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In 2018, one-half of the Nobel Prize was awarded to Arthur Ashkin, the physicist who developed optical tweezers, the use of a tightly focused laser beam to isolate and move micron-scale objects (the size of red blood cells). Now Justus Ndukaife, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University, has developed the […]

A simple test such as the strength of your handgrip could be used as a quick, low-cost screening tool to help healthcare professionals identify patients at risk of type 2 diabetes. In new research, scientists at the universities of Bristol and Eastern Finland measured the muscular handgrip strength of 776 […]

Two recent studies were unable to rule out that H1N1 (“swine flu”) vaccination (“Pandemrix”) and seasonal influenza vaccination given to pregnant women might be associated with autism spectrum disorder in the offspring. Now, a large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, published in the journal Annals of Internal […]

Modafinil is used to treat conditions such as narcolepsy. Reports have associated the drug with an increased risk of malformation in babies born to mothers who had taken it while pregnant. Now, a large registry study involving over two million pregnant women in Sweden and Norway shows that there is […]

New stem cell technique offers hope for those with corneal damage. Harvard Medical School surgeons at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have replaced the ocular surface of four patients who each experienced chemical burns to one eye. The technique, cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation (CALEC), uses stem cells taken from […]

Findings are relevant to an understanding of the neural mechanisms present in mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction. A new Tel Aviv University study examined the brain's reactions in conditions of uncertainty and stressful conflict in an environment of risks and opportunities. The researchers identified the areas of the […]

Minute differences in individual muscle cell contractions allow the entire muscle to flex with greater control and accuracy. Long dismissed as “noise” or error, experts now suspect that biological systems may have evolved to include unavoidable variation as a form of information in their communication channels. A team of experts […]

The neurodegenerative disease known as frontotemporal dementia (FTD) causes untold suffering. As neurons die in regions of the brain important for maintaining our personalities and living a purposeful life, patients experience steadily worsening cognitive and behavioural symptoms, and the disease is generally fatal within a decade of diagnosis. Though FTD […]

An enzyme proven to help regrow damaged nerve tissue in animals but too unstable for use in humans has been redesigned for stability in research co-led by Marian Hettiaratchi of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon. With stability added, the enzyme […]

The world’s scientific community must engage with a broad range of stakeholders to develop guidelines on embryo and embryoid research, according to a new paper from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Human embryo and embryoid research have expanded in recent years due to technological advances. But inconsistent or ambiguous restrictions […]

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a specific gene’s previously unknown role infertility. When the gene is missing in fruit flies, roundworms, zebrafish and mice, the animals are infertile or lose their fertility unusually early but appear otherwise healthy. Analyzing genetic data in […]

Results Lay Groundwork for New, More Targeted Immune Therapies. New UC San Francisco research sheds light on how immune system B cells that infiltrate the central nervous system may drive multiple sclerosis (MS), pointing the way to a new generation of targeted immune therapies to halt the progression of the […]

Mitochondria are the power plants of our cells and play an important role in providing energy for normal function of the tissues in our body. Nerve cells are particularly dependent on mitochondria for their activity and decreased mitochondrial function is seen in both inherited and more common age-associated forms of […]

Research published in Nature Medicine examines the clinical characteristics of paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS-TS). PIMS-TS is a rare syndrome which has emerged in a small number of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The condition causes severe inflammation in blood vessels and can lead to heart damage. A team from […]

A recent study in Science Advances by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Max Planck Institute shows that neurons can counteract degeneration and promote survival by adapting their metabolism. It challenges the long-standing view that neurons cannot adjust their metabolism and therefore irreversibly degenerate. These findings may contribute to developing therapeutic […]

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have, for the first time, being able to trigger the specific immune system response required to reverse the course of small intestinal inflammation by inducing the production of tuft cells, very rare epithelial cells that sense and respond to parasites. The breakthrough has the potential to […]

New research could improve the odds that people with the obsessive-compulsive disorder will receive a therapy that really works for them – something that eludes more than a third of those who currently get OCD treatment. The study, performed at the University of Michigan, suggests the possibility of predicting which […]

Pancreatic islet transplants, which revive insulin production to treat type 1 diabetes, only last an average of three years. By learning from a groundbreaking cancer treatment strategy based on a recent Nobel Prize-winning discovery, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Missouri developed a new microgel […]

Small particles released by cancer cells contain specific proteins that may be used in a blood test to detect cancer at an early stage, according to a study published in the scientific journal Cell by a group of investigators from US institutions, and including a principal author from LiU. Early […]

A new diagnostic tool that can predict whether a cancer patient would respond to immunotherapy treatment has been developed by scientists at the University of Bath. This advance in precision medicine will allow clinicians to tailor treatments specifically to patients and avoid treatment paths that are unlikely to be successful. […]

Childhood and adolescent obesity is projected to contribute up to 14 per cent of overall risk of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2035, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London. Previous studies have estimated that 53 per cent of MS risk is directly attributable to environmental factors, and […]

When autumn comes we wrap ourselves in scarfs and overcoats and enjoy the changing seasons. Meanwhile animals start thinking about the issues of survival, because the beginning of the cold part of the year means that available resources will be scarce again. But how do animals actually adapt to seasons? […]

Scientists from Trinity have discovered a new link between impaired brain energy metabolism and delirium – a disorienting and distressing disorder particularly common in the elderly and one that is currently occurring in a large proportion of patients hospitalised with COVID-19. While much of the research was conducted in mice, […]

Every time you flex your bicep or stretch your calf muscle, you put your cells under stress. Every move we make throughout the day causes our cells to stretch and deform. But this cellular deformation can be dangerous, and could potentially lead to permanent damage to the DNA in our […]

Effective wound care requires the maintenance of optimal conditions for skin and tissue regeneration. Hydrogels provide many of these conditions, but not an alkaline environment. Now, in a breakthrough study, scientists at Tokyo University of Science, Japan, have developed a new method that requires no specialized equipment and can be […]

Researchers at James Cook University and La Trobe University are working on making life better for people with Parkinson’s disease by developing a new exercise program. Moira Smith, lecturer in physiotherapy at JCU, said Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition affecting the ability to control movement. “People with Parkinson’s […]

In a development that may finally offer hope to children with Dravet syndrome and their parents, a new promising investigational therapy appears to alter the destructive course of the deadly disease. Lori Isom, Ph.D., chair of the University of Michigan’s department of pharmacology and professor of molecular & integrative physiology and neurology […]

In one out of 100,000 infants, a mutation in the GALC gene causes an incurable, always fatal disorder known as infantile Krabbe disease, or globoid cell leukodystrophy. Most children with the condition die before they turn 2. A parallel condition also naturally affects dogs, who typically show symptoms of the […]

Study Reveals the Second X Chromosome Confers Protection. Women with Alzheimer’s live longer than men with the disease, and scientists at UC San Francisco now have evidence from research in both humans and mice that this is because they have genetic protection from the ravages of the disease. By virtue […]

A Phase 1 patient trial of the novel, oral therapy candidate, alpha-TEA, for advanced HER2 positive breast cancer is now underway.  Veana Therpeutics, Inc., and UW Medicine will collaborate on the clinical testing of Veana’s lead agent – an alpha TEA lysine salt, in combination with the monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab, brand name Herceptin. In HER2 positive […]