Related Science News

Pretty much all of your cells have the same DNA code, yet they come in an astonishing number of forms. Some cells contract so the heart can beat or your muscles flex. Others have jobs in the immune system, tuned to recognize different threats. Cells can change their behavior, altering […]

Up to two decades before people develop the characteristic memory loss and confusion of Alzheimer’s disease, damaging clumps of protein start to build up in their brains. Now, a blood test to detect such early brain changes has moved one step closer to clinical use. Researchers from Washington University School […]

Brain metastases are the final, lethal consequence of many aggressive cancers, and researchers are racing to discover ways of preventing these intractable growths from developing. A new Tel Aviv University study finds a known adjuvant — an ingredient used in some vaccines that helps create a stronger immune response — that contains […]

“Music evokes emotion, and emotion can bring with it memory… it brings back the feeling of life when nothing else can.” This quote by well-known British neurologist Oliver Sacks (author of Awakenings) shows the power of music. Indeed, like the aroma of cookies baking, a familiar song can bring us back to […]

Contrary to popular belief, most older Americans with advancing dementia remain in their own homes — many until they die. But a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco has revealed that this population may endure more pain and have more complex or unaddressed medical needs than their counterparts […]

A quirk of the body clock that lures some people to sleep at 8 p.m., enabling them to greet the new day as early as 4 a.m., may be significantly more common than previously believed. So-called advanced sleep phase — previously believed to be very rare — may affect at […]

A combination of two different kinds of heart cells, derived from stem cells, might be key to designing an effective graft for repairing damaged hearts. During embryonic development, cells originating in the epicardium – the protective outer wall of the heart – are pivotal in certain aspects of how the […]

Researchers have opened up a possible avenue for new cancer therapies that don’t have the side effects that oftentimes accompany many current cancer treatments by identifying a protein modification that specifically supports proliferation and survival of tumor cells. Depending on the kind of cancer and the type of treatment, a […]

Paper is at the heart of an experimental device developed by Rice University bioengineers to study heart disease. They are using paper-based structures that mimic the layered nature of aortic valves, the tough, flexible tissues that keep blood flowing through the heart in one direction only. The devices allow the engineers […]

Scientists at Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI), collaborating with clinicians at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh report two cases in which young transgender women attempted to recover their fertility after starting and stopping gender-affirming medications. The study, published in Pediatrics, found that one transgender woman was able to produce viable sperm after a […]

The Michelson Prizes are annual awards of $150,000 that support young investigators under the age of 35 who are using disruptive concepts and inventive processes to significantly advance human immunology and vaccine and immunotherapy discovery research for major global diseases. The Prizes are funded by the Michelson Medical Research Foundation […]

Yale investigators have shown that the combination of a vaccine and a medicated cream is a promising strategy to dramatically reduce the recurrence of genital herpes. Their study, co-led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, was published in the journal npj Vaccines. […]