Related Science News

March 19, 2018

Natural and Artificial Cells made to Work Together for the First Time

While in previous experiments, artificial materials were made to interact with a variety of individual parts of biological cells, such as enzymes crucial for chemical reactions, a team of researchers from the new FABRICELL centre at the Imperial College London (ICL) had recently gone a step further. In a new […]
March 16, 2018

Aggressive breast cancer can be transformed into a treatable form

Approximately 10–15 per cent of breast cancer patients have so-called basal breast cancer that do not respond to treatment with hormone therapy, which means that they are more aggressive and often recur. Recent studies emphasise the importance of the communication of cancer cells with other cell types in the surrounding […]
March 15, 2018

Mind-controlling molecules from wasp venom could someday help Parkinson’s patients

After being stung by a parasitic wasp, the American cockroach loses control of its behavior, becoming host to the wasp’s egg. Days later, the hatchling consumes the cockroach alive. While this is a gruesome process for the cockroach, scientists report in ACS’ journal Biochemistry the discovery of a new family of peptides […]
March 15, 2018

“Body on a chip” could improve drug evaluation

MIT engineers have developed new technology that could be used to evaluate new drugs and detect possible side effects before the drugs are tested in humans. Using a microfluidic platform that connects engineered tissues from up to 10 organs, the researchers can accurately replicate human organ interactions for weeks at […]
March 14, 2018

This Synthetic Protein Could Help Immune Systems Find and Destroy Cancer

Cancer treatment innovations are of continued interest to medical professionals, people diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers. Recently, with support from the National Institutes of Health, a team of scientists created a kind of synthetic protein called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that could increase the effectiveness of immunotherapies that […]
March 14, 2018

New study shows how multimorbidity restricts life in the elderly

A progressive decline in physical function, commonly referred to as functional decline, is a strong health determinant in older people. The accumulation of chronic diseases, multimorbidity, plays a major role in functional decline and has a negative impact on quality of life. Cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric diseases are common in older […]
March 14, 2018

Colorectal cancer: Screening should include environment, genetic factors

When it comes to colorectal cancer, many people would benefit from individually tailored screening rather than standardized population guidelines. A new risk-prediction model, built by researchers at the University of Michigan and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) in Seattle and colleagues, assesses the impact of environment and […]
March 13, 2018

Medical researchers find protein that marks difference between cancer and non-cancer cells

A discovery sheds light on how cancerous cells differ from healthy ones, and could lead to the development of new strategies for therapeutic intervention for difficult-to-treat cancers in the future. An international team of investigators found a “stop sign”—a modified protein researchers named a PIP-stop—inside cells that are overused by […]
March 13, 2018

Study: Absence of key protein, TTP, rapidly turns young bones old

The absence of a protein critical to the control of inflammation may lead to rapid and severe bone loss, according to a new University at Buffalo study. The study found that when the gene needed to produce the protein tristetraprolin (TTP) is removed from healthy mice, the animals developed the […]
March 12, 2018

The enemy within: Gut bacteria drive autoimmune disease

Bacteria found in the small intestines of mice and humans can travel to other organs and trigger an autoimmune response, according to a new Yale study. The researchers also found that the autoimmune reaction can be suppressed with an antibiotic or vaccine designed to target the bacteria, they said. The […]
March 9, 2018

Slow-release hydrogel aids immunotherapy for cancer

An immunotherapy drug embedded in a slow-release hydrogel invented at Rice University in collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) appears to be highly effective at killing cancer cells. STINGel combines a new class of immunotherapy drugs called stimulator of interferon gene (STING) agonists with an injectable hydrogel that […]
March 9, 2018

Birth of New Neurons in the Human Hippocampus Ends in Childhood

One of the liveliest debates in neuroscience over the past half century surrounds whether the human brain renews itself by producing new neurons throughout life, and whether it may be possible to rejuvenate the brain by boosting its innate regenerative capacity. Now UC San Francisco scientists have shown that in […]
March 8, 2018

Broadly neutralizing antibody treatment may target viral reservoir in monkeys

After receiving a course of antiretroviral therapy for their HIV-like infection, approximately half of a group of monkeys infused with a broadly neutralizing antibody(link is external) to HIV combined with an immune stimulatory compound suppressed the virus for six months without additional treatment, according to scientists supported in part by the National […]
March 7, 2018

Low-calorie Diet Enhances Intestinal Regeneration After Injury

Dramatic calorie restriction, diets reduced by 40 percent of a normal calorie total, have long been known to extend health span, the duration of disease-free aging, in animal studies, and even to extend life span in most animal species examined. Further research has shown that animals fed restricted-calorie diets are […]
March 7, 2018

New Gene Therapy Corrects a Form of Inherited Macular Degeneration in Canine Model

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have developed a gene therapy that successfully treats a form of macular degeneration in a canine model. The work sets the stage for translating the findings into a human therapy for an inherited disease that results in a progressive loss of central vision and which is […]
March 7, 2018

Breast cancer care in U.S. territories lags behind care in states

Older women residing in the U.S territories are less likely to receive recommended or timely care for breast cancer compared with similar women residing in the continental United States, according to Yale researchers. Their findings were published in the March issue of Health Affairs. Using Medicare claims data from 2008 to […]
March 7, 2018

Promising therapeutic approach for spinal cord injuries

In many organs, damaged tissue can be repaired by generating new cells of the type that were lost. However, after an injury to the central nervous system, a special type of scar tissue is formed which inhibits this regeneration. Injuries to the brain and spinal cord therefore often lead to […]
March 5, 2018

Discovery reveals way to stop inflammation in Alzheimer's disease, more

A new discovery about the immune system may allow doctors to treat harmful inflammation that damages the brain in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. It might also let doctors save patients from the potentially deadly inflammation of sepsis, a full-body infection that kills a quarter-million Americans every year. The finding […]
March 5, 2018

Stem-cell study points to new approach to Alzheimer's disease

Improving the trafficking of cellular proteins in brain cells holds possibilities for new treatments and even prevention for Alzheimer's disease, results of a new study suggest. Researchers found that a compound that enhances the shuttling of proteins within cells reduced the production of forerunners of two proteins implicated in brain […]
March 5, 2018

Nut consumption may aid colon cancer survival

People with stage III colon cancer who regularly eat nuts are at significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence and mortality than those who don’t, according to a new, large study led by researchers at Yale Cancer Center. The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study followed 826 […]
March 5, 2018

Don’t Forget About Estrogen

Her two-year study, begun with funding from Women’s Health Research at Yale in 2005, found that long-term treatment with the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone did not improve memory as anticipated. “It was surprising, because we thought for sure we’d see a benefit of at least some of our treatments,” […]
March 2, 2018

Breast cancer’s spread routes mapped

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. In Sweden, almost two thousand patients die of the disease every year. The fatalities are almost exclusively a consequence of tumours in the breast spreading to other organs, such as the skeleton, the brain and the liver. Metastases in […]
March 2, 2018

Hormones may affect girls’ interests, but not their gender identity or playmates

Prenatal exposure to male hormones influences which activities girls are interested and engage in, but the effects of those hormones don’t extend to gender identity or who they socialize with, according to Penn State researchers. The researchers explored how prenatal exposure to androgens — hormones that are typically higher in […]
March 1, 2018

Genome Sequencing Uncovers Therapy for Rare Brain Tumor

Brain tumors are among the deadliest forms of cancer, due in large part to their sensitive location and the challenge of performing surgery to remove them. New research led by David Solomon, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at UC San Francisco, provides much-needed targeted treatment options for […]