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New brain imaging techniques show how infants' brains process ‘touch’

Touch is the first of the five senses to develop, yet scientists know far less about the baby's brain response to touch than to, say, the sight of mom's face, or the sound of her voice.

17 Jan 2018

A new strategy proposed for drug discovery

A joint industry/academia study of a cancer target protein reveals unusual relation between binding site flexibility and drug-target lifetime.

17 Jan 2018

Scientists develop unique technique to map elasticity of cell components

Scientists at Université de Montréal have developed a unique technique to map, on a scale of milliseconds, the elasticity of the components inside a cell.

17 Jan 2018

Bile acids: A new therapy against obesity

Obesity arises from an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. As a result, current treatments try to decrease calorie intake and/or increase energy expenditure.

17 Jan 2018

Study shows high-salt diet causes dementia in mice

A high-salt diet reduces resting blood flow to the brain and causes dementia in mice, according to a new study by scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine.

17 Jan 2018

New high-sensitivity blood tests could aid faster diagnosis and treatment for heart attack

When diagnosing a heart attack, accuracy and timing are everything. A new test designed to better measure levels of troponin, a protein released when the heart muscle is damaged, could help emergency department physicians provide faster diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

16 Jan 2018

Study reveals negative long-term effects of heavy cannabis use on brain function and behavior

Young people with cannabis dependence have altered brain function that may be the source of emotional disturbances and increased psychosis risk that are associated with cannabis abuse, according to a new study published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

16 Jan 2018

Bile acids could directly burn away lipids in the fat depots

The EPFL scientists discovered that bile acids can turn fat-storing cells into fat-burning ones. This process is called thermogenesis (literally, "heat production") and it helps maintain body temperature in cold environments.

16 Jan 2018

Genes involved in spinal cord repair of lamprey also present in mammals, study reveals

Many of the genes involved in natural repair of the injured spinal cord of the lamprey are also active in the repair of the peripheral nervous system in mammals, according to a study by a collaborative group of scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory and other institutions.

16 Jan 2018

Bacteria linked to periodontitis may play role in onset of cancer

The bacteria that cause periodontitis, a disease affecting the tissues surrounding the teeth, seems to play a part also in the onset of pancreatic cancer, say the researchers at the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University Hospital, Finland, and the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

16 Jan 2018

Researchers develop new dynamic statistical model to follow gene expressions over time

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a new dynamic statistical model to visualize changing patterns in networks, including gene expression during developmental periods of the brain.

16 Jan 2018

Penn scientists identify new therapeutic target for treatment of melanoma

Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a new therapeutic target for the treatment of melanoma.

16 Jan 2018

Applied math can help predict genesis and evolution of different cancers

Applied mathematics can be a powerful tool in helping predict the genesis and evolution of different types of cancers, a study from the University of Waterloo has found.

16 Jan 2018

Study reveals new diabetes gene in families with rare blood sugar conditions

A study of families with rare blood sugar conditions has revealed a new gene thought to be critical in the regulation of insulin, the key hormone in diabetes.

16 Jan 2018

Lamprey genes provide clues to repair spinal cord damage, finds study

Researchers have found that several genes within an ancient species of fish can be used to provide clues in the treatment of spinal cord damage. The study titled, “Highly Conserved Molecular Pathways, Including Wnt Signaling, Promote Functional Recovery from Spinal Cord Injury in Lampreys,” appeared in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

15 Jan 2018

Research opens door to development of new treatment for type 2 diabetes

The team lead by Sílvia Vilares Conde, from CEDOC-NOVA Medical School, in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Galvani Bioelectronics, demonstrated through findings in rats that is possible to restore insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis, by modulating electrically the carotid sinus nerve, the sensitive nerve that connects the carotid body with the brain. The study is published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

15 Jan 2018

Guts of surfers more likely to be colonized by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, study reveals

Regular surfers and bodyboarders are three times more likely to have antibiotic resistant E. coli in their guts than non-surfers, new research has revealed.

15 Jan 2018

Scientists describe groundbreaking training effect on the innate immune system

"Training" of precursors of white blood cells leads to a sustained positive response of the hematopoietic system. This effect could help accelerate the formation of new white blood cells, which are vitally needed during chemotherapy, a process that can slow down hematopoiesis.

15 Jan 2018

Researchers use immune-mimicking biomaterial scaffolds to fast track T cell therapies

Immunologists and oncologists are harnessing the body's immune system to fight cancers and other diseases with adoptive cell transfer techniques. In a normal immune response, a type of white blood cell known as T cells are instructed by another kind of immune cell called an antigen-presenting cell (APC) to expand their numbers and stay alive.

15 Jan 2018

Researchers develop remote-controlled mechanogenetics system to target and kill cancer cells

A team of researchers has developed an ultrasound-based system that can non-invasively and remotely control genetic processes in live immune T cells so that they recognize and kill cancer cells.

15 Jan 2018