Related Science News

The planarian flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea is an extraordinary animal. Even when cut into tiny pieces, each piece can regenerate back into a complete and perfectly proportioned miniature planarian. Key to this ability are fascinating adult stem cells, a single one of which can restore a complete worm. But how Schmidtea mediterranea achieves these feats […]

A team of researchers led by scientists in Vienna, Dresden and Heidelberg has decoded the entire genetic information of the Mexican salamander axolotl. The axolotl genome, which is the largest genome ever to be sequenced, will be a powerful tool to study the molecular basis for regrowing limbs and other […]

The oncogene RAS is the most frequently mutated gene of its type in human cancer. Active mutants are found in 60 to 90 percent of cases of pancreatic cancer, and a significant portion of colorectal and lung cancers. Among all RAS-driven cancers, the most frequently mutated gene is KRAS. Two […]

Working with mouse tissue, the research team discovered that fluid pressure felt by embryonic lungs helps control the rate of development of the organ. This pressure coordinates the contraction of the smooth muscles girding the airways, which in turn spurs the sprouting of new branches throughout the fledgling lung. The […]

As Isoplexis, the company co-founded by Yale’s Rong Fan and Sean Mackay ’14, prepares to take its production to the next level in 2018, two science news publications have honored the company for technology that tailors optimum treatments for cancer patients. The Scientist magazine named the company’s IsoCode chip and IsoLight platform, an all-in-one system that reads the individual […]

The most common form of breast cancer is oestrogen-receptor-positive, so called hormone-sensitive breast cancer. This means that the tumour needs the female hormone oestrogen to grow. Women who develop this kind of breast cancer have a remaining long-term risk of dying of the disease. It is also known that the […]

Turning off enzymes that are important for the survival of growing cells is a promising strategy to fight cancer. But to be able to shut down only one specific enzyme out of thousands in the body, drugs have to be tailored to exactly fit their target. This is particularly difficult […]

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to starve a tumor and stop its growth with a newly discovered small compound that blocks uptake of the vital nutrient glutamine. Their findings, reported in Nature Medicine, lay the groundwork for development of […]

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have long been regarded as the granddaddy of all blood cells. After we are born, these multipotent cells give rise to all our cell lineages: lymphoid, myeloid and erythroid cells. Hematologists have long focused on capturing HSCs’ emergence in the embryo, hoping to recreate the process […]

University of Alberta researchers created a new synthetic virus that could lead to the development of a more effective vaccine against smallpox. The discovery demonstrates how techniques based on the use of synthetic DNA can be used to advance public health measures. Virologist David Evans and his research associate Ryan Noyce produced […]

Fifteen years ago, University of Wisconsin–Madison researcher Meg Wise began interviewing cancer patients nearing the end of life about how they were living with their diagnosis. She was surprised to find that many asked for a transcript of the interview, saying that they had not talked about these issues with […]

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have received two grant awards, in partnership with investigators from other institutions, from the National Institutes of Health to conduct major studies on Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of memory loss and other forms of dementia in older persons. In […]