Related Science News

June 12, 2020

Precision approach for lung adenocarcinoma

Researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have uncovered a new precision approach for treating the most common type of lung cancer, in a proof-of-principal laboratory study. The researchers discovered that blocking a specific enzyme in some lung adenocarcinoma cells could improve the efficacy of a common existing therapy. […]
June 12, 2020

Lack of mitochondria causes severe disease in children

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that excessive degradation of the power plants of our cells plays an important role in the onset of mitochondrial disease in children. These inherited metabolic disorders can have severe consequences such as brain dysfunction and neurological impairment. The study is published in EMBO Molecular […]
June 12, 2020

Breast cancer vaccine research delivers promising results

With a surprisingly simple approach in which cancer cells are first grown, ruptured and converted into nanoparticles, and then used as a vaccine, Vanderbilt researchers have developed what appears to be a promising treatment for breast cancer metastasis. Research led by Jenna Dombroski, Ph.D. student and National Science Foundation Graduate Research […]
June 12, 2020

New app analyzes how social distancing affects biological clocks

Almost overnight, the sleep and wake patterns of nearly four billion people may have changed because of COVID-19-spurred lockdowns. A free app built by University of Michigan researchers will help users understand their own sleep rhythms, shedding light on how their biological clock is responding to lockdowns, and give tips […]
June 12, 2020

NIH scientists develop blood test to help improve liver cancer screening

Scientists have developed a new test that can help identify people who are likely to develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer. The approach uses a simple blood test to check for the patient’s previous exposure to certain viruses. A study of the new approach was […]
June 12, 2020

Designing new radiotherapy technologies to treat cancer in low and middle-income countries

A new project supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) aims to design and develop new radiotherapy technologies to give more cancer patients in Sub-Saharan Africa access to treatment and to save lives. The project, ‘Innovative Technologies towards building Affordable and equitable global Radiotherapy capacity’ (ITAR), will contribute […]
June 11, 2020

Link between liver and heart disease could lead to new therapeutics

A new study that looks closely at the cardiac health of flies provides new evidence that liver dysfunction may lead to deterioration of the heart. The research fills in gaps in how scientists understand the links between heart health and other tissues and could inform the development of new therapies […]
June 11, 2020

Scientists generate early stem cells that form human placenta

Despite researchers’ efforts to understand pregnancy — both healthy and high-risk — the human placenta remains something of a mystery. Tissue samples are nearly impossible to obtain until after birth, making it difficult to study the placenta’s role in pregnancy complications. Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in […]
June 11, 2020

NIH study links cigarette smoking to higher stroke risk in African Americans

African Americans who smoke are nearly 2.5 times more likely to have a stroke than those who never smoked, while former smokers show a similarly lower risk as never smokers, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings from the Jackson Heart Study suggest […]
June 11, 2020

Surprising features of mitochondrial protein synthesis uncovered

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet uncover surprising features of mitochondrial protein synthesis. The study, published in Nature Communications, sheds light on the fundamental mechanisms used by the cell’s power plant. Mitochondria are essential organelles containing their own genome and the machinery for its expression. Defects in mitochondrial protein synthesis result in […]
June 11, 2020

Human eggs prefer some men’s sperm over others, research shows

Human eggs use chemical signals to attract sperm. New research from Stockholm University, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and The University of Manchester shows that eggs use these chemical signals to “choose” sperm. Different women’s eggs attract different men’s sperm – and not necessarily their partners. Humans spend a lot […]
June 11, 2020

Cancer cells adapt to lack of key nutrient, posing potential problems for drugmakers: U of T study

Cancer can adapt its metabolism in a way that could overcome lipid-focused therapies being developed by drug companies, a University of Toronto study has found. “Several clinical trials have failed because metabolism is such an adaptive process by which cancer cells gain drug resistance,” says Michael Aregger, a co-lead author and research associate […]
June 11, 2020

Down to the Bone: Understanding How Bone-Dissolving Cells Are Generated

Bone-dissolving cells called osteoclasts are derived from a type of immune cells called macrophages. They are necessary for the maintenance and renewal of bones. But the intracellular mechanisms through which macrophages convert to osteoclasts are not fully understood. Recently, scientists at the Tokyo University of Science uncovered the role of […]
June 11, 2020

Newly Synthesized Fungal Compound Can Switch on a Self-destruct Button for Cancer

Cancers cells use a special technique to propagate; they delete their “programmed death” gene through mutation, “forget” to die when their lifetime is over and continue to grow instead. A research team from Tokyo University of Science has developed a method through which a fungal compound capable of rearming the […]
June 11, 2020

Chemotherapy and Cancer Gang up to Cause a Neurological Side Effect, Study Says

Contrary to common medical guidance, chemotherapy does not appear to be the only culprit in neuropathy, a neurological side effect of cancer treatment, a new study says. Cancer itself contributes heavily, too, and the stresses on neurons appear far worse than the sum of the two causes. “There was some distress caused […]
June 10, 2020

Pharmacy researcher receives grant to examine blood clot prevention therapies

Maya Chilbert, PharmD, clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice in the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, received a Cardiology Practice and Research Network seed grant from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP). The award will support research on the safety and effectiveness of triple therapy […]
June 9, 2020

Poor fitness and obesity in adolescence linked to later chronic disease

Adolescents who have poor cardiorespiratory fitness or are obese have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, serious enough to qualify them for disability pension due to a chronically reduced work capacity. The findings also suggest that a small improvement in fitness is associated with a lower […]
June 8, 2020

Bacteria leave signature in colon cancer cells

Some bacterial pathogens cause damage in the genomes of their infected cells which could lead to the initiation of cancer. While it is difficult to link an infection with an onset of cancer that arises many years later in life, researchers have been looking for definitive proof that such links […]
June 8, 2020

New Biosensor Visualizes Stress in Living Plant Cells in Real Time

Plant biologists have long sought a deeper understanding of foundational processes involving kinases, enzymes that catalyze key biological activities in proteins. Analyzing the processes underlying kinases in plants takes on greater urgency in today’s environment increasingly altered by climate warming. Certain “SnRK2” kinases (sucrose-non-fermenting-1-related protein kinase-2s) are essential since they […]
June 8, 2020

Creating hairy human skin: Not as easy as you think

For more than 40 years, scientists and commercial companies have been recreating human skin in laboratories around the world. Yet all of these products lack important aspects of normal skin–hair, nerves, and fat. In new research, cultured human skin cells embedded with fat and nerves and capable of growing hair […]
June 8, 2020

Stem Cell Therapy Reverses Aspects of Photoaging in Skin

With few exceptions, the worldwide community of clinics offering first generation stem cell therapies is not usually a source of reliable data. They don't tend to conduct trials or even much report on the results of their work. Further, the stem cell therapies used can vary enormously in effectiveness. Cells are fickle […]
June 8, 2020

Engineering Viruses that Only Replicate in Cancer Cells

One of the many interesting approaches to targeting cancer cells for destruction is the use of viruses that are largely innocuous to humans, but replicate preferentially in cells exhibiting the characteristics of cancer, such as continual cellular replication. Researchers here demonstrate a way to engineer a virus to require the biochemistry of […]
June 8, 2020

Immunosuppressants don't seem to worsen COVID-19 outcomes

Some people get better from COVID-19 quicker than others. This is because of several factors, one of which is the condition of the immune system. People with rheumatic diseases such as arthritis take immunosuppressant medications. Are they at a bigger COVID-19 risk? Scientists from UCL decided to look into it. […]
June 8, 2020

3D Facial Scans Could Speed Diagnoses for Children with Rare Genetic Diseases

Researchers from Alberta, California and Colorado Combine 3D Imaging and Machine Learning to Create Prototype Diagnostic Tool. Most children with rare genetic diseases spend years undergoing medical tests and waiting for a diagnosis – a long, exhausting process that takes its toll on children and their families. Almost half of […]
June 5, 2020

Revealed: how cancer develops resistance to treatment

Cancer cells can turn on error-prone DNA copy pathways to adapt to cancer treatment, a breakthrough study published in the journal Science has revealed. Bacteria use the same process, termed stress-induced mutagenesis, to develop antibiotic resistance. The cells of the human body are constantly dividing, and each time we need to copy […]
June 5, 2020

Sleep, Death and … the Gut?

The first signs of insufficient sleep are universally familiar. There are tiredness and fatigue, difficulty concentrating, perhaps irritability, or even tired giggles. Far fewer people have experienced the effects of prolonged sleep deprivation, including disorientation, paranoia, and hallucinations. Total, prolonged sleep deprivation, however, can be fatal. While it has been […]