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Pathological heartburn and acid reflux affects 10-20 per cent of the adult population. Long and severe reflux is the strongest risk factor for cancer of the oesophagus (type adenocarcinoma), an aggressive cancer that is difficult to treat. Reflux is usually treated with medicine to make the stomach contents less acidic, […]

“Lego block” artificial cells that can kill bacteria have been created by researchers at the University of California, Davis Department of Biomedical Engineering. The work was reported in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. “We engineered artificial cells from the bottom-up – like Lego blocks – to destroy bacteria,” said Assistant […]

Clinicians should consider how the way we think can make us vulnerable to obesity, and how obesity is genetically intertwined with brain structure and mental performance, according to new research. The study, led by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and published in the Proceedings of […]

A previously ignored part of the intestine has turned into the key to its most crucial moment in embryonic development: the rotation that winds the small and large intestine into its familiar twisted form. Where and how this rotation is triggered is the subject of new research from Natasza Kurpios’ […]

The study, conducted by a team of scientists, including Professor Marcus Munafo and Dr Jorien Treur from Bristol's School of Psychological Science, who are part of the International Cannabis Consortium, is the largest to date genetic study to look at the use of cannabis. Researchers used data from the UK Biobank, association results from 23andMe […]

Hypoxia arises because tumours often grow faster than their blood supply, causing oxygen deprivation, which forces cancer cells to adapt — this makes their behaviour more aggressive and in turn leads to their spread around the body. The team sought to understand how cancer cells adapt to hypoxic conditions, with […]

It is well known that extended exposure to the sun’s UV rays can cause DNA mutations that lead to skin cancer. Now new research reveals that inflammation from chronic skin injury can trigger cancer-causing mutations as well by a totally distinct mechanism. The researchers – led by scientists at UC […]

Use of e-cigarettes every day can nearly double the odds of a heart attack, according to a new analysis of a survey of nearly 70,000 people, led by researchers at UC San Francisco. The research also found that dual use of e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes – the most common use […]

Early childhood seizures result from a rare disease that begin in the first months of life. Researchers at University of Utah Health have developed high-tech tools to uncover the genetic cause of the most difficult to diagnose cases. The results are available online in the journal Nature Genomic Medicine. “These tools […]

A drug called mogamulizumab significantly improved progression-free survival for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, according to the results of a clinical trial published in The Lancet Oncology. The findings led to the FDA’s recent approval of the drug. “For patients affected by this debilitating disease, we can now offer a novel and effective treatment […]

It is a terrible situation when your life depends on others. But that is how a lot of people awaiting organ transplant are feeling. They are carrying a huge weight on their shoulders, waiting for a matching donor. A lot of people die before a suitable donor is found. But […]

Researchers at the University of Oxford, working with colleagues in Erlangen, Germany and at the Cleveland Clinic, USA, have developed a new technology based on analysis of computed tomography (CT) coronary angiograms that can flag patients at risk of deadly heart attacks years before they occur. Heart attacks are usually […]

Obesity is associated with a host of health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. According to a new study reported in the Journal of Physiology, obesity also diminishes a person’s ability to build muscle after engaging in resistance exercise. “Several previous studies, including some from […]

The nervous system is a complex network of neurons that coordinates the body by transmission of electrical signals. And just like the power lines that deliver electricity to homes and businesses, the nervous system sometimes needs maintenance. During early development, animals are constantly eliminating unnecessary neuronal material; the nervous systems […]

Researchers from the University of Zurich can, for the first time, precisely characterize the protein modification ADP-ribosylation for all proteins in a tissue sample. The changes, which are a typical reaction to stress, provide information about the condition of a cell. Together with the University Hospital Zurich, they are now […]

Maple trees are best known for their maple syrup and lovely fall foliage. But it turns out that the beauty of those leaves could be skin-deep — and that’s a good thing. Today, scientists report that an extract from the leaves may prevent wrinkles. The scientists had previously studied the […]

About 50,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed annually with head, neck, nasal and oral cancers. Most are treated with radiation, and of those, 70-80 percent develop a painful and debilitating side effect called severe oral mucositis (SOM). While some drugs are available to treat SOM once it develops, none […]

Scientists have discovered that beluga whales and narwhals go through the menopause – taking the total number of species known to experience this to five. Aside from humans, the species now known to experience menopause are all toothed whales – belugas, narwhals, killer whales and short-finned pilot whales. Almost all […]

Losing just one night of sleep can have a negative impact on human metabolism at the tissue level, according to a study published last week. The findings may explain how long-term shift work and chronic sleep loss can impair metabolism and adversely affect human body composition. Previous studies have shown that the risk […]

More than 100 years ago, German Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich popularized the “magic bullet” concept — a method that clinicians might one day use to target invading microbes without harming other parts of the body. Although chemotherapies have been highly useful as targeted treatments for cancer, unwanted side effects still […]

Immune cells in the eye that developed in response to early exposure to bacteria are a key contributor to progressive vision loss from glaucoma, the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world, according to new research from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and MIT. The findings, published […]

Researchers funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) have reversed congenital blindness in mice by changing supportive cells in the retina called Müller glia into rod photoreceptors. The findings advance efforts toward regenerative therapies for blinding diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. A report of the findings […]

In a new study, researchers developed a gene expression predictor that can indicate whether melanoma in a specific patient is likely to respond to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a novel type of immunotherapy. The predictor was developed by Noam Auslander, Ph.D., with other researchers in the Center for Cancer […]

A team of researchers working in the fields of engineering and medicine at the University of Central Florida (UCF) has recently developed a new artificial intelligence system capable of spotting often-missed cancerous tumours. “I believe this will have a very big impact,” said group leader and Engineering Assistant Professor Ulas […]

For the first time, researchers have seen how proteins involved in the daily biological clock interact with each other, helping them to further understand a process tied to numerous metabolic and eating disorders, problems with shift work, jet lag and mental health issues. Working with the clock proteins KaiA, KaiB […]

New technology developed by a team of McGill University scientists shows potential to streamline the analysis of proteins, offering a quick, high volume and cost-effective tool to hospitals and research labs alike. Proteins found in blood provide scientists and clinicians with key information on our health. These biological markers can […]

Acute Liver Failure occurs when a healthy liver is so seriously damaged it can no longer regrow and recover, leaving patients in urgent need of transplant. The liver helps support almost every other organ, by removing toxins, as well as making and storing the proteins and energy sources the body […]

All growth and reproduction relies on a cell’s ability to replicate its chromosomes and produce accurate copies of itself. Every step of this process takes place within that cell. Based on this observation, scientists have studied the replication and segregation of chromosomes as a phenomenon exclusively internal to the cell. They […]

A University of Adelaide-led team of scientists has suggested a potential link between iron in our cells and the rare gene mutations that cause Alzheimer’s disease, which could provide new avenues for future research. In a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, the team proposes a new theory […]

Investigators have discovered that arsenic in combination with an existing leukemia drug work together to target a master cancer regulator. The team, led by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is hopeful that the discovery could lead to new treatment strategies […]