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New virus-based method opens wide range of options to treat various diseases

The ability to switch disease-causing genes on and off remains a dream for many physicians, research scientists and patients.

20 Jul 2016

Researchers identify new drug target for treating children with CNS-PNET

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) are the largest group of malignant brain tumors in children. They can arise from the brain's cerebellum or, more rarely, from tissue located throughout the central nervous system (CNS).

14 Jul 2016

Researchers bring idea for transparent skull implant closer to reality

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside are bringing their idea for a 'Window to the Brain' transparent skull implant closer to reality through the findings of two studies that are forthcoming in the journals Lasers in Surgery and Medicine and Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine.

12 Jul 2016

Selfish mutant mtDNA exploits cellular defenses to cause many diseases

Mitochondrial disorders are a chameleon-like set of diseases that take many different forms and vary widely from individual to individual.

12 Jul 2016

New microfluidic device allows scientists to use safe electric fields to treat cancer

Researchers at MIT's research center in Singapore have developed a new microfluidic device that tests the effects of electric fields on cancer cells.

7 Jul 2016

Researchers identify potential biomarker for Parkinson's disease in biobanked urine samples

For more than five years, urine and cerebral-spinal fluid samples from patients with Parkinson's disease have been locked in freezers in the NINDS National Repository, stored with the expectation they might someday help unravel the still-hidden course of this slow-acting neurodegenerative disease.

6 Jul 2016

AOSSM presents research awards, grants at annual meeting

In order to recognize and encourage cutting-edge research in key areas of orthopaedic sports medicine, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine will present research awards and grants during its Annual Meeting, July 7-10 in Colorado Springs, CO.

5 Jul 2016

Novel technique could help discover genes linked to complex traits in any animal model

Mice are one of the most commonly used laboratory organisms, widely used to study everything from autism to infectious diseases. Yet genomic studies in mice have lagged behind those in humans.

4 Jul 2016

Omega-3 rich diet during pregnancy has no effect on weight of babies

In Europe, almost one in three schoolchildren under the age of ten is overweight, if not obese. In the search for the cause of this phenomenon, fetal programming inside a mother's womb was put under scrutiny as a potential culprit for this "heavy issue".

28 Jun 2016

Pain reliever appears to help preserve vision in animal model of retinal degeneration

A pain medicine that potently activates a receptor vital to a healthy retina appears to help preserve vision in a model of severe retinal degeneration, scientists report.

28 Jun 2016

HDAC inhibitors may help regulate alcoholism-induced anxiety

Epigenetics is the study of changes in organisms caused by modifying gene expression - by alcohol, for example - rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. Recent evidence suggests that alcohol can inhibit activity of an enzyme called histone deacetylase (HDAC) in the amygdala, a brain region that is crucial for storing memories and regulating fear, anxiety, and other emotions.

27 Jun 2016

IGF-1 protein may be key to prevent heart disease in older adults

As men and women grow older, their chances for coronary heart disease also increase. Atherosclerosis is a condition in which plaque builds up inside the arteries, which can lead to serious problems, including heart attacks, strokes or even death.

16 Jun 2016

Researchers develop new technique for coating polymer implants with bioactive film

Researchers have developed a technique for coating polymer implants with a bioactive film that significantly increases bonding between the implant and surrounding bone in an animal model.

16 Jun 2016

New UCLA study reveals strategy to fight against pesticide-associated Parkinson’s disease

Exposure to a group of common pesticides, called dithiocarbamates, has long been associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease, although the mechanism by which the compounds exert their toxicity on the brain has not been completely understood.

15 Jun 2016

New technique may help replace brain cells, restore memory

Although brains—even adult brains—are far more malleable than we used to think, they are eventually subject to age-related illnesses, like dementia, and loss of cognitive function.

15 Jun 2016

Study underscores importance of developing PRMT5 inhibitors as promising treatment for GB patients

A new study suggests that blocking an enzyme called PRMT5 in tumor cells could be a promising new strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma (GB), the most aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer.

14 Jun 2016

Study opens up new strategy to make immunotherapy more effective for different cancer types

By combining local radiation therapy and anti-cancer vaccines with checkpoint inhibitors, researchers from the University of Chicago, working with mice, were able to increase the response rate for these new immunotherapy agents.

14 Jun 2016

Measuring specific proteins in blood samples may help track progression of dementias

Reliable information can be obtained on the progression of dementias by measuring specific proteins in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid. A test of this kind is especially significant to the development of new therapies, as reported in the journal Neuron by scientists from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel, along with international colleagues.

10 Jun 2016

Metabolite of oral DMF drug for multiple sclerosis appears to slow onset of Parkinson's disease

The metabolite of a drug that is helping patients battle multiple sclerosis appears to significantly slow the onset of Parkinson's disease, researchers say.

9 Jun 2016

Improved research tool may open door to effective HIV vaccine designs

Vaccines are usually medicine's best defense against the world's deadliest microbes. However, HIV is so mutable that it has so far effectively evaded both the human immune system and scientists' attempts to make an effective vaccine to protect against it.

6 Jun 2016