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Researchers study if microplastics can cause harm to people

About 8 million metric tons of plastic waste winds up in the oceans every year -- bottles, bags and doo-dads that eventually break down into tiny pieces, called microplastics.

7 Feb 2019

New study points to potential cure for addiction

The Akay Lab biomedical research team at the University of Houston is reporting in the journal Nature Scientific Reports that a possible cure for addiction may be found by following the pathways of significantly altered dopamine neurons in newborns who were chronically exposed to nicotine in utero.

7 Feb 2019

Vitamin D helps clear bacteria from lungs of people with multi-drug resistant TB

Vitamin D has been found to speed up the clearance of tuberculosis bacteria from the lungs of people with multi-drug resistant TB, according to a study of 1,850 patients receiving antibiotic treatment, led by Queen Mary University of London.

6 Feb 2019

Drug cocktail may help combat breast cancer

MYC, a gene with high cancer-initiating potential, is overexpressed in over 40% of breast cancers. While MYC programs breast cancer cells to build more macromolecules (anabolic metabolism) it also creates a metabolic vulnerability by making them more sensitive to a type of cell death known as apoptosis.

6 Feb 2019

Neurofeedback system enables Parkinson's patients to voluntarily control brain wave activity

Parkinson's disease is associated with abnormal beta wave activity in the subthalamic nucleus, but a direct connection between this activity and movement difficulties has not yet been established.

6 Feb 2019

Researchers develop new way to prevent and treat Chlamydia

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a new way to prevent and treat Chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the world.

6 Feb 2019

Cannabinoid compounds may reduce viability of colon cancer cells

Medical marijuana has gained attention in recent years for its potential to relieve pain and short-term anxiety and depression. Now, Penn State College of Medicine researchers say some cannabinoid compounds may actually inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells in the lab.

6 Feb 2019

Early ancestors' taste for fat reveals new clues to human evolution

Long before human ancestors began hunting large mammals for meat, a fatty diet provided them with the nutrition to develop bigger brains, posits a new paper in Current Anthropology.

6 Feb 2019

Study of spermatogonial stem cells opens path for new strategies to treat male infertility

The production of sperm -- otherwise known as spermatogenesis -- generates more than 1,000 sperm per second in normal males.

6 Feb 2019

Fibrinogen results in cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease, finds study

It has long been known that patients with Alzheimer's disease have abnormalities in the vast network of blood vessels in the brain. Some of these alterations may also contribute to age-related cognitive decline in people without dementia.

6 Feb 2019

Study uncovers how lung tissue remodels to support immune response to influenza

Immunology researchers at the Babraham Institute have discovered how lung tissue in mice is remodelled in response to infection with influenza in order to support an immune system response.

6 Feb 2019

Research could provide a new way to treat organ scarring in future

The increased deposition of connective tissue is a problem in chronic diseases of many organs such as the lungs, liver, kidneys, gut, and the skin.

6 Feb 2019

New breakthrough study can impact drug development and personalized medicine

A breakthrough for brain tumor drug development and personalized medicine published today in Nature Scientific Reports.

6 Feb 2019

Protein CDK6 appears to be key factor in influencing development of MPN

MPNs are a group of rare, malignant diseases of the bone marrow involving the production of an excess of red blood cells, white blood cells and/or platelets.

6 Feb 2019

Researchers take major step in creating technology that mimics the human brain

A new transistor based on organic materials has been developed by scientists at Linköping University. It has the ability to learn, and is equipped with both short-term and long-term memory.

6 Feb 2019

New study debunks importance of eye contact

Remember that magical moment when you first locked eyes with your partner and felt an instant connection?

5 Feb 2019

Large-scale genetic study sheds light on origins of depression

Hundreds of genes have been newly linked to depression, shedding light on the origins of the condition and highlighting personality types that could be at risk.

5 Feb 2019

In vitro grafts improve blood flow in the hearts of infarcted rats

Advances in stem cell research offer hope for treatments that could help patients regrow heart muscle tissue after heart attacks, a key to achieving more complete recovery.

5 Feb 2019

Research using fission yeast reveals anticancer mechanism

Much like shoelaces or dangly necklaces, DNA strands can tangle up in unruly knots. Specialized enzymes keep DNA organized when cells divide, so the cells split smoothly and don't get stuck. But in tumor cells, this failsafe allows cancer to spread.

5 Feb 2019

New technology can detect any virus that poses a threat to humans

Researchers have developed a computational method that designs molecular “baits” for any strains of virus known to infect humans, including Zika virus.

5 Feb 2019