicles. Michael Kyba, Ph.D., […]

Over 1.7 million new cancer cases and more than 600,000 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States in 2018. Could that number be reduced if microbes were used to treat cancer? Katherine Broadway, a Virginia Tech graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences is researching a […]

Royal jelly, or milky-white “bee milk,” has long been known for its mysterious growth effects on future queen honey bees, while also hailed by some as an anti-aging, cholesterol-lowering super supplement. But how this “queen magic” actually happens, and its potential benefit to humans, has remained a mystery to scientists. […]

Normal scar tissue forms to heal an internal wound and quietly retreats when the job is done. But in many common diseases — kidney, liver and lung fibrosis — the scar tissue goes rogue and strangles vital organs. These diseases are largely untreatable and ultimately fatal. A new Northwestern Medicine […]

A team of Sydney scientists has made a ground-breaking discovery in telomere biology, with implications for conditions ranging from cancer to ageing and heart disease. The research project was led by Dr Tony Cesare, Head of the Genome Integrity Unit at Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) at Westmead, in collaboration […]

In cancer cells, genetic errors wreak havoc. Misspelled genes, as well as structural variations—larger-scale rearrangements of DNA that can encompass large chunks of chromosomes—disturb carefully balanced mechanisms that have evolved to regulate cell growth. Genes that are normally silent are massively activated and mutant proteins are formed. These and other […]

Drinking artificially sweetened beverages is associated with a significantly lower risk of colon cancer recurrence and cancer death, a team of investigators led by a Yale Cancer Centerscientist has found. The study was published in PLOS ONE. “Artificially sweetened drinks have a checkered reputation in the public because of purported health risks […]

People who received complementary therapy for curable cancers were more likely to refuse at least one component of their conventional cancer treatment, and were more likely to die as a result, according to researchers from Yale Cancer Center and the Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research Center (COPPER) at Yale School of Medicine. The […]

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. Scientists are estimating that by 2020 there will be about 200 million people worldwide with the condition. Its numbers are increasing due to the population ageing, but scientists at the University of Birmingham are one step closer […]

There is a highly sophisticated way to treat some breast and ovarian cancers—a class of drugs called PARP inhibitors, designed to exploit the very defects that make tumors with certain mutations especially deadly. Yet this targeted approach to cancer therapy sometimes fails, and scientists have anxiously sought to understand why. […]

UC San Francisco researchers were recently surprised to discover fully formed gut and skin cells in the thymus, a lemon-sized organ that sits in front of the heart and is responsible for training the T cells of the immune system not to attack the body’s own tissues. The finding, based on […]

Omega 3 supplements have little or no effect on the risk of heart disease, stroke or death – according to new research from the University of East Anglia. Increased consumption of omega 3 fats is widely promoted globally because of a common belief that that it will protect against heart […]