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The desire to own a dog is not a choice, it’s in your DNA, according to a new study involving researchers from the University of Liverpool. A team of Swedish and British scientists have studied the heritability of dog ownership using information from 35,035 twin pairs from the Swedish Twin […]

Your mother was right: Broccoli is good for you. Long associated with decreased risk of cancer, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables—the family of plants that also includes cauliflower, cabbage, collard greens, Brussels sprouts and kale—have now been found to contain a molecule that inactivates a gene known to play a […]

Instead of searching for a needle in a haystack, what if you were able to sweep the entire haystack to one side, leaving only the needle behind? That’s the strategy researchers in the University of Georgia College of Engineering followed in developing a new microfluidic device that separates elusive circulating tumor […]

A University of Bristol researcher who discovered that cooling babies who have suffered a lack of oxygen at birth improves their survival without brain damage in later childhood, is named by Universities UK as one of the ‘Nation’s Lifesavers’. One in 1,000 babies born at full term in the UK […]

As spring arrives in the northern hemisphere, many people are cursing ragweed, a primary culprit in seasonal allergies. But scientists might have discovered a promising new use for some substances produced by the pesky weed. In ACS’ Journal of Natural Products, researchers have identified and characterized ragweed compounds that could help […]

A new way to cleanly separate out cancer cells from a blood sample enables comprehensive genetic profiling of the cancer cells, which could help doctors target tumors and monitor treatments more effectively. It is a dramatic improvement over current approaches because it also encompasses the variation among cancer cells within […]

If a tumour is made up of cells with many different genomes, a single drug might not kill them all. A technique developed by a team of DTU researchers makes it possible to identify cancer cells on the genetic level—potentially paving the way for tailored and more effective treatments. “The […]

Ever cracked a joke about old people? It might seem funny, but in a world where the population aged 60 or over is growing faster than all younger age groups, ageism is no laughing matter, says a University of Alberta researcher. “Ageism is now thought to be the most common […]

Not all cells are destined for greatness. Deemed unfit to serve in the body, some are killed off during early development through a process called cell competition. This phenomenon has previously been documented in flies and is now turning out to occur in mammals as well. In a recent study, […]

University at Buffalo researchers have identified the first human-specific fusion gene—a hybrid of two genes—implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. The finding suggests that a neurotransmitter receptor, previously successful in animal studies but that failed in human trials for Alzheimer’s, might still turn out to be a valuable therapy. In a paper published in […]

Machine Learning Tool Automates Pathologists’ Work to Identify Disease Markers. Researchers at UC Davis and UC San Francisco have found a way to teach a computer to precisely detect one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in human brain tissue, delivering a proof of concept for a machine-learning approach capable […]

A jawless parasitic fish could help lead the way to more effective treatments for multiple brain ailments, including cancer, trauma and stroke. One major challenge in treating cancers and other disorders of the brain is ensuring that medicines reach their targets. A team of biomedical engineers and clinician-scientists at the […]