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Scientists find single gene that plays surprising role in manipulating aging

It is something of an eternal question: Can we slow or even reverse the aging process? Even though genetic manipulations can, in fact, alter some cellular dynamics, little is known about the mechanisms of the aging process in living organisms.

18 Jul 2014

Researcher finds genetic identifier that may allow clinicians to determine babies at risk for autism

A researcher at Seattle Children's Hospital and Research Institute has found a genetic identifier for autism that includes physical features that may eventually allow clinicians to identify babies who are at risk for autism before they are born.

17 Jul 2014

Researchers find link between genetic makeup and nation's happiness

Genetics could be the key to explaining nation's levels of happiness, according to research from the University of Warwick.

17 Jul 2014

Research reveals structural differences of protein involved in Huntington's disease

Neutron scattering research at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has revealed clear structural differences in the normal and pathological forms of a protein involved in Huntington's disease.

17 Jul 2014

Deadly neurodegenerative disease treated in worms gives hope for humans

An untreatable and deadly neurodegenerative disease has been modelled and treated in worms by University of Liverpool researchers, suggesting a cure could be found for humans.

17 Jul 2014

Investigators identify gene that underlies devastating autoinflammatory condition in children

Investigators have identified a gene that underlies a very rare but devastating autoinflammatory condition in children. Several existing drugs have shown therapeutic potential in laboratory studies, and one is currently being studied in children with the disease, which the researchers named STING-associated vasculopathy with onset in infancy (SAVI).

17 Jul 2014

Scientist fights extremely aggressive and difficult-to-treat form of breast cancer

Biomedical scientist Kimberly L. Koss, PhD, is fighting an extremely aggressive and difficult-to-treat form of breast cancer.

17 Jul 2014

TAZ represents a novel therapeutic target in NSCLC

Patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who express high levels of transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif may be a clinically distinct subgroup with an unfavourable prognosis, researchers report.

16 Jul 2014

CIP2A pathway involved in erlotinib response

Researchers have identified a novel mechanism, involving the cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A pathway, which mediates the anti-tumour effects of erlotinib in non-small-cell lung cancer cells without epidermal growth factor receptor mutations.

16 Jul 2014

Research sheds light on key mechanism prevalent in Alzheimer's disease patients

Alzheimer's disease affects approximately 5.2 million people in the United States alone, and it is the nation's sixth leading cause of death.

16 Jul 2014

Chemoprevention and colon cancer: an interview with Dr. John Letterio, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

The basic idea of cancer chemoprevention is to arrest or reverse the progression of premalignant cells towards full malignancy, using physiological mechanisms that do not kill healthy cells.

16 Jul 2014

Researchers reveal molecular interplay between Roquin and RNA

The Roquin protein, discovered in 2005, controls T-cell activation and differentiation by regulating the expression of certain mRNAs. In doing so, it helps to guarantee immunological tolerance and prevents immune responses against the body's own structures that can lead to autoimmune disease.

16 Jul 2014

Fatty acid transport proteins genetically linked to schizophrenia and ASD

Using diverse methodologies, neuroscientists from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute report that defects in Fatty Acid Binding Proteins (FABPs) may help to explain the pathology in some cases of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders.

16 Jul 2014

Game theory identifies ideal time to disrupt metastatic cancer cell cooperation

Cancer's no game, but researchers at Johns Hopkins are borrowing ideas from evolutionary game theory to learn how cells cooperate within a tumor to gather energy.

16 Jul 2014

Personalized medicine for breast cancer patients may be just around the corner

For breast cancer patients, the era of personalized medicine may be just around the corner, thanks to recent advances by USC Stem Cell researcher Min Yu and scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

16 Jul 2014

Prostate cancer more likely to be aggressive in younger men

The number of younger men diagnosed with prostate cancer has increased nearly 6-fold in the last 20 years, and the disease is more likely to be aggressive in these younger men, according to a new analysis from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

16 Jul 2014

New study reveals how genetic defect may make people more susceptible to developing melanoma

A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows how a genetic defect in a specific hormonal pathway may make people more susceptible to developing melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer.

16 Jul 2014

BAI and Novartis determine whether investigational drugs can prevent symptoms of Alzheimer's

Researchers from the Banner Alzheimer's Institute (BAI) today announced a partnership with Novartis in a pioneering medical trial to determine whether two investigational anti-amyloid drugs-an active immunotherapy and an oral medication-can prevent or delay the emergence of symptoms of Alzheimer's in people at particularly high risk for developing the disease at older ages.

15 Jul 2014

CRISPR system involved in promoting antibiotic resistance

CRISPR, a system of genes that bacteria use to fend off viruses, is involved in promoting antibiotic resistance in Francisella novicida, a close relative of the bacterium that causes tularemia.

15 Jul 2014

Researchers recover genome of bacterium from 700-year-old skeleton

European researchers have recovered a genome of the bacterium Brucella melitensis from a 700-year-old skeleton found in the ruins of a Medieval Italian village.

15 Jul 2014