Related Science News

April 28, 2020

Novo Nordisk Challenge: Histologic Image Analysis of Pancreatic Tissue

Histology images hold great potential as a resource for target and biomarker discovery activities. However, in order to use such complex phenotypic data, it is imperative that robust image analysis tools are developed. Novo Nordisk is seeking an image analysis algorithm for the robust segmentation of histology sections. This is […]
April 28, 2020

Stanford chemists’ work on rare molecule aims to enhance cell therapy and deliver functional cure for HIV/AIDS

Stanford University chemist Paul Wender and his colleagues are working to improve treatments for cancer, HIV, and Alzheimer’s – and they are betting that a drab, weedy marine invertebrate is the means to achieving that end. They have focused on this seemingly unremarkable organism, called Bugula neritina, because it cooperates with a […]
April 28, 2020

Path from kidney cancer to inflammation and metastasis

Researchers have discovered how cancer of the kidneys, or renal cancer, causes inflammation throughout the whole body. Stopping this inflammation might lead to effective treatments for patients whose renal cancer has spread, or metastasized. The American Cancer Society estimates that renal cancer will kill 9,860 men and 4,970 women in 2020. In Japan, […]
April 28, 2020

Researchers Discover Molecules Capable of Reversing Cellular Aging

A key area of our biology targeted for potential interventions to slow down or even reverse aging are the caps on the ends of chromosomes called telomeres. These protective caps become shorter each time a cell divides and over time lead to the “fraying” of DNA and the eventual death […]
April 27, 2020

Tissues protect their DNA under mechanical stress

In everyday life, our tissues, for example skin and muscle, are stretched, pulled and compressed without causing damage to the cells or the DNA. A team of researchers led by Sara Wickström from the Max Planck Institute for the Biology of Ageing and the CECAD Cluster of Excellence at the […]
April 27, 2020

Game theory suggests more efficient cancer therapy

Cancer cells not only ravage the body – they also compete with each other. Cornell mathematicians are using game theory to model how this competition could be leveraged, so cancer treatment – which also takes a toll on the patient’s body – might be administered more sparingly, with maximized effect. […]
April 27, 2020

Soup to Nuts

The COVID-19 pandemic demands action on many fronts, from prevention to testing to treatment. Not content to focus its research efforts on just one, the laboratory of George Church in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University is tackling the problem from […]
April 27, 2020

Light physical exercise protects people with metabolic syndrome

Physical exercise can act prophylactically for people with metabolic syndrome and protect them against cardiovascular diseases, a new study from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, GIH, and Karolinska Institutet published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology reports. Even light physical exercise has been shown to have […]
April 25, 2020

PNNL, WSU to Study Links Between Gut Microbiome and Body Clock

PNNL staff scientist Kristoffer Brandvold will lead a joint team of researchers in the new partnership. The internal clock that tells our bodies when to sleep, wake, and eat each day could be regulated by more than light exposure and caffeine consumption. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have recently formed a […]
April 24, 2020

Very low-dose Avastin effective for preventing blindness in preterm infants

Babies born prematurely who require treatment to prevent blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) could be treated with a dose of Avastin (bevacizumab) that is a fraction of the dose commonly used for ROP currently. Results from the dose-finding study were published in JAMA Ophthalmology. The study was conducted by […]
April 24, 2020

Diabetes reversed in mice with genetically edited stem cells derived from patients

Using induced pluripotent stem cells produced from the skin of a patient with a rare, genetic form of insulin-dependent diabetes called Wolfram syndrome, researchers transformed the human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and used the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to correct a genetic defect that had caused the syndrome. They then implanted […]
April 24, 2020

Non-invasive imaging technique could reduce need for repeat cancer surgeries

A team of University of Alberta engineers is refining a new imaging technique that could reduce the number of repeat surgeries patients undergo to remove cancerous tumors. The team, led by Roger Zemp, is using ultraviolet photoacoustic remote sensing microscopy (UV-PARS) to rapidly visualize and analyze tumor tissue while patients are […]
April 24, 2020

How many years of life COVID-19 actually takes away?

COVID-19 pandemic already caused almost 200 thousand deaths worldwide. And this is assuming the official data from all countries is accurate. This is a huge loss of life, which would be even worse if countries didn’t implement quarantine regiment. But how many years of life have we actually lost? Everyone […]
April 23, 2020

New insight into how a genetic change increases the risk of schizophrenia

A genetic change increases the risk of developing schizophrenia and highlights new opportunities for drug treatment say researchers. The collaborative research by a team from Lancaster, Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities was funded by the Medical Research Council. In the human genome, small sections of DNA have been found to be duplicated (copied) […]
April 23, 2020

Building EKG Jackets for Zebrafish to Study Heart Attacks

A bioengineer at The University of Texas at Arlington is developing an imaging technique and a special electrocardiogram (EKG) for zebrafish to determine why they are able to regenerate their heart tissue after cardiac arrest. The research could provide crucial insights into one of the United States’ most pressing health […]
April 23, 2020

The mystery of the immortal

Biologist Cornelia Dulac has been missing since 2014. Her audiotapes were discovered at a remote cabin in Eastern Finland together with a fully-equipped research laboratory and a year’s supply of food. It is obvious that something had deviated from Dulac’s plans. She had been researching hydra, an immortal freshwater polyp. The authors […]
April 22, 2020

Indicators of Frailty Start to Appear Early, Probably Due to Lifestyle Choices

Clinicians classify frailty in a symptomatic way, looking at factors such as weight loss, weakness, walking speed, and so forth. This is a method of assessment designed for use with elderly people, but researchers here apply it to a study population that includes people in the 40-60 age range. They find that […]
April 22, 2020

Mitochondria in Age-Related Hearing Loss

In this open access paper, researchers present evidence to suggest that the mitochondrial dysfunction that accompanies aging may be a meaningful cause of the loss of neurons that contributes age-related hearing loss, in the sense that it increases the incidence of necroptosis, a form of programmed cell death. Present thinking on the progressive deafness of […]
April 22, 2020

Study shows glaucoma could be successfully treated with gene therapy

A new study led by the University of Bristol has shown a common eye condition, glaucoma could be successfully treated with a single injection using gene therapy, which would improve treatment options, effectiveness and quality of life for many patients. Glaucoma affects over 64 million people worldwide and is a […]
April 22, 2020

NEI researchers link age-related DNA modifications to susceptibility to eye disease

National Eye Institute (NEI) researchers profiling epigenomic changes in light-sensing mouse photoreceptors have a clearer picture of how age-related eye diseases may be linked to age-related changes in the regulation of gene expression. The findings, published online in Cell Reports, suggest that the epigenome could be targeted as a therapeutic […]
April 22, 2020

Human pregnancy is weird. A new study adds to the mystery

From an evolutionary perspective, human pregnancy is quite strange, says University at Buffalo biologist Vincent Lynch. “For example, we don’t know why human women go into labor,” Lynch says. “Human pregnancy tends to last longer than pregnancy in other mammals if you adjust for factors like body size. The actual […]
April 22, 2020

CRISPR helps identify potential Alzheimer's-related protein

Experts at the University of Tokyo have identified a new protein in the pathway that leads to Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers used the “molecular scissors” of CRISPR/Cas9 to search for new genes related to neurodegenerative disease. The exact causes of Alzheimer’s disease remain unknown, but one of the most well- supported […]
April 21, 2020

Turning On the ‘Off Switch’ in Cancer Cells

A team of scientists led by the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified the binding site where drug compounds could activate a key braking mechanism against the runaway growth of many types of cancer. The discovery marks a critical step toward developing a potential new class of anti-cancer drugs […]
April 21, 2020

Unprecedented 3D images of live cells plus details of molecules inside

The insides of living cells can be seen in their natural state in greater detail than ever before using a new technique developed by researchers in Japan. This advance should help reveal the complex and fragile biological interactions of medical mysteries, like how stem cells develop or how to deliver […]
April 21, 2020

Blood Test May Help Doctors Catch Pancreatic Cancer Early

A blood test may be able to detect the most common form of pancreatic cancer while it is still in its early stages while also helping doctors accurately stage a patient’s disease and guide them to the appropriate treatment. A multidisciplinary study from the University of Pennsylvania found the test – known […]
April 20, 2020

Abnormal Stem Cells Underlie COPD’s Persistence

Even after they quit smoking, some people can’t breathe easy. The chronic bronchitis and emphysema that can afflict long-term smokers, called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD, never goes away and may even progress despite the smoker quitting. Now, researchers from UConn Health and the University of Houston report the journal […]
April 20, 2020

Finding Leukemia’s Weakness Using Genome-Wide CRISPR Technology

A team of researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center used CRISPR technology to identify key regulators of aggressive chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer that remains difficult to treat and is marked by frequent relapse. “We used CRISPR technology to carry […]
April 20, 2020

A subset of suppressive lymphocytes switches to promote autoimmune disease when activated by glycolipids in the face of inflammation

Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with a lab in San Antonio USA, have uncovered how a specific population of lymphocytes promotes autoimmune disease by giving up their regulatory role in the immune system. The newly discovered mechanism is published in PNAS from research led by Dr. Saikiran Sedimbi and […]