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Researchers find new way to prevent inflammation, accelerate the skin's healing process

Most products on the market today that are used to treat skin problems target the effects of the disease or wound such as inflammation, which can prolong the healing process and result in scarring. However, LSU Assistant Professor Wei Xu and collaborators at Northwestern University discovered a new way to prevent inflammation and to speed up the skin's healing process.

5 Nov 2015

New DentaPlas coated implants help prevent infections caused by bacteria

One million dental implants are inserted every year in Germany, and often they need to be replaced due to issues such as tissue infections caused by bacteria. In the future, these infections will be prevented thanks to a new plasma implant coating that kills pathogens using silver ions.

4 Nov 2015

Oxford professor wins Heinrich Wieland Prize for pioneering method that helps control nerve cells with light

Gero Miesenböck was the first to insert a light-controlled on/off switch into brain cells. His pioneering method allows scientists to switch nerve cells on and off selectively and observe how the behaviour of, for example, fruit flies or mice changes as a result. In this way, researchers can learn in a step-by-step process what behaviour the studied brain circuits control and what goes awry in disease. For his method, hailed as a "breakthrough of the decade," Professor Gero Miesenböck of the University of Oxford will receive the 100,000-euro Heinrich Wieland Prize of the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation in Munich on November 6, 2015.

4 Nov 2015

Elderly women should take more vitamin D supplementation during the wintertime, suggests researchers

Osteoporosis is one of the chief reasons why the elderly often suffer broken bones from relatively minor injuries. Postmenopausal women in particular experience a relatively rapid loss in bone mass due to a reduced concentration of oestrogen, which is responsible for strong bone growth during youth. Maintaining bone mass requires physical exercise and vitamin D, which is mainly produced in the skin with the help of UVB radiation. This is why, especially in the wintertime, many elderly women are prescribed a vitamin D supplement by their doctor to maintain bone mass.

4 Nov 2015

New broad-spectrum antibiotic can kill bacteria by punching holes in their membranes

Bacteria have many methods of adapting to resist antibiotics, but a new class of spiral polypeptides developed at the University of Illinois targets one thing no bacterium can live without: an outer membrane.

29 Oct 2015

Scientists decode central signal switch associated with epileptic seizures

Scientists at the University of Bonn and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) have decoded a central signal cascade associated with epileptic seizures. If the researchers blocked a central switch in epileptic mice, the frequency and severity of the seizures decreased. Using a novel technology, it was possible to observe the processes prior to the occurrence of epileptic seizures in living animals.

27 Oct 2015

Miniaturized microfluidic device can help monitor blood levels in real time for patients in ICU

No larger than a pack of chewing gum, the prototype developed by EPFL's Integrated Systems Laboratory is deceptively simple in appearance. But this little black case with two thin tubes sticking out contains some real miniaturized high-tech wonders.

23 Oct 2015

Scientists map out the brain circuitry critical for filtering out distractions

In a study of mice, scientists discovered that a brain region called the thalamus may be critical for filtering out distractions. The study, published in Nature and partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, paves the way to understanding how defects in the thalamus might underlie symptoms seen in patients with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and schizophrenia.

22 Oct 2015

New breakthrough advances our understanding of how brain detects, prevents dehydration

Scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and Duke University have made a breakthrough that advances our understanding of how the brain detects and prevents dehydration.

16 Oct 2015

UTHealth biochemists expose structures of IP3R calcium channels

Calcium is a crucial element in the body that controls thought, movement and other bodily functions. These events are directed by specialized proteins called ion channels that allow the flow of calcium ions in and out of cells and among cell compartments. For years, scientists have been unsure how calcium ion channels function.

15 Oct 2015

New hope for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

New hope for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients. A mouse genetic study in PLoS Medicine reports that targeting the P2RX7 gene, a purinoreceptor, may halt the progression of DMD.

14 Oct 2015

Claritas Genomics announces launch of Claritas Clinical Exome, novel diagnostic test

Claritas Genomics, Inc., announced the launch of its Claritas Clinical Exome, at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics running 10/6 – 10/10 in Baltimore, MD. This novel diagnostic test is the first to exploit the strengths of multiple DNA sequencing platforms simultaneously to deliver confirmed results for a patient’s clinical whole exome within 4 weeks, compared to the industry standard of 12 weeks or more. Patients with rare disease typically seek a diagnosis for 8-12 years, receiving 3-5 separate tests at a high cost.

7 Oct 2015

Research shows why microgravity leads to muscle loss

People can easily feel the presence - or absence - of gravity. Our individual cells actually may be able to sense gravity, too, and that ability could play a role in the loss of muscle that occurs when humans spend time in space.

1 Oct 2015

Glowing protein may replace fiber optic cable as light source in optogenetics research

Optogenetics has taken neuroscience by storm in recent years because the technique allows scientists to study the brain conveniently in animals, activating or inhibiting selected groups of neurons at the flip of a switch. Most often, scientists use a fiber optic cable to deliver light into the brain.

30 Sep 2015

Serologic status and autoimmune cerebellar ataxia type predict treatment response

Patients with autoimmune cerebellar ataxia have better treatment responses and outcomes if they have the nonparaneoplastic form of the condition and are seropositive for neural plasma membrane protein or glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 antibodies, suggests research.

29 Sep 2015

Research reveals significant information about the dynamics of bacterial gels

Research by scientists at the University of York has revealed important new information about the dynamics of bacterial gels which could ultimately suggest new ways of helping prevent or better control diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

26 Sep 2015

New genetic cause identified for congenital heart arrhythmia

Scientists at The Ohio State University Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute have identified a new genetic cause for congenital heart arrhythmia. The results of their research are published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

23 Sep 2015

Findings may suggest new therapeutic target to combat memory loss in aging, Alzheimer's disease

Northwestern Medicine scientists have examined activity in a little-studied part of the brain associated with memory and found for the first time the reason that neurons there become more active in old age, findings that may suggest a new target for future therapies to combat memory loss in aging and Alzheimer's disease.

23 Sep 2015

Umeå University chemist explores ways to decrease bacterial colonization

Among the bacterial infections that are most difficult to treat, chronic infections associated with bacterial biofilms are one of the most hazardous. Bacterial biofilms are densely packed communities of microbial cells surrounded with secreted polymers. In her doctoral thesis, chemist Shoghik Hakbyan has studied ways to decrease the bacterial colonization at Umeå University in Sweden.

14 Sep 2015

Researchers use nanopore technology for early detection of colorectal and lung cancers

Using tiny "nanopore" scanners that can detect individual DNA molecules, Professor Amit Meller and colleagues are on the hunt for biological markers in cancer cells that may help clinicians diagnose colorectal and lung cancers at their earliest stages.

10 Sep 2015

Ion News and Research

Researchers find new way to prevent inflammation, accelerate the skin's healing process

New DentaPlas coated implants help prevent infections caused by bacteria

Oxford professor wins Heinrich Wieland Prize for pioneering method that helps control nerve cells with light

Elderly women should take more vitamin D supplementation during the wintertime, suggests researchers

New broad-spectrum antibiotic can kill bacteria by punching holes in their membranes

Scientists decode central signal switch associated with epileptic seizures

Miniaturized microfluidic device can help monitor blood levels in real time for patients in ICU

Scientists map out the brain circuitry critical for filtering out distractions

New breakthrough advances our understanding of how brain detects, prevents dehydration

UTHealth biochemists expose structures of IP3R calcium channels

New hope for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Claritas Genomics announces launch of Claritas Clinical Exome, novel diagnostic test

Research shows why microgravity leads to muscle loss

Glowing protein may replace fiber optic cable as light source in optogenetics research

Serologic status and autoimmune cerebellar ataxia type predict treatment response

Research reveals significant information about the dynamics of bacterial gels

New genetic cause identified for congenital heart arrhythmia

Findings may suggest new therapeutic target to combat memory loss in aging, Alzheimer's disease

Umeå University chemist explores ways to decrease bacterial colonization

Researchers use nanopore technology for early detection of colorectal and lung cancers

Enhancing confidence in chemical ionization spectrometry data eBook

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

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