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Competition among sperm cells is fierce – they all want to reach the egg cell first to fertilize it. A research team from Berlin now shows in mice that the ability of sperm to move progressively depends on the protein RAC1. Optimal amounts of active protein improve the competitiveness of […]

An international team of researchers discovered a rare genetic disease characterized by severe malformations of the limbs. As  scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics describe, the condition is caused by a newly identified epigenetic mechanism involving sequences of the genome with previously unknown function. This process could also […]

Inspired by personal tragedy, graduate student Hyunwoo Yuk used his background in soft materials to develop a bioadhesive tape for repairing damaged tissue. In November, mechanical engineering PhD candidate Hyunwoo Yuk earned the top prize at the Collegiate Inventors Competition hosted by the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame. Yuk was […]

Researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have discovered a new type of bone cell that may reveal new therapeutic approaches for osteoporosis and other skeletal diseases. The new cells, which the researchers term ‘osteomorphs’, are found in the blood and bone marrow, and fuse together to form osteoclasts, […]

A new study from the University of Iowa finds that the limitations of human memory make it difficult for researchers to link adverse childhood experiences to physical health issues later in life. The researchers found that so many people either forget what happened to them in childhood or don’t remember it […]

A new partnership between Vanderbilt University’s Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Soleno Therapeutics will further research into new clinical treatments for multiple obesity syndromes. Leading the collaboration are WCNDD director Craig Lindsley, who holds the William K. Warren, Jr. Chair in Medicine, and Jerod Denton, professor of anesthesiology and pharmacology […]

A new study of first-time pregnant women found risk factors for heart disease, such as obesity and elevated blood sugar, can put expectant moms at higher risk for pregnancy complications and gestational diabetes and also lead to increased chances of high blood pressure, or hypertension, two to seven years after […]

The goal of “precision oncology” is to be able to tailor treatments to each individual patient based on their cancer’s unique molecular fingerprints. New technologies and large, “-omics” datasets are now allowing researchers to examine shared features not just within a single type of cancer — such as breast cancer […]

A team of engineers has identified the ‘violent’ physical processes at work inside the lungs which cause wheezing, a condition that affects up to a quarter of the world’s population. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used modelling and high-speed video techniques to show what causes wheezing and how […]

A type of cell derived from human stem cells that has been widely used for brain research and drug development may have been leading researchers astray for years, according to a study from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The cell, known as an induced […]

Common fungi, often present in the gut, teach the immune system how to respond to their more dangerous relatives, according to new research from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine. Breakdowns in this process can leave people susceptible to deadly fungal infections. The study, published in Cell, reveals a new twist […]

The environment surrounding the cancerous cells of a lymphoma tumor has a strong influence on the progression of these blood-cell cancers and their responses to therapies, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. Measuring this molecular and cellular environment, or “microenvironment,” appears to represent a new type […]

The discovery of an “Achilles’ heel” in a type of gut bacteria that causes intestinal inflammation in patients with Crohn’s disease may lead to more targeted therapies for the difficult-to-treat disease, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. In a study published in Cell Host and Microbe, the investigators showed […]

Much of the three-dimensional architecture of the genome in antibody-producing immune cells is dependent on a gene called SMC3. When this gene is not working properly it can lead to improper immune cell development and to cancer, by disrupting how DNA is structured inside the cell nucleus, according to a […]

Neutralizing antibodies develop within two weeks of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, but their durability and intensity can vary by individual, prompting concerns about the prospects of long-lasting immunity and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. In a PLOS ONE paper researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that individual immune […]

UC San Diego researchers will inject harmless virus carrying a restorative gene into participants’ brains, where earlier animal studies suggest it may slow, prevent or reverse progression of the neurological disorder. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have launched a first-in-human Phase I clinical trial to […]

In a new study out of University of California San Diego School of Medicine, researchers have identified a universal strain of bacteria derived from healthy human skin that can treat the most common type of eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis. In the paper published in Nature Medicine, the research […]

Building upon previous research, an international team led by scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, has validated a more inclusive and comprehensive genetic tool for predicting age of onset of aggressive prostate cancer, a disease that killed more than 33,000 American men in 2020. Reporting in […]

New research by a prestigious Université de Montréal researcher could pave the way for the treatment of early morbid familial obesity, a disease that affects four to six per cent of people suffering from early severe obesity. Co-authored by Michel Bouvier and Patricia René of UdeM’s Institute for Research in […]

Tracking the origin of synthetic genetic code has never been simple, but it can be done through bioinformatic or, increasingly, deep learning computational approaches. Though the latter gets the lion’s share of attention, new research by computer scientist Todd Treangen of Rice University’s Brown School of Engineering is focused on whether sequence alignment and pan-genome-based methods can outperform recent […]

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and UC Berkeley announced a long-term research partnership with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and its parent company, Roche Holding AG, to speed the development of new therapeutics for debilitating brain diseases and disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), such […]

A McMaster stem cell research team has made an important early step in developing a new class of therapeutics for patients with a deadly blood cancer. The team has discovered that for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, there is a dopamine receptor pathway that becomes abnormally activated in the cancer […]

The formation of a brain is one of nature’s most staggeringly complex accomplishments. The intricate intermingling of neurons and the labyrinth of connections also make it a particularly difficult feat for scientists to study. Now, Yale researchers and collaborators have devised a strategy that allows them to see this previously […]

Inflammatory lung diseases such as asthma, COPD and, most recently, COVID-19, have proven difficult to treat. Current therapies reduce symptoms and do little to stop such diseases from continuing to damage the lungs. Much research into treating chronic inflammatory diseases has focused on blocking chemicals called cytokines, which trigger cascades […]

A study of spatial learning in mice shows that exposure to new experiences dampens established representations in the brain’s hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, allowing the mice to learn new navigation strategies. The study, published in Nature, was supported by the National Institutes of Health. “The ability to flexibly learn in new […]

People who have had evidence of a prior infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, appear to be well protected against being reinfected with the virus, at least for a few months, according to a newly published study from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This finding may explain why reinfection appears […]

First-time analyses of glaucoma across multiple ancestries find new genetic variants. In the largest genome-wide association study of glaucoma to date, which compared the genes of 34,179 people with the disease to 349,321 control participants, an international consortium of researchers identified 44 new gene loci and confirmed 83 previously reported […]

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder marked by joint pain, swelling and damage. Although medications, such as steroids, anti-inflammatory drugs and immunosuppressants, can help slow joint destruction and relieve pain, they have side effects and aren’t completely successful. Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Nano Letters have developed magnesium-based micromotors propelled by […]

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Assistant Professor Peter Koo and collaborator Matt Ploenzke reported a way to train machines to predict the function of DNA sequences. They used “neural nets,” a type of artificial intelligence (AI) typically used to classify images. Teaching the neural net to predict the function of short stretches […]

Corn—or maize—has changed over thousands of years from weedy plants that make ears with less than a dozen kernels to the cobs packed with hundreds of juicy kernels that we see on farms today. Powerful DNA-editing techniques such as CRISPR can speed up that process. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) […]