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Tumor DNA in spinal fluid can help track children with aggressive brain tumors

For many cancers, doctors are increasingly looking to the DNA that solid tumors shed into the blood stream to help with diagnosis and monitoring. But brain cancer has been a different story thanks to the natural blockade created by the blood-brain barrier.

22 Oct 2020

Study shows how genome sequencing can track mutations in SARS-CoV-2 virus

A study published in Cell Reports shows how next generation genetic sequencing can track mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which can in effect help with transmission tracing, diagnostic testing accuracy and vaccine effectiveness.

22 Oct 2020

Congress should clarify limits of gene-editing technologies, says law professor

Genome editing of human embryos represents one of the most contentious potential scientific applications today. But what if geneticists could sidestep the controversy by editing sperm and eggs instead?

22 Oct 2020

Study may help develop effective therapeutic strategies against COVID-19

People have different susceptibilities to SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop varying degrees of fever, fatigue, and breathing problems -- common symptoms of the illness. What might explain this variation?

22 Oct 2020

Mayo clinic researchers develop a potential test for Machado-Joseph disease

Mayo Clinic researchers, along with national and global collaborators, have developed a potential test for Machado-Joseph disease, or spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) ? a disease that has no cure.

22 Oct 2020

Researchers identify new mechanism that modulates cell division

Collaborative work of research groups at the University of Würzburg and the TU Dresden has provided important new insights for cancer research.

22 Oct 2020

Study unravels consequences of mating at the molecular level

While it is known that stem cells have the ability to develop into all tissues in a precisely regulated process, the way environmental cues affect stem cell behavior has remained poorly understood.

21 Oct 2020

Obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular illnesses linked to dramatic dietary changes

Are obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular illnesses and more the result of a "mismatch" between the meals we eat and the foods our bodies are prepared for?

21 Oct 2020

Study characterizes biochemical mechanism of cancer-linked enzyme

A new study led by scientists at IUPUI and Indiana University Bloomington is the first to describe a biochemical mechanism that increases the activity of a molecule whose presence is observed in many types of cancer.

21 Oct 2020

Gut hormone found to be key regulator of new nerve cells in the adult brain

A gut hormone, ghrelin, is a key regulator of new nerve cells in the adult brain, a Swansea-led research team has discovered. It could help pave the way for new drugs to treat dementia in patients with Parkinson's Disease.

21 Oct 2020

UCLA researchers discover compound that stimulates muscle cells in mice

UCLA researchers have identified a compound that can reproduce the effect of exercise in muscle cells in mice. The findings are published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

21 Oct 2020

Protein delivery to the testes restores male fertility in mice

According to the Mayo Clinic, about 15% of couples are infertile, and male infertility plays a role in over one-third of these cases.

21 Oct 2020

Cold-induced increase in vitamin A boosts fat burning

A recent study conducted by a research team led by Florian Kiefer from MedUni Vienna's Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism shows that cold ambient temperatures increase vitamin A levels in humans and mice.

21 Oct 2020

New DNA-cutting tool could advance gene editing for novel treatments

Gene editing for the development of new treatments, and for studying disease as well as normal function in humans and other organisms, may advance more quickly with a new tool for cutting larger pieces of DNA out of a cell's genome, according to a new study by UC San Francisco scientists.

21 Oct 2020

Increasing levels of light pollution could impact transmission of diseases through mosquitoes

Artificial light abnormally increases mosquito biting behavior at night in a species that typically prefers to bite people during the day, according to research from the University of Notre Dame that was published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

21 Oct 2020

Scientists uncover a novel cellular mechanism for disposing of misfolded proteins

About 30 years ago, Dr. Richard Sifers set out on a journey to discover why people with a rare condition known as alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency present with high variation in the severity of liver disease.

21 Oct 2020

Researchers use supercomputers to simulate the inner working of Ebola virus

As the world grapples with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, another virus has been raging again in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in recent months: Ebola.

21 Oct 2020

Exploring the role of insects as potential new food allergen

Those with food allergies must avoid allergens in food. Health problems can be triggered by even the smallest traces for those affected.

20 Oct 2020

Scientists show why zebra finches have problems with reproduction

In birds and other species alike, pairs can face considerable difficulties with reproduction. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen have now shown in an extensive analysis of 23,000 zebra finch eggs that infertility is mainly due to males, while high embryo mortality is more a problem of the females.

20 Oct 2020

Engineered decoy receptor could protect against coronaviruses

Researchers in the United States have shown that an engineered soluble decoy receptor tightly binds the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated viruses. This could potentially provide protection against zoonotic betacoronaviruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

20 Oct 2020