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Dietary fiber may delay memory loss, brain inflammation during old age

As mammals age, immune cells in the brain known as microglia become chronically inflamed. In this state, they produce chemicals known to impair cognitive and motor function.

14 Sep 2018

Aging may have originated at the very beginning of life, says study

A new USC Dornsife study indicates that aging may have originated at the very beginning of the evolution of life, at the same time as the evolution of the first genes.

13 Sep 2018

Is ‘precision medicine’ the answer to cancer? Not precisely.

Facing incurable breast cancer at age 55, MaryAnne DiCanto put her faith in "precision medicine" — in which doctors try to match patients with drugs that target the genetic mutations in their tumors. She underwent repeated biopsies to identify therapies that might help.

13 Sep 2018

Study provides complete picture of HPV virus-head and neck cancer connections

Human papillomavirus is widely known to cause nearly all cases of cervical cancer. However, you might not know that HPV also causes 70 percent of oropharyngeal cancer, a subset of head and neck cancers that affect the mouth, tongue, and tonsils.

12 Sep 2018

Drug combination targets pre-leukemia stem cells

Your body's blood cells are manufactured by hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow. But just as regular, mature cells can become cancerous, so too can stem cells.

12 Sep 2018

Study uncovers four neuron types in the peripheral auditory system

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified four types of neurons in the peripheral auditory system, three of which are new to science.

12 Sep 2018

Genetic variants influence heart rate and blood pressure responses to exercise

Your genes can determine how your heart rate and blood pressure respond to exercise – and may act as an early warning of future problems with your heart or blood vessels – according to new research published in The Journal of Physiology.

12 Sep 2018

Study finds overlapping copy number variations in Japanese patients with autism and schizophrenia

Common genetic variants may underlie autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia across human populations, according to a study appearing September 11th in the journal Cell Reports.

12 Sep 2018

Differences in mitochondrial DNA determine severity of heart disease caused by nDNA mutation

Differences in the DNA within the mitochondria, the energy-producing structures within cells, can determine the severity and progression of heart disease caused by a nuclear DNA mutation.

12 Sep 2018

Researchers design new medicine to treat highly aggressive pancreatic cancer

A treatment for highly aggressive and commonly fatal pancreatic cancer is being developed, reports a University of Houston researcher who has designed a new medicine that can inhibit two of the major pathways of the deadly disease.

12 Sep 2018

Microbe researcher Jessica Metcalf wins early-career award

The associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences is fascinated by our relationship with the trillions of invisible, living organisms inhabiting our bodies, and most notably, our guts.

12 Sep 2018

Discovery of unusual biosynthetic pathways could aid in the search for new natural products

Bacteria are master engineers of small, biologically useful molecules. A new study in Nature Communications has revealed one of the tricks of this microbial trade: synthesizing and then later inserting a nitrogen-nitrogen bond, like a prefabricated part, into a larger molecule.

12 Sep 2018

Inhaled form of high blood pressure drug has potential to treat anxiety, pain

An inhaled form of a high blood pressure medication has potential to treat certain types of anxiety as well as pain, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

11 Sep 2018

Synergism between HOXB13 and CIP2A genes predisposes men to get prostate cancer

A research team at the University of Turku in Finland discovered a link between the interplay of certain simultaneously occurring genetic changes in the HOXB13 and CIP2A genes, aggressiveness of prostate cancer, high risk of developing the disease, and poorer survival rates of patients.

11 Sep 2018

Blocking RNA-silencing protein in the liver prevents obesity and diabetes in mice

Obesity and its related ailments like type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease pose a major global health burden, but researchers report in Nature Communications that blocking an RNA-silencing protein in the livers of mice keeps the animals from getting fat and diabetic conditions.

11 Sep 2018

Researchers unravel how Zika virus manipulates the human immune system

Macrophages are immune cells that are supposed to protect the body from infection by viruses and bacteria. Yet Zika virus preferentially infects these cells. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have now unraveled how the virus shuts down the genes that make macrophages function as immune cells.

11 Sep 2018

BAP1 protein serves as tumor suppressor gene in kidney, eye, bile duct and mesothelioma cancers

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have shown how BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) serves as a tumor suppressor gene in kidney, eye, bile duct, mesothelioma and other cancers by regulating a form of cell death called ferroptosis, opening up a potential new area of therapy research.

10 Sep 2018

New framework combines three existing methods to find cancer cell mutations

Cancer cells often have mutations in their DNA that can give scientists clues about how the cancer started or which treatment may be most effective. Finding these mutations can be difficult, but a new method may offer more complete, comprehensive results.

10 Sep 2018

Researchers uncover secret of immortality mechanism in aggressive glioblastoma

UC San Francisco researchers have discovered how a mutation in a gene regulator called the TERT promoter -- the third most common mutation among all human cancers and the most common mutation in the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma -- confers "immortality" on tumor cells, enabling the unchecked cell division that powers their aggressive growth.

10 Sep 2018

Male and female brains are affected differently by repeated binge drinking

Gene expression in an area of the brain linked to addiction is affected differently by repeated binge drinking in males and females, finds a new study published today in Frontiers in Genetics.

10 Sep 2018