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Researchers win 2019 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize for malaria-fighting technology

A team of nine researchers based in the United States and Burkina Faso will receive the 2019 Newcomb Cleveland Prize, presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, for the development of a promising tool in the global fight against malaria and other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, including dengue and Zika.

24 Jan 2020

Dresden scientists identify newborn neurons in zebrafish

The zebrafish is a master of regeneration: If brain cells are lost due to injury or disease, it can simply reproduce them - contrary to humans where this only happens in the fetal stage. However, the zebrafish is evolutionarily related to humans and, thus, possesses the same brain cell types as humans.

7 Jan 2020

Studying Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease using Pre-Formed Fibrils

Ariel Louwrier discusses the development of pre-formed tau and alpha-synuclein fibrils for research into Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

From StressMarq Biosciences Inc. 2 Jan 2020

Fibroblasts involved in healing wounds play a devastating role in breast cancer development

The connective tissue cells known as fibroblasts are vitally important for our recovery from injury. Sensing tissue damage, they gravitate to the site of a wound, instigating an inflammatory response that mends damaged tissue.

19 Dec 2019

Study sheds light on the origins of spinocerebellar ataxia type 7

New research has shed light on the origins of spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) and demonstrates effective new therapeutic pathways for SCA7 and the more than 40 other types of spinocerebellar ataxia.

16 Dec 2019

Evolutionarily novel genes found to be expressed in tumors

A team of scientists from Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) studied the evolutionary ages of human genes and identified a new class of them expressed in tumors -- tumor specifically expressed, evolutionarily novel (TSEEN) genes.

16 Dec 2019

New model can help study the mechanisms of bone metastasis, tumor immune response

The Research Team reports the establishment of B6Ca P, an allograft tumor line from a Hi-Myc transgenic mouse that had been backcrossed onto C57BL/6J background.

4 Dec 2019

Discovery enables strategies to be developed for preventing malaria transmission

The bacteria that form the gut microbiota influence important processes of the human body, such as digestion, nutrient absorption, and defense against pathogens. The same type of relationship is present in most animals, including in the Anhopheles darlingi mosquito, the main vector of malaria in Brazil.

22 Nov 2019

Contraceptive drug effective in preventing and regressing cervical cancer in mice

A new study in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, reports that medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), the active ingredient in the common contraceptive injection Depo-Provera, was effective in preventing the development of cervical cancer in mice with precancerous lesions.

12 Nov 2019

Study describes a molecular strategy that helps prevent development of tumors in mice

The body's process for manufacturing fatty acids is regulated by the enzyme FASN. In normal cells, this is not a very active process - except occasionally in the liver and adipose tissue - since most of the fatty acids we need for cell maintenance are obtained from the diet.

4 Nov 2019

New study may help better understand mechanisms that control blood pressure

Many questions remain about the mechanisms that control blood pressure, particularly in relation to hypertension.

1 Nov 2019

Study uncovers cause for spatial-memory deficits in people with Down syndrome

Professor Juan Lerma's group, from the UMH-CSIC Institute of Neurosciences, in Alicante, has identified the gene called GRIK1, fundamental in the balance between excitation and inhibition in the brain, as one of the causes for people with Down syndrome having spatial orientation problems.

1 Nov 2019

New study on zebrafish may have possible relevance for heart regeneration in humans

In mammals, including humans, the heart muscle has a very limited capacity to recover after injury. After an acute myocardial infarction, millions of cardiac muscle cells, named cardiomyocytes, die, and are replaced by a scar.

23 Oct 2019

Taste neurons could be controlling feeding behaviour find researchers

Researchers from the University of California, Riverside used a common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to find the association between taste neurons and control of feeding behaviours. They noted that if they genetically modulated these flies, they could make them selectively avoid certain chemicals including acids, bitter compounds, salty substances etc. The results of their study appeared in the October issue of the journal Cell Reports.

22 Oct 2019

Autism spectrum disorder could be triggered by low placental steroid levels

A recent experimental study has shown that one reason for the occurrence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could be the deficit of a placental steroid hormone called allopregnanolone. The reason is that this hormone plays a critical role in the normal development of the brain in fetal life.

21 Oct 2019

Study shows how mouse X and Y chromosomes compete with each other to control sex of offspring

The molecular function of genes in mice has a major influence on the sex of their offspring, according to a new discovery that reveals more about the impact of genes on animal fertility.

21 Oct 2019

Insufficient placental steroid may increase autism spectrum disorder risk

A study in experimental models suggests that allopregnanolone, one of many hormones produced by the placenta during pregnancy, is so essential to normal fetal brain development that when provision of that hormone decreases or stops abruptly - as occurs with premature birth - offspring are more likely to develop autism-like behaviors.

20 Oct 2019

Discovery could lead to new therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases

Research led by Drs. Miguel Burguillos (University of Seville, Spain) and Miguel Branco (Queen Mary University of London, UK), has revealed new findings about mechanisms regulating brain inflammation which open a new pathway in the field of neuroinflammation.

15 Oct 2019

Faster, cheaper, better: improved gene therapy tool production

The heart of modern therapy is increasingly personalized and targeted at specific cellular or genetic deficits. This requires gene therapy, in many cases. A new study, published on 19 September 2019 in the journal Nature, describes an improved way to produce purified gene carrier viruses called AAVs cheaply and quickly, from the culture medium.

22 Sep 2019

Concerns over GM mosquitoes released in Brazil

A field experiment that released genetically modified mosquitoes in Brazil to control natural populations of the insect may have had unintended consequences.

18 Sep 2019