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Researchers uncover mechanisms that prevent tooth replacement in mice

Most reptiles and fish have multiple sets of teeth during their lifetime. However, most mammals, such as humans, have only one set of replacement teeth and some mammals, like mice, have only a single set with no replacement.

20 Feb 2019

Viruses in the intestinal tracts can lead to islet autoimmunity and Type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, provide new evidence supporting an association between elevated levels of enteroviruses in the intestinal tracts of children and islet autoimmunity, a precursor to Type 1 diabetes.

20 Feb 2019

Scientists probe into the mind of worms to unravel how memories form

Try as you might, some events cannot be remembered. Known in psychology as memory blocking, the phenomenon has remained elusive since first described more than half a century ago.

20 Feb 2019

First gene therapy operation for macular degeneration is a success

A new treatment is the first to target the underlying genetic cause of AMD, which affects more than 600,000 people in the UK alone.

20 Feb 2019

New optimization method rapidly analyzes nanomedicines for cancer treatment

With their ability to treat a wide a variety of diseases, spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) are poised to revolutionize medicine. But before these digitally designed nanostructures can reach their full potential, researchers need to optimize their various components.

20 Feb 2019

New computational tool searches for factors that cause specific diseases

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have developed and tested a new computational tool, Candidate Driver Analysis, which will search for combinations of factors that are likely to cause a specific disease.

20 Feb 2019

Study reveals insights into how the brain learns new locomotor patterns

Imagine that while walking on a treadmill at the gym, it suddenly splits in two - one side moving faster than the other. Would you be able to adapt to this change and come up with a new way of walking, or would you stagger and stumble as your legs falter about, completely out of sync?

20 Feb 2019

Newly developed gene therapy helps decelerate aging process

Aging is a leading risk factor for a number of debilitating conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease, to name a few. This makes the need for anti-aging therapies all the more urgent. Now, Salk Institute researchers have developed a new gene therapy to help decelerate the aging process.

20 Feb 2019

Study reveals how helper T cells support memory cells to function optimally

The immune system's killer T cells are crucial in fighting viral infections. A fraction of them, called 'memory cells', live on once infection is controlled in order to fight re-infection by the same virus. They are of great interest as the basis of T cell-based vaccination and immunotherapies.

20 Feb 2019

Prenatal exposure to forest fires causes stunted growth in children

Forest fires are more harmful than previously imagined, causing stunted growth in children who were exposed to smoke while in the womb, according to new research from Duke University and the National University of Singapore.

19 Feb 2019

Study finds new link between food allergies and multiple sclerosis

Like many other medical conditions, the mechanism of multiple sclerosis remains an enigma--a puzzle composed of complex genetic and environmental factors. A key piece to this puzzle is the immune system, which is also responsible for regulating many other physiological (and pathological) phenomena--including allergies.

19 Feb 2019

Gene therapy restores hearing in mice with congenital genetic deafness

In collaboration with the universities of Miami, Columbia and San Francisco, scientists from the Institut Pasteur, Inserm, CNRS, Collège de France, Sorbonne University and the University of Clermont Auvergne have managed to restore hearing in an adult mouse model of DFNB9 deafness - a hearing disorder that represents one of the most frequent cases of congenital genetic deafness.

19 Feb 2019

Unique gene therapy approach paves new way to tackle rare, inherited diseases

Nonsense mutations are single-letter errors in the genetic code that prematurely halt the production of critical proteins. These unfinished proteins are unable to function normally, and nonsense mutations cause 10-15 percent of all inherited genetic diseases, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, cystic fibrosis and polycystic kidney disease.

19 Feb 2019

Multinational initiative to study familial primary distal renal tubular acidosis

In addition to regulating the body's fluid balance, by excreting greater or smaller amounts of urine, the kidneys also maintain the proper balance of electrolytes (salts) and the pH (an acid-base equilibrium) within our body.

19 Feb 2019

Study shows how 3D organization of genetic material helps perpetuate the species

From fathers to children, the delivery of hereditary information requires the careful packing of DNA in sperm. But just how nature packages this DNA to prepare offspring isn't clear.

19 Feb 2019

Study sheds new light on how antibiotic resistance genes are transferred between bacteria

By studying fish raised in aquaculture, researchers from the Helmholtz Zentrum München, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Campinas in Brazil have shed new light on the mechanisms by which antibiotic resistance genes are transferred between bacteria.

19 Feb 2019

Single CRISPR treatment can safely and stably correct genetic disease

Researchers at Duke University have shown that a single systemic treatment using CRISPR genome editing technology can safely and stably correct a genetic disease -- Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) -- for more than a year in mice, despite observed immune responses and alternative gene editing outcomes.

18 Feb 2019

Researchers identify multiple genetic variants associated with body fat distribution

A new breakthrough from the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits consortium, which includes many public health researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, identifies multiple genetic variants associated with how the body regulates and distributes body-fat tissue.

18 Feb 2019

Scientists discover trigger that turns strep infections into devastating disease

Houston Methodist infectious disease scientists have discovered a previously unknown trigger that turns a relatively run-of-the-mill infection into a devastatingly ravenous, flesh-eating disease.

18 Feb 2019

Researchers report progress in the treatment of aggressive brain tumors

Cancer researchers at the University of Bonn have reported significant progress in the treatment of glioblastoma. About one third of all patients suffer from a particular variant of this most common and aggressive brain tumor.

18 Feb 2019