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Researchers develop new type of transposase protein with improved biochemical properties

The team, comprising researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the Universitätsklinikum Würzburg and the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, managed to design a new variant of the Sleeping Beauty transposase with dramatically improved biochemical properties.

4 Nov 2019

UK aims to lead with cutting-edge radiation therapy

The UK is all set to launch its run into the future as the undisputed leader in the field of personalized and effective radiation therapy. The proposal is undergirded by a whopping £56 million, which will be used to set up and fund advanced radiation therapy research by a new collaborative setup, Cancer Research UK RadNet, over five years. This is the largest sum ever invested by this organization into radiotherapy research.

4 Nov 2019

Some deadly skin cancers may originate in hair follicles

Some deadly skin cancers may originate in the pigment-making stem cells in hair follicles rather than in skin.

4 Nov 2019

Some skin cancers may originate in hair follicles

Some of the most deadly skin cancers may start in stem cells that lend color to hair, and originate in hair follicles rather than in skin layers, a new study finds.

4 Nov 2019

Three UCLA researchers receive multimillion-dollar grant from state's stem cell agency

Three researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have received awards totaling more than $18 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency.

31 Oct 2019

Scientists modify a toxic protein to create a biosensor

Researchers have shown that the pore-forming toxin (PFT), aerolysin, could be used as a biosensor in the sequencing of DNA and proteins.

30 Oct 2019

New study compares two surgical approaches to endoscopic thyroid removal

A new study compares two surgical approaches to endoscopic thyroid removal, neither of which produces a scar in the neck area, providing a comprehensive comparison of the therapeutic effects and cosmetic results of each approach.

30 Oct 2019

Researchers make progress toward gene-based strategies to treat inherited neurometabolic diseases

Researchers are making great strides toward developing gene-based strategies to treat a variety of inherited neurometabolic diseases characterized by severe neurological involvement.

29 Oct 2019

NUS researchers use glowing nanoparticles to control biological processes

The biological technique of 'optogenetics' uses light to control cells within living tissues that have been genetically modified to be light-sensitive.

29 Oct 2019

Discovery of causal link between hydrogen sulfide and schizophrenia

Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan have found certain chemical markers that are associated with schizophrenia. They worked with lab mice with models of schizophrenia as well as post mortem brain specimens of persons with schizophrenia. The study titled, “Excess hydrogen sulfide and polysulfides production underlies a schizophrenia pathophysiology,” was published in the latest issue of the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.

28 Oct 2019

Gene linked to schizophrenia likely confers risk for illness

Researchers have discovered in mice how one of the few genes definitively linked to schizophrenia, called SETD1A, likely confers risk for the illness. Mice genetically engineered to lack a functioning version of the enzyme-coding gene showed abnormalities in working memory, mimicking those commonly seen in schizophrenia patients.

24 Oct 2019

Researchers identify potential approach to stop growth of common brain tumor in children

University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have identified a potential approach to stop the growth of the most common type of brain tumor in children.

24 Oct 2019

ConvertibleCAR immunotherapy can be used to attack HIV latent reservoir

A team of Gladstone scientists and their partners at Xyphos Biosciences, Inc. describe a new way of attacking cells infected by HIV in this week's issue of the journal Cell.

24 Oct 2019

New study identifies gene that causes intellectual disability syndrome

It used to take several years or sometimes decades to unequivocally identify the genes that cause rare human syndromes that affect very few individuals. Nowadays, however, human geneticists and fly and mouse biologists have the means to work together to integrate their data, which has significantly accelerated the pace of disease and gene discovery.

22 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

Peptide-based nanoparticles can suppress pancreatic cancer growth without adverse effects

Despite advances in cancer survival, more than 90 percent of people with pancreatic cancer die within five years. Most patients with pancreatic tumors (and half of those with colorectal cancers) carry a mutation in the KRAS gene, which normally controls cell growth and death.

21 Oct 2019

University Of Minnesota opens clinical trial of first-of-its-kind NK cell cancer immunotherapy

A new cancer clinical trial has opened at the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center that leverages the groundbreaking research on stem cells and natural killer cells done at the Masonic Cancer Center and applies it to attack acute myeloid leukemia and B-cell lymphoma.

21 Oct 2019

Creatine serves as a molecular battery to power killer T cells' fight against cancer

Creatine, the organic acid that is popularly taken as a supplement by athletes and bodybuilders, serves as a molecular battery for immune cells by storing and distributing energy to power their fight against cancer, according to new UCLA research.

18 Oct 2019

Blue light and fruit flies: a warning for humans

A new study involving the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, published in the journal npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease, shows that when flies are kept in darkness, or in white light from which the blue spectrum has been excluded, they live longer, compared to flies kept in alternating 12-hour shifts of blue LED light and darkness. The reason appears to be a speeded-up version of aging; the brain cells, retinal cells and climbing ability, all suffer a breakdown.

18 Oct 2019

Adding plant-based compound to gene therapy could improve treatment outcomes

Gene therapy has broadened the treatment possibilities for those with immune system deficiencies and blood-based conditions, such as sickle cell anemia and leukemia.

17 Oct 2019