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In 2018, one-half of the Nobel Prize was awarded to Arthur Ashkin, the physicist who developed optical tweezers, the use of a tightly focused laser beam to isolate and move micron-scale objects (the size of red blood cells). Now Justus Ndukaife, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Vanderbilt University, has developed the […]

A simple test such as the strength of your handgrip could be used as a quick, low-cost screening tool to help healthcare professionals identify patients at risk of type 2 diabetes. In new research, scientists at the universities of Bristol and Eastern Finland measured the muscular handgrip strength of 776 […]

Two recent studies were unable to rule out that H1N1 (“swine flu”) vaccination (“Pandemrix”) and seasonal influenza vaccination given to pregnant women might be associated with autism spectrum disorder in the offspring. Now, a large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, published in the journal Annals of Internal […]

Modafinil is used to treat conditions such as narcolepsy. Reports have associated the drug with an increased risk of malformation in babies born to mothers who had taken it while pregnant. Now, a large registry study involving over two million pregnant women in Sweden and Norway shows that there is […]

New stem cell technique offers hope for those with corneal damage. Harvard Medical School surgeons at Massachusetts Eye and Ear have replaced the ocular surface of four patients who each experienced chemical burns to one eye. The technique, cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation (CALEC), uses stem cells taken from […]

Findings are relevant to an understanding of the neural mechanisms present in mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction. A new Tel Aviv University study examined the brain's reactions in conditions of uncertainty and stressful conflict in an environment of risks and opportunities. The researchers identified the areas of the […]

Minute differences in individual muscle cell contractions allow the entire muscle to flex with greater control and accuracy. Long dismissed as “noise” or error, experts now suspect that biological systems may have evolved to include unavoidable variation as a form of information in their communication channels. A team of experts […]

The neurodegenerative disease known as frontotemporal dementia (FTD) causes untold suffering. As neurons die in regions of the brain important for maintaining our personalities and living a purposeful life, patients experience steadily worsening cognitive and behavioural symptoms, and the disease is generally fatal within a decade of diagnosis. Though FTD […]

An enzyme proven to help regrow damaged nerve tissue in animals but too unstable for use in humans has been redesigned for stability in research co-led by Marian Hettiaratchi of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon. With stability added, the enzyme […]

The world’s scientific community must engage with a broad range of stakeholders to develop guidelines on embryo and embryoid research, according to a new paper from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Human embryo and embryoid research have expanded in recent years due to technological advances. But inconsistent or ambiguous restrictions […]

A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a specific gene’s previously unknown role infertility. When the gene is missing in fruit flies, roundworms, zebrafish and mice, the animals are infertile or lose their fertility unusually early but appear otherwise healthy. Analyzing genetic data in […]

Results Lay Groundwork for New, More Targeted Immune Therapies. New UC San Francisco research sheds light on how immune system B cells that infiltrate the central nervous system may drive multiple sclerosis (MS), pointing the way to a new generation of targeted immune therapies to halt the progression of the […]