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One in three women in Europe inherited the receptor for progesterone from Neandertals – a gene variant associated with increased fertility, fewer bleedings during early pregnancy and fewer miscarriages. This is according to a study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary […]

Compounds that mimicked the process known as efferocytosis alleviated signs of leukocyte adhesion deficiency type-1 in an animal model, according to work led by the School of Dental Medicine’s George Hajishengallis. Owing to a rare genetic mutation, individuals with leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 (LAD1) experience a suite of symptoms […]

Antibodies for potential use as medicines can be made rapidly in chicken cells grown in laboratories. Researchers refer to their technique as the human ADLib system, short for autonomously diversifying libraries. The technique automatically builds vast numbers, or libraries, of diverse antibodies using chicken immune system cells’ natural method for […]

Upon exposure to human skin, ultraviolet light from the sun almost instantly generates two types of “lesions” that damage DNA. It has long been unknown, though, whether one of these lesions is more responsible for activating a process that may increase cancerous mutations in cells. In a new paper, scientists […]

For followers of popular science news—or of the latest diet craze—the term “intermittent fasting” is decidedly trending. Each new mention of the eating plan brings with it more revelations about the health benefits it could offer. In the last six months alone, new studies have tied fasting to a reduced […]

During a 1989 lecture at the Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology, Yale School of Medicine professor Charles Janeway, MD, hypothesized the existence of an innate immune system and special receptors on immune cells (currently known as toll-like receptors) that trigger the body’s response to infection. Janeway’s research later […]

Tissue biopsy slides stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) dyes are a cornerstone of histopathology, especially for pathologists needing to diagnose and determine the stage of cancers. A research team led by MIT scientists at the Media Lab, in collaboration with clinicians at Stanford University School of Medicine and Harvard […]

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new sequencing method that makes it possible to map how DNA is spatially organised in the cell nucleus – revealing which genomic regions are at higher risk of mutation and DNA damage. The technique is described in an article published in the scientific […]

Sometimes cancer stays put, but often it metastasizes, spreading to new locations in the body. It has long been suspected that genetic mutations arising inside tumor cells drive this potentially devastating turn of events. Now researchers have shown for the first time that our own pre-existing genetics can promote metastasis. […]

For the first time, scientists have added microscopic tracking devices into the interior of cells, giving a peek into how development starts. For the first time, scientists have introduced minuscule tracking devices directly into the interior of mammalian cells, giving an unprecedented peek into the processes that govern the beginning […]

In a tour-de-force of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), UC San Francisco researchers have become to the first to solve the structure of a hard-working protein that helps reload neurons for repeated firing, enabling signals to be relayed along nerve pathways throughout the brain. More importantly, the scientists were able to use […]

Increased blood flow to the brain after a microscopic stroke doesn’t mean that part of the brain has recovered. At least not yet. A study in Science Advances by Rice University neuro engineers Lan Luan and her colleagues used advanced neural monitoring technology to discover a significant disconnect between how long it […]

TG4050 is being evaluated in two Phase 1 clinical trials. It combines Transgene's proprietary myvac platform with NEC's cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to select patient-specific neoantigens – Data confirm that the prediction algorithm successfully identifies immunogenic cancer mutations, even among a large set of candidate mutations – Data will […]

MIT scientists have identified a potential new strategy for treating Fragile X syndrome, a disorder that is the leading heritable cause of intellectual disability and autism. In a study of mice, the researchers showed that inhibiting an enzyme called GSK3 alpha reversed many of the behavioral and cellular features of […]

A four-year-old girl with a severely painful, rare immune disorder received life-changing targeted therapy, following whole genome sequencing at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Karla, now six years old, has a rare gene variant that affects an immune ‘checkpoint’ protein, resulting in an imbalance in her immune system that […]

Many severe symptoms in Parkinson’s disease are caused by the degeneration of the brain’s dopamine neurons. Transplantation of stem cell-derived dopamine neurons to patients with Parkinson’s disease is a therapeutic approach that is getting close to clinical application. The strategy uses pluripotent stem cells that are cultured under conditions that […]

A simple blood test may help predict which people with multiple sclerosis (MS) will get worse during the following year, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published online in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “In a disease like MS that […]

Childhood environment and socioeconomic status affect cognitive ability and brain development during adolescence independently of genetic factors, researchers at Karolinska Institutet report in a new study published in the journal PNAS. The study demonstrates how important the family environment is, not just during early infancy but also throughout adolescence. While […]

Scientific research has changed dramatically in the centuries since Galileo, Newton and Darwin. Whereas scientists once often toiled in isolation with homemade experiments and treatises, today collaboration is the norm. Teams of scientists now routinely pool and process reams of data gleaned from high-tech instruments. Yet as modern science has […]

For decades, scientists have explored the use of liposomes –– hollow spheres made of lipid bilayers –– to deliver chemotherapy drugs to tumor cells. But drugs can sometimes leak out of liposomes before they reach their destination, reducing the dose received by the tumor and causing side effects in healthy […]

Study Suggests Potential Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Ketone Bodies Via Effects on Gut Microbial Ecosystems. Low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diets, which have attracted public interest in recent years for their proposed benefits in lowering inflammation and promoting weight loss and heart health, have a dramatic impact on the microbes residing in the […]

In the largest study of its kind, researchers have confirmed a new non-invasive test can be used to help with the early detection of endometrial cancer and at-risk patients. Published in the journal, Cancers, the study signals the next step forward in providing an inexpensive tool for diagnosing patients with endometrial cancer […]

Researchers examine proteins to identify what is 'broken' in tumor cells The rogue cellular engine that drives a majority of ovarian cancers remains frustratingly difficult to disable. A new study comparing cancerous tissue with normal fallopian tube samples advances important insights about this machinery and confirms biological hallmarks of survival. High-grade […]

Recent large scale efforts to categorize the molecular data of multiple cancer types has yielded so much information that researchers now have a new question: How to turn all this data into meaningful information that guides cancer research and patient care. A new analytic tool developed by the University of […]

MIT neuroscientists have discovered that an enzyme called HDAC1 is critical for repairing age-related DNA damage to genes involved in memory and other cognitive functions. This enzyme is often diminished in both Alzheimer’s patients and normally aging adults. In a study of mice, the researchers showed that when HDAC1 is […]

As a chemical engineer, Hadley Sikes loves studying complex systems such as networks of chemical reactions. But in her work designing practical devices for diagnostics and other applications, she embraces simplicity. Sikes, an associate professor who recently earned tenure in MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering, devotes much of her lab’s […]

A new grant will help Iowa State University researchers develop innovative gene-editing technology to better understand how human genetics affect susceptibility to disease. The four-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health allows Maura McGrail, an associate professor of genetics, development and cell biology and principal investigator, and her […]

This open access paper provides a good high-level overview of what is known of the molecular mechanisms underpinning the beneficial response to calorie restriction and intermittent fasting. In short-lived species, quite sizable gains in life span are possible, though this is not the case for longer-lived species such as our own. The metabolic responses to […]

Nutraceuticals are compounds derived from foods, usually plants. In principle one can find useful therapies in the natural world, taking the approach of identifying interesting molecules and refining them to a greater potency than naturally occurs in order to produce a usefully large therapeutic effect. Unfortunately, in practice the nutraceutical industry […]

As people get older, they often feel less energetic, mobile or active. This may be due in part to a decline in mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses inside of our cells, which provide energy and regulate metabolism. In fact, mitochondria decline with age not only in humans, but in many species. […]