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Study offers new insights into how nervous system processes hot and cold temperatures

A study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine offers new insights into how the nervous system processes hot and cold temperatures. The research led by neuroscientist Mark J. Zylka, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and physiology, found an interaction between the neural circuits that detect hot and cold stimuli: cold perception is enhanced when nerve circuitry for heat is inactivated.

9 Apr 2013

Transposons increase in abundance and activity in brains as they age

As the body ages, the physical effects are notable; wrinkles in the skin appear, physical exertion becomes harder. But there are also less visible processes going on. Inside aging brains there is another phenomenon at work, which may contribute to age-related brain defects.

9 Apr 2013

Scientist receives NIH grant to study genetic causes of autism spectrum disorders in African Americans

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Dr. Daniel Geschwind, director of the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment, a five-year, $10 million grant to continue his research on the genetic causes of autism spectrum disorders and to expand his investigations to include the genetics of autism in African Americans.

9 Apr 2013

Research sheds new light on role of ATRX mutations in brain and pituitary

Research from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute sheds new light on a gene called ATRX and its function in the brain and pituitary.

9 Apr 2013

New drug combination shows anti-cancer activity in patients with solid tumors and germline mutation

A novel combination of two drugs has shown anti-cancer activity in patients who had incurable solid tumors and carried a germline mutation in their BRCA genes, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers are reporting at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Washington, April 6-10.

8 Apr 2013

Study evaluates efficacy of drug combinations in treating colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Once colorectal cancer has spread to other parts of the body, only 11 percent of patients will survive five years from the date of their diagnosis.

8 Apr 2013

Male smokers with low levels of serum bilirubin are at higher risk for lung cancer

Elevated levels of bilirubin in the blood get attention in the clinic because they often indicate that something has gone wrong with the liver. Now researchers have found that male smokers with low levels of the yellow-tinged chemical are at higher risk for lung cancer and dying from the disease.

8 Apr 2013

Researchers identify four genes newly associated with severe childhood obesity

Researchers have identified four genes newly associated with severe childhood obesity. They also found an increased burden of rare structural variations in severely obese children.

8 Apr 2013

Blood test reveals more gene mutations in cancer than traditional tumor biopsy

A new blood test revealed more of the gene mutations that sustain certain digestive-tract tumors than did a DNA analysis of a traditional tumor biopsy, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators will report at a special symposium of the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Washington, April 6-10.

8 Apr 2013

Researchers identify seven new gene loci linked to obesity

An international research team has identified seven new gene loci linked to obesity. Researchers were also able to show that the genetic mechanisms that cause extreme obesity are similar to those that cause milder forms of overweight and obesity.

8 Apr 2013

Gene behind Vel blood group discovered

Researchers have uncovered the gene at the root of a human blood group that has remained a mystery for the past 60 years. They showed that a genetic deletion on this gene is responsible for the lack of this blood group in some people.

8 Apr 2013

Nine Nobel laureates to present their research at American Chemical Society meeting

At least nine Nobel laureates have research that will be presented here this week during the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

8 Apr 2013

Stress circuits in brain undergo profound learning early in life

Researchers at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute have discovered that stress circuits in the brain undergo profound learning early in life. Using a number of cutting edge approaches, including optogenetics, Jaideep Bains, PhD, and colleagues have shown stress circuits are capable of self-tuning following a single stress.

8 Apr 2013

Researchers study influence of muscle types, body metabolism in diabetes

Researchers in the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan have challenged a long-held belief that whitening of skeletal muscle in diabetes is harmful.

8 Apr 2013

Heart, blood and lungs have same receptors for sensing odors that exist in nose

In a discovery suggesting that odors may have a far more important role in life than previously believed, scientists have found that heart, blood, lung and other cells in the body have the same receptors for sensing odors that exist in the nose.

8 Apr 2013

Physician-researcher to lead pediatric Dream Team to create new treatments for childhood cancers

A physician-researcher from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will lead the first-ever pediatric "Dream Team" solely focused on creating new treatments for the most challenging childhood cancers.

8 Apr 2013

Research shows new separation process could help advance stem cell therapies

A new separation process that depends on an easily-distinguished physical difference in adhesive forces among cells could help expand production of stem cells generated through cell reprogramming.

8 Apr 2013

Dual-signaling CAR T cells show potent anti-cancer activity in animal model

The need to distinguish between normal cells and tumor cells is a feature that has been long sought for most types of cancer drugs.

8 Apr 2013

New two-step immunotherapy approach offers new hope for ovarian cancer patients

As many as three quarters of advanced ovarian cancer patients appeared to respond to a new two-step immunotherapy approach -- including one patient who achieved complete remission -- according research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today in a press conference at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 (Presentation #LB-335).

8 Apr 2013

Research identifies important role of zinc in kidney stone formation

Kidney stones usually make their presence known suddenly, often sending a person to the hospital in excruciating pain. Each year in the U.S. more than a million people seek medical attention for kidney stones, technically called nephrolithiasis.

8 Apr 2013