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Exposure to violent video games affects teens' heart rate responses

Teenagers who are highly exposed to violent video games—three or more hours per day—show blunted physical and psychological responses to playing a violent game, reports a study in the May issue of Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society.

5 May 2013

Discovery may lead to new treatment for neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative disorders

A key type of human brain cell developed in the laboratory grows seamlessly when transplanted into the brains of mice, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered, raising hope that these cells might one day be used to treat people with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and possibly even Alzheimer's disease, as well as and complications of spinal cord injury such as chronic pain and spasticity.

5 May 2013

Discovery raises hope for severe forms of human epilepsy

Epilepsy that does not respond to drugs can be halted in adult mice by transplanting a specific type of cell into the brain, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered, raising hope that a similar treatment might work in severe forms of human epilepsy.

5 May 2013

Novel screening method for identifying inhibitors of EZH2 methyltransferase

Tumor repressor genes, which inhibit tumor formation, can be "turned off" due to undesirable molecular changes affecting the chromosomes on which the genes reside. Understanding and being able to control these alterations could lead to new approaches for activating or inactivating genes linked to cancer.

5 May 2013

Zoo baboons shed light on the brain's ability to understand numbers

Opposing thumbs, expressive faces, complex social systems: it's hard to miss the similarities between apes and humans. Now a new study with a troop of zoo baboons and lots of peanuts shows that a less obvious trait-the ability to understand numbers-also is shared by man and his primate cousins.

5 May 2013

DVS Sciences announces introduction of new products for single cell analysis

DVS Sciences, Inc., a privately held innovator of novel multi-parameter single-cell analyzers and reagents for biological research, today announced the introduction of the new CyTOF 2 Mass Cytometer and new MaxPar Panel Kits designed specifically for simultaneous high-parameter single cell analysis.

4 May 2013

Researchers issue statement regarding use of unproven stem cell therapies

An international group of leading stem cell researchers has issued a statement that specifies concerns about the development and use of unproven stem cell therapies.

4 May 2013

Researcher looks for markers of sleep loss in humans

For years, Paul Shaw, PhD, a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has used what he learns in fruit flies to look for markers of sleep loss in humans.

4 May 2013

Queen Mary mathematicians describe functioning of the brain

Mathematicians from Queen Mary, University of London will bring researchers one-step closer to understanding how the structure of the brain relates to its function in two recently published studies.

4 May 2013

Researchers develop injectable nano-network to control blood-sugar levels

In a promising development for diabetes treatment, researchers have developed a network of nanoscale particles that can be injected into the body and release insulin when blood-sugar levels rise, maintaining normal blood sugar levels for more than a week in animal-based laboratory tests.

4 May 2013

Expert to explain how drugs induce damage to DNA in public lecture on May 16

Anticancer drugs save lives and/or improve the quality of life for many cancer patients. Many anti-cancer drugs work by killing tumor cells after inducing damage to DNA.

4 May 2013

Virtual reality reveals new clues on how cells determine place

Leaving the house in the morning may seem simple, but with every move we make, our brains are working feverishly to create maps of the outside world that allow us to navigate and to remember where we are.

4 May 2013

Study: Stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells, form electrical couplings

Stem cells drawn from amniotic fluid show promise for tissue engineering, but it's important to know what they can and cannot do. A new study by researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital has shown that these stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells and form electrical couplings with each other similar to those found in heart tissue.

3 May 2013

Study reveals how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled

Scientists have made a fundamental discovery about how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled.

3 May 2013

Mesp1 gene plays a key role in the development of heart, blood and skeletal muscle

New research out of the Lillehei Heart Institute at the University of Minnesota shows that by turning on just a single gene, Mesp1, different cell types including the heart, blood and muscle can be created from stem cells.

3 May 2013

Gene mutation associated with rare sleep disorder also contributes to debilitating migraines

A gene mutation associated with a rare sleep disorder surprisingly also contributes to debilitating migraines, a new discovery that could change the treatment of migraines by allowing development of drugs specifically designed to treat the chronic headaches.

3 May 2013

Study: Gene mutations are associated with severe form of nearsightedness

People have long taken for granted that glasses and contact lenses improve vision for nearsightedness, but the genetic factors behind the common condition have remained blurry. Now researchers at Duke Medicine are closer to clearing this up.

3 May 2013

Newly discovered ‘master regulator’ gene may help develop novel treatment for drug-resistant tumors

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites. The researchers hope that this so-called "master regulator" gene may be the key to developing a new treatment for tumors resistant to current drugs.

3 May 2013

New mechanism that plays important role in meiosis identified

The Research Group headed by molecular biologist Andrea Pichler from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg has made an important discovery in meiosis research.

3 May 2013

Study results may help introduce better preoperative treatment for breast cancer

Breast cancers contain many different cell types with different patterns of gene expression, but a new study provides reassurance that this variability should not be a barrier to using gene expression tests to help tailor cancer treatments to individual patients.

3 May 2013