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The Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology at Harvard Medical School will form two independent preclinical departments—Microbiology and Immunology. The creation of two stand-alone academic units is the natural result of the rapidly evolving understanding of the complexity and importance of each of these fields and their numerous intersections with many […]

Epigenetic therapies, which target enzymes that alter the genes that are turned on or off in a cell, are of growing interest in oncology as a way to make cancers less aggressive or less malignant. But now, at least one epigenetic therapy that had looked promising for lung cancer appears […]

Cancer involves unchecked cell growth. A biological pathway known as Hippo, which regulates organ size, is also involved in cancer, and a major player in this pathway, YAP, drives many types of tumors. Now, researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital have solved an ongoing problem: how to […]

One day, MRI brain scans may help predict whether older people will develop dementia, new research suggests. In a small study, MRI brain scans predicted with 89 percent accuracy who would go on to develop dementia within three years, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. […]

Researchers from the University of Minnesota, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the University of Toronto have discovered a possible path forward in preventing the development of cancers tied to two viruses, including the virus that causes infectious mononucleosis—more commonly known as mono or the “kissing disease”—that infects millions of people around the […]

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have created an easy-to-make, low-cost injectable hydrogel that could help wounds heal faster, especially for patients with compromised health issues. Wound healing can be complex and challenging, especially when a patient has other health obstacles that seriously impede the process. Often injectable hydrogels […]

Scientist have cast new light on the behaviour of tiny hair-like structures called cilia found on almost every cell in the body. Cilia play important roles in human development and disease. Akin to tiny antennae, they act as cell timers keeping the brakes on cell division until the right growth […]

Scientists have developed a potential new therapeutic approach for synovial sarcoma, one of the most common soft-tissue cancers in teenagers and young adults. At present the long-term survival rates for synovial sarcoma patients is well below 50%; a fact that underlines just how important new discoveries are if we are […]

Scientists have equipped a virus that kills carcinoma cells with a protein so it can also target and kill adjacent cells that are tricked into shielding the cancer from the immune system. It is the first time that cancer-associated fibroblasts within solid tumours – healthy cells that are tricked into […]

Mapping of a certain group of cells, known as oligodendrocytes, in the central nervous system of a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS), shows that they might have a significant role in the development of the disease. The discovery can lead to new therapies targeted at other areas than just […]

Pushing the limits of cryo-electron microscopy, University of California, Berkeley, scientists have captured freeze-frames of the changing shape of a huge molecule, one of the body’s key molecular machines, as it locks onto DNA and loads the machinery for reading the genetic code. The molecule, called transcription factor IID, is […]

A single season of high school football may be enough to cause microscopic changes in the structure of the brain, according to a new study by researchers at UC Berkeley, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The researchers used a new type of magnetic resonance […]

New parents often expect their baby to start sleeping through the night by around six months of age. Indeed, they often receive messages from paediatricians and others about the importance of early sleep consolidation. But authors of a study in the issue of Pediatrics found that a large percentage of healthy babies […]

Certain genes that code for proteins have long been known to contribute to cancer progression. But in a frame shift, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine recently found that non-coding genes also contribute to the development and spreading of the disease, one of the first known examples […]

A world-first clinical trial of a new cellular immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) has improved symptoms and quality of life for the majority of patients. The treatment targets the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and is based on a theory formulated by University of Queensland and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) […]

These days, scientists are fairly adept at reprogramming immune cell pathways to enhance the immune system’s own response to cancerous lesions, yet there is still a lack of understanding as to which specific circuits to rewire for the best results. Fortunately, a new method called SLICE, which has been described […]

In biology, structure equals function. The protein machines that do virtually all of the myriad biochemical jobs within every living cell sometimes require the presence of a molecule or two of an elemental substance — copper, iron, manganese, chromium, or what have you — so they can assume just the […]

Pancreatic cancer cells are known for their ability to thrive under extreme conditions of low nutrients and oxygen, a trait known in the cancer field as “austerity.” The cells’ remarkable resistance to starvation is one reason why pancreatic cancer is so deadly. Now researchers have identified a compound from a […]

For years, it’s remained an open question: What effects do dietary supplements such as high doses of vitamin D or omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish oil have on the risk of diseases such as heart attack, stroke and cancer? While there have been hints along the way, until now, […]

Ovarian cancer claims the lives of more than 14,000 in the U.S. each year, ranking fifth among cancer deaths in women. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis has found an innovative way to use sound and light, or photoacoustic, imaging to diagnose ovarian tumors, which may lead […]

Regulation of gene expression — turning genes on or off, increasing or decreasing their expression — is critical for defining cell identity during development and coordinating cellular activity throughout the cell’s lifetime. The common model of gene regulation imagines the nucleus of the cell as a large space in which […]

Treating brain tumors comes at a steep cost, especially for children. More than half of patients who endure radiation therapy for these tumors experience irreversible cognitive decline, a side-effect that has particularly damaging consequences for younger patients. Up to now, scientists had been unable to test potential strategies to prevent […]

While it’s well reported that black patients are twice as likely as white patients to succumb to sudden cardiac death (SCD), the underlying factors that propel this disparity remain unknown. According to a first-of-its-kind study from Penn Medicine, published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers showed that even […]

Simple ovarian cysts are extremely common in women and do not require additional ultrasound surveillance or surgical removal, according to a new study of more than 72,000 women and close to 119,00 pelvic ultrasound exams over a dozen years. The study, a collaboration between UC San Francisco and Kaiser Permanente Washington, found that simple cysts are normal, extremely common in both pre- […]

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders affect an estimated 820,000 to 2.1 million people in the United States, many of whom have co-occurring disorders like heart disease or diabetes that contribute to an increased risk of premature death. Heather Leutwyler, associate professor of Physiological Nursing […]

Premature births can be dangerous and have life-long effects. It is the best for the baby to stay inside for as long as possible in order for him to fully develop in the womb. Now scientists from the University of Adelaide found an interesting way to reduce the risk of […]

Lifting weights for less than an hour a week may reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke by 40 to 70 percent, according to a new Iowa State University study. Spending more than an hour in the weight room did not yield any additional benefit, the researchers found. […]

Ball lands in cup; cup triggers spring; spring clamps lever tightly onto ball. That’s a rough description of newly discovered cellular mechanisms that eliminate T cells that may cause autoimmune disorders. Although the mechanisms are intertwined with biochemical processes, they also work mechanically, grasping, tugging and clamping, say researchers at the Georgia Institute […]

In a new study, recently published in the journal Preventive Medicine, Assistant Professor Susan Mason from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health ruled out poor food choices and eating practices in the childhood home as a major factor in the development of obesity in adults who were maltreated. Mason acquired observational survey data […]

So audacious was Marcus Bray’s experiment that even he feared it would fail. In the system inside cells that translates genetic code into life, he replaced about 1,000 essential linchpins with primitive substitutes to see if the translational system would survive and function. It seemed impossible, yet it worked swimmingly, […]