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Researchers have known for a couple of decades that early life adversity can affect the way that particular genes function through a process called epigenetics – a bit like a dimmer switch on a light, pushing gene activity up or down. What they haven’t been able to show until now […]

Physicians and patients need more guidance to help them navigate the complex array of clinical factors and personal preferences that must be considered when deciding how best to individualize their approach to breast cancer mammography screening. What makes the choice even more complicated is that the benefits of the screening […]

Our cerebral cortex, a sheet of neurons, connections and circuits, comprises “ancient” regions such as the hippocampus and “new” areas such as the six-layered “neocortex”, found only in mammals and most prominently in humans. But when in evolution did the components of cerebral cortex arise and how did they evolve? […]

As people age, their intestinal stem cells begin to lose their ability to regenerate. These stem cells are the source for all new intestinal cells, so this decline can make it more difficult to recover from gastrointestinal infections or other conditions that affect the intestine. This age-related loss of stem […]

Among more than 230,000 cardiac patients who had sustained a heart attack or undergone one of two common heart procedures, only 16 percent participated in a formal exercise program after their hospitalization – despite the program’s demonstrated benefits to health. The finding is published in the print journal Circulation. Lead investigator Alexis Beatty, a […]

When biomedical engineering students Genevieve Goelz, Maria Fernanda Larraga Martinez, Anna Rodriguez, and Ashten Sherman teamed up for their senior design course in September 2017 to find a solution to lymphedema in breast cancer patients, they didn’t know a lot about each other or the medical condition they were tapped […]

Depression is a debilitating condition, significantly reducing the quality of life and oftentimes ending with death. Scientists have been trying to improve depression therapy, but so far results have been limited. But now researchers from The Black Dog Institute, UNSW Sydney and Western Sydney University conducted an international study, which […]

The ‘deep learning’ computers in Anant Madabhushi’s diagnostic imaging lab at Case Western Reserve University routinely defeat their human counterparts in diagnosing heart failure, detecting various cancers and predicting their strength. But Madabhushi—even as he gladly touts three recent examples of apparent cyber superiority played out in his lab—also dismisses […]

The rabies virus wreaks havoc on the brain, triggering psychosis and death. To get where it needs to go, the virus must first trick the nervous system and cross the blood brain barrier — a process that makes it of interest in drug design. Now, scientists report in ACS Nano a way […]

Once upon a time in Europe, pregnant women avoided rabbits to prevent their babies from being born with a “harelip.” But, that apparently isn’t the only misconception about the condition now known as cleft lip. In the journal Cell Reports, UConn Health researchers report the popular modern belief that the condition […]

Longstanding Sandia, industry collaboration produces precise particles Sandia National Laboratories materials chemist Dale Huber has been working on the challenge of making iron-based nanoparticles the exact same size for 15 years. Imagion Biosystems and Huber have been working together synthesizing nanoparticles since the opening of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies in 2006.Now, […]

Taking a biopsy of a brain tumor is a complicated and invasive surgical process, but a team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is developing a way that allows them to detect tumor biomarkers through a simple blood test. Hong Chen, a biomedical engineer, and Eric C. Leuthardt, […]

We inherit many traits from our parents including the color of our eyes and hair. Unfortunately, we also inherit risk factors for certain diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Understanding those genetic connections can help prevention efforts and develop new life-saving treatments to combat these diseases. In the […]

While aging is familiar to all of us, exactly how it occurs on a molecular basis has been an area of intense study and interest. We take it for granted that different species age at different rates, yet we do not have a good understanding of why and how. Most […]

More than 30 years ago, when UC Berkeley researchers discovered telomerase — an enzyme that lengthens chromosome ends and prevents them from fraying enough to kill a cell — speculation ran wild about its role in aging and cancer, setting off a full-court press to produce drugs to activate or […]

For someone with Parkinson’s disease (PD), the simple desire to grasp a glass of water can become an insurmountable task, made impossible by the tremors in their hand or arm. Finding strategies to improve these movement impairments is one of the major goals of rehabilitating people with Parkinson’s disease. At […]

Across the world, more than 200 million cases of malaria and nearly 500,000 deaths from the disease occur annually—more than 90 percent of which happen in Africa. Children in Africa can be diagnosed with malaria two or three times a year, a rate that decreases as they become older and […]

Increased energy – or metabolic use – in patients with motor neurone disease (MND) has been linked to faster disease progression and reduced lifespan, according to University of Queensland researchers. The UQ Centre for Clinical Research’s Dr Frederik Steyn said his research team had revealed important information about how the […]

The “blue light” emitted by street lights including LEDs, and commercial outdoor lighting such as advertising, is linked to a significant increase in the risk of breast and prostate cancer, innovative new research has concluded. A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and involving the University […]

While some research suggests that midlife is a dissatisfying time for women, other studies show that women report feeling less stressed and enjoy a higher quality of life during this period. So, which is it? A recent University of Michigan study by Elizabeth Hedgeman, a doctoral graduate of the U-M […]

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that an experimental drug therapy can extend the lives of children with progeria, a rare genetic disorder that causes premature aging and death. The research showed that children with progeria who were treated with lonafarnib, a drug originally developed to […]

How often do you hear that one or another thing causes cancer? Do you check that information online, do you ask your doctor or you simply nod and believe that everything that is bad for your health causes cancer? Scientists from UCL and the University of Leeds discovered that belief […]

An investigational drug in clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis prevents a common, life-threatening side effect of stem cell transplants, new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows. Studying mice, the researchers found the drug prevented what’s known as graft-versus-host disease, a debilitating, sometimes lethal condition that […]

We inherit many traits from our parents including the color of our eyes and hair. Unfortunately, we also inherit risk factors for certain diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Understanding those genetic connections can help prevention efforts and develop new life-saving treatments to combat these diseases. In the […]

Muscle aches and pains, whether from stretching, strenuous exercise or just normal wear and tear, can put a crimp in your day, a limp in your step and be an actual pain in the neck. But no matter the severity, stem cells in the skeletal muscles called satellite cells play […]

Since the 1960s, researchers have been interested in the possibility of treating type 1 diabetes by transplanting islet cells — the pancreatic cells that are responsible for producing insulin when blood glucose concentration increases. Implementing this approach has proven challenging, however. One obstacle is that once the islets are transplanted, […]

Study examines how early embryonic development can go awry. A new study in the journal Nature Cell Biology has uncovered information about a key stage that human embryonic cells must pass through just before an embryo implants. The research, led by UCLA biologist Amander Clark, could help explain certain causes […]

An Arizona startup is hoping its unique compounds will lead to treatments to halt or slow the progression of a devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects nearly 6 million Americans. Iluminos Therapeutics has licensed compounds created at the University of Arizona that have the potential to treat neurodegenerative disease, in particular […]

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women and the most common cause of death in middle-aged women in Sweden. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive and difficult to treat form of the disease that makes up about 15 per cent of all breast cancer cases. […]

Age-related macular degeneration, a disease that slowly degrades light-sensitive cells in the retina, is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness among people 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors can’t prevent such loss of sight – but a system that replaces light-sensitive […]