Medical Science News

RSS

Understanding photoreceptor proteins could lead to cancer drug therapy

How does a plant know when to sprout a leaf, fold its petals or bloom? Why do humans experience jet lag after a trip abroad?

24 Aug 2012

Herbal plant extract may help cure breast cancer

Scientists at Aston University and Russells Hall Hospital have discovered that an extract from a common plant in Pakistan may help cure breast cancer.

24 Aug 2012

Researchers discover new way to disarm harmful bacteria

Rather than trying to kill bacteria outright with drugs, Université de Montréal researchers have discovered a way to disarm bacteria that may allow the body's own defense mechanisms to destroy them. "To understand this strategy one could imagine harmful bacteria being like Darth Vader, and the anti-virulence drug would take away his armor and lightsaber," explained Dr. Christian Baron, the study's lead author and Professor at the Department of Biochemistry.

24 Aug 2012

ALDH enzyme marks melanoma stem cells

Cancer stem cells are defined by three abilities: differentiation, self-renewal and their ability to seed a tumor. These stem cells resist chemotherapy and many researchers posit their role in relapse. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Stem Cells, shows that melanoma cells with these abilities are marked by the enzyme ALDH, and imagines new therapies to target high-ALDH cells, potentially weeding the body of these most dangerous cancer creators.

24 Aug 2012

Fit Brains achieves 75 million brain scores milestone

Fit Brains, a top online brain fitness platform, announces its 75 millionth brain game score achieved. And, in celebration, challenges users to play more mind strengthening games this September - it being Back-to-School and Healthy Aging Month - with a charitable incentive.

24 Aug 2012

Abnormalities in mitochondrial length promote development of neurodegenerative diseases

Goldilocks was on to something when she preferred everything "just right." Harvard Medical School researchers have found that when it comes to the length of mitochondria, the power-producing organelles, applying the fairy tale's mantra is crucial to the health of a cell. More specifically, abnormalities in mitochondrial length promote the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

24 Aug 2012

Confocal light sheet microscopy yields high-resolution views of brain’s neural pathways

Shortly after the Hubble Space Telescope went into orbit in 1990 it was discovered that the craft had blurred vision. Fortunately, Space Shuttle astronauts were able to remedy the problem a few years later with supplemental optics. Now, a team of Italian researchers has performed a similar sight-correcting feat for a microscope imaging technique designed to explore a universe seemingly as vast as Hubble's but at the opposite end of the size spectrum—the neural pathways of the brain.

24 Aug 2012

Researchers create super-sensor that can detect even single samples of viruses

By affixing nanoscale gold spheres onto a microscopic bead of glass, researchers have created a super-sensor that can detect even single samples of the smallest known viruses. The sensor uses a peculiar behavior of light known as "whispering gallery mode," named after the famous circular gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where a whisper near the wall can be heard around the gallery.

24 Aug 2012

Study demonstrates how DBP production is modulated by daily variations of temperature

Numerous processes in our body fluctuate in a regular pattern during the day. These circadian (or daily) variations can be driven by local oscillators present within our cells or by systemic signals controlled by the master pacemaker, located in the brain. Ueli Schibler, professor at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, unveils a molecular mechanism by which body temperature rhythms influence the expression of 'clock genes' and synchronize local oscillators.

24 Aug 2012

Parental methylated histones not transferred to daughter DNA

It's widely accepted that molecular mechanisms mediating epigenetics include DNA methylation and histone modifications, but a team from Thomas Jefferson University has evidence to the contrary regarding the role of histone modifications.

24 Aug 2012

Certain human diseases may have evolutionary epigenetic origins

Ninety-six percent of a chimpanzee's genome is the same as a human's. It's the other 4 percent, and the vast differences, that pique the interest of Georgia Tech's Soojin Yi. For instance, why do humans have a high risk of cancer, even though chimps rarely develop the disease? In research published in September's American Journal of Human Genetics, Yi looked at brain samples of each species. She found that differences in certain DNA modifications, called methylation, may contribute to phenotypic changes.

24 Aug 2012

Study shows how astrocytes control new neuron generation in the brain

Researchers from the Laboratory of astrocyte biology and CNS regeneration headed by Prof. Milos Pekny just published a research article in a prestigious journal Stem Cells on the molecular mechanism that controls generation of new neurons in the brain.

24 Aug 2012

Scientists develop reliable method to convert adult blood cells into iPSCs

Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a reliable method to turn the clock back on blood cells, restoring them to a primitive stem cell state from which they can then develop into any other type of cell in the body.

24 Aug 2012

Changes in DNA methylation might be linked to evolution of humans' vulnerability to diseases

Chimpanzees rarely get cancer, or a variety of other diseases that commonly arise in humans, but their genomic DNA sequence is nearly identical to ours. So, what's their secret? Researchers reporting in the September issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, a Cell Press journal, have found that differences in certain DNA modifications, called methylation, might play a role.

24 Aug 2012

Gibbons use same vocal techniques as professional soprano singers

Have you ever heard an opera singing ape? Researchers in Japan have discovered that singing gibbons use the same vocal techniques as professional soprano singers. The study, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, explains how recording gibbons singing under the influence of helium gas reveals a physiological similarity to human voices.

24 Aug 2012

Researchers deciphered function of claudin-10 gene in the kidney

Sodium chloride, better known as salt, is vital for the organism, and the kidneys play a crucial role in the regulation of sodium balance. However, the underlying mechanisms of sodium balance are not yet completely understood.

24 Aug 2012

The Wistar Institute, MSKCC partner to publish first annotated atlas of Epstein-Barr virus genome

Researchers from The Wistar Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have teamed to publish the first annotated atlas of the Epstein-Barr virus genome, creating the most comprehensive study of how the viral genome interacts with its human host during a latent infection. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is thought to be responsible for one percent of all human cancers, establishes a latent infection in nearly 100 percent of infected adult humans.

24 Aug 2012

Scripps Research Institute scientist to uncover workings of the immune system

A team led by a scientist at The Scripps Research Institute has received a $22.5 million, five-year project renewal from the National Institutes of Health to uncover the workings of the immune system.

24 Aug 2012

New method can differentiate between breast cancer patients with good and poor prognosis

It is now possible to identify aggressive breast cancers by interpreting the mathematical patterns in the cancer genome. Researchers at the University of Oslo, Norway (UiO) have developed a completely new method for differentiating between breast cancer patients with high and low risks of dying from the illness.

24 Aug 2012

LXRbeta may play a role in prevention and treatment of Parkinson's

Scientists at the University of Houston (UH) have discovered what may possibly be a key ingredient in the fight against Parkinson's disease.

24 Aug 2012

Medical Science News

Understanding photoreceptor proteins could lead to cancer drug therapy

Herbal plant extract may help cure breast cancer

Researchers discover new way to disarm harmful bacteria

ALDH enzyme marks melanoma stem cells

Fit Brains achieves 75 million brain scores milestone

Abnormalities in mitochondrial length promote development of neurodegenerative diseases

Confocal light sheet microscopy yields high-resolution views of brain’s neural pathways

Researchers create super-sensor that can detect even single samples of viruses

Study demonstrates how DBP production is modulated by daily variations of temperature

Parental methylated histones not transferred to daughter DNA

Certain human diseases may have evolutionary epigenetic origins

Study shows how astrocytes control new neuron generation in the brain

Scientists develop reliable method to convert adult blood cells into iPSCs

Changes in DNA methylation might be linked to evolution of humans' vulnerability to diseases

Gibbons use same vocal techniques as professional soprano singers

Researchers deciphered function of claudin-10 gene in the kidney

The Wistar Institute, MSKCC partner to publish first annotated atlas of Epstein-Barr virus genome

Scripps Research Institute scientist to uncover workings of the immune system

New method can differentiate between breast cancer patients with good and poor prognosis

LXRbeta may play a role in prevention and treatment of Parkinson's

The CAR T Veteran: A Journey of Resilience, Remission, and Advocacy

Innovating for impact: Jordi Labs on aligning methodologies with FDA expectation

Exploring the role of confocal-based high-content imaging in advancing core facilities

Latest News