Related Science News

For decades, clinicians treating multiple sclerosis (MS) have interpreted the appearance of new or expanding brain lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans as a sign that a patient’s disease is getting worse. Now, University at Buffalo researchers are finding that it may be the atrophy or disappearance of these […]

What was fiction on a recent episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” is being pioneered for real at the University of Virginia Health System. The episode “Hold Back the River” featured the show’s doctors using focused sound waves to treat a brain mass known as a hypothalamic hamartoma in a young boy. […]

As cancer patients become increasingly ill toward the end of their lives, their pain often intensifies and increases in frequency. This is distressing not only to the patient, but also to the patient’s caregivers, often a spouse or partner. Effectively managing that pain with medications and other therapies is of […]

Enamel, located on the outer part of our teeth, is the hardest tissue in the body and enables our teeth to function for a large part of our lifetime despite biting forces, exposure to acidic foods and drinks and extreme temperatures. This remarkable performance results from its highly organised structure. […]

Arriving early or late can have big consequences for early-stage cells that gather to form a new kidney, USC researchers discovered. The scientists showed how progenitor cells that form the kidney’s filtering units, called nephrons, mature into entirely different types of cells based on when they reach the scene of […]

Using a novel imaging method, Harvard Medical School investigators based at Massachusetts General Hospital have shed light on the mechanisms behind a potential targeted treatment for a form of the deadly brain tumors called gliomas. In a report published in Nature Communications, the research team describes using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) imaging to […]

Risk factors for heart disease and stroke appear to hasten the risk of cognitive decline in normal older individuals with evidence of very early Alzheimer’s disease-associated changes in the brain, according to a new study by Harvard Medical School investigators based at Massachusetts General Hospital. Vascular risk factors increase the […]

Stem cell researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital have, for the first time, profiled a highly elusive kind of stem cell in the early embryo—a cell so fleeting that it makes its entrance and exit within a 12-hour span. They described this “poised pluripotent” cell in the […]

A novel approach to immunotherapy developed by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has led to the complete regression of breast cancer in a patient who was unresponsive to all other treatments. This patient received the treatment in a clinical trial led by Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., chief […]

Homeowners know that one little termite can lead to big problems: while termites are efficient at gnawing away at wood, they can do even more damage if the wood is already broken or has another defect. Mechanical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis have found the same effect in […]

Most people with the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma die less than 18 months after diagnosis. But a multicenter clinical trial of a personalized vaccine that targets the aggressive cancer has indicated improved survival rates for such patients. The study appears in the Journal of Translational Medicine. The phase three clinical […]

People who take drugs that suppress the immune system are less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, published in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, suggest that a person’s own immune system helps nudge him or […]

Green tea could hold the key to preventing deaths from heart attacks and strokes caused by atherosclerosis, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Scientists from Lancaster University have discovered that a compound found in green tea, currently being studied for […]

A strong social network could be the key to preserving memory. New research from The Ohio State University found that mice housed in groups had better memories and healthier brains than animals that lived in pairs. The discovery bolsters a body of research in humans and animals that supports the […]

The American Cancer Society has announced significant new guidelines for colorectal cancer screenings, and a major contributor to the new protocol is the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Dr. Andrew Wolf. The previous recommendation for adults was to begin getting regular colorectal cancer screenings at the age of 50. […]

Writing in the journal Cell Stem Cell, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that a first-in-human phase I clinical trial in which neural stem cells were transplanted into participants with chronic spinal cord injuries produced measurable improvement in three of four subjects, with no serious adverse […]

As cancer patients become increasingly ill toward the end of their lives, their pain often intensifies and increases in frequency. This is distressing not only to the patient, but also to the patient’s caregivers, often a spouse or partner. Effectively managing that pain with medications and other therapies is of […]

Researchers at the University of Tokyo revealed that a phosphorous-containting lipid in the membrane plays a critical role in activating a protein involved in the transcription of genes regulating cell proliferation. This research outcome points to new drug targets for malignant cancer cells where this signaling pathway is involved. The […]

Three years ago, on one cold March afternoon, James Costello slipped on black ice. He hit his head hard enough that he expected the worst: a concussion. Although he was feeling a bit off, he continued his usual duties—trekking eight miles a day as a mail carrier in South Jersey. […]

The concept of survival of the fittest most often applies to the competition that occurs within and between animal species, but evolutionary pressures can be found elsewhere—even in a cancerous tumor. Cancer researchers have come to understand tumors not as lumps of identical cells, but rather as diverse, dynamic populations […]

UA research has resulted in a melanin-producing compound for a systemic approach to preventing skin damage. The University of Arizona has licensed two inventions developed in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to startup MCR Therapeutics. The inventors, Minying Cai and Victor J. Hruby, developed targeted peptides through their research […]

People with a gene variant called APOE4 have a higher risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease: APOE4 is three times more common among Alzheimer’s patients than it is among the general population. However, little is known about why this version of the APOE gene, which is normally involved in metabolism […]

Memory, learning and cognitive flexibility depend on a protein 'off-switch' in the brain, according to a breakthrough discovery made by an international research collaboration co-led by the University of Warwick. This new knowledge could enable us to better understand and combat neurological diseases which inhibit memory, such as Alzheimer's. Dr […]

In your body, blood stem cells produce approximately 10 billion new white blood cells, which are also known as immune cells, each day. Even more remarkably, if some of these blood stem cells fail to do their part, other blood stem cells pick up the slack and overproduce whichever specific […]

The research, published in the journal Nature Genetics, in the future aims to enable the prediction of the trajectory of tumour growth in patients, allowing clinicians to pre-empt disease course and tailor treatment regimens accordingly. The model was developed in collaboration with researchers from Barts Cancer Institute’s Centre for Tumour Biology, led by Professor […]

A new discovery about the effects of aging in our cells could allow doctors to cure or prevent diabetes, fatty liver disease and other metabolic diseases – and possibly even turn back the clock on aging itself. The new finding from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests that […]

After a decade of work, a team led by Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont researcher and Université de Montréal associate professor Dr. Gilbert Bernier has shed promising light on the origin of the most common and prevalent form of Alzheimer’s disease, hoping to someday help mitigate or even reverse the progress of the […]

An in utero stem cell transplant for a critically ill second-trimester fetus has led to the birth of an apparently healthy infant. The newborn is the first patient enrolled in the world’s first clinical trial using stem cells transplanted prior to birth. The infant was born at UCSF Benioff Children’s […]

Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have added a new dimension to the understanding of how cells alter their communication with one another during development, wound healing, and the spread of cancer. The researchers published their results in Molecular Biology of the Cell, a journal published by the American […]

If your cornea gets damaged because of injury or disease, your best option is transplantation. However, there is an extreme shortage of corneas suitable for transplant – currently there are 15 million people worldwide waiting for cornea transplant. But now scientists from the Newcastle University have made an important breakthrough […]