Medical Science News

RSS

Engineered cells reveal changes associated with learning, memory and reward

Scientists have created cells with fluorescent dyes that change color in response to specific neurochemicals. By implanting these cells into living mammalian brains, they have shown how neurochemical signaling changes as a food reward drives learning, they report in Nature Methods online October 26.

27 Oct 2014

Digoxin drug may be adaptable for ALS treatment, study suggests

Digoxin, a medication used in the treatment of heart failure, may be adaptable for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive, paralyzing disease, suggests new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

27 Oct 2014

Study sheds light on why we remember some things and not others

Why do we remember some things and not others? In a unique imaging study, two Northwestern University researchers have discovered how neurons in the brain might allow some experiences to be remembered while others are forgotten. It turns out, if you want to remember something about your environment, you better involve your dendrites.

27 Oct 2014

Ludwig researchers discover key mechanism that control plasticity of epithelial cells

Ludwig Oxford researchers have discovered a key mechanism that governs how cells of the epithelia, the soft lining of inner body cavities, shift between a rigid, highly structured and immobile state and a flexible and motile form.

27 Oct 2014

UT Southwestern assistant professor named Moore Investigator in Data-Driven Discovery

Dr. Kimberly Reynolds, Assistant Professor in the Cecil H. and Ida Green Comprehensive Center for Molecular, Computational, and Systems Biology and in the Department of Biophysics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been named one of 14 Moore Investigators in Data-Driven Discovery.

27 Oct 2014

Salk Institute scientists identify promising target for HIV/AIDS treatment

Like a slumbering dragon, HIV can lay dormant in a person's cells for years, evading medical treatments only to wake up and strike at a later time, quickly replicating itself and destroying the immune system.

27 Oct 2014

Scientists devise novel way to use stem cells in fight against brain cancer

Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital have devised a new way to use stem cells in the fight against brain cancer. A team led by neuroscientist Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, who recently demonstrated the value of stem cells loaded with cancer-killing herpes viruses, now has a way to genetically engineer stem cells so that they can produce and secrete tumor-killing toxins.

27 Oct 2014

Rewriting the family history of Ebola

The research shows that filoviruses — a family to which Ebola and its similarly lethal relative, Marburg, belong — are at least 16-23 million years old.

27 Oct 2014

Tiny nano-sized particles may play major role in detecting, tracking breast cancer

Exosomes, tiny, virus-sized particles released by cancer cells, can bioengineer micro-RNA (miRNA) molecules resulting in tumor growth. They do so with the help of proteins, such as one named Dicer. New research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center suggests Dicer may also serve as a biomarker for breast cancer and possibly open up new avenues for diagnosis and treatment.

27 Oct 2014

New material advances tissue engineering, drug delivery

Researchers at the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering have broken new ground in the development of proteins that form specialized fibers used in medicine and nanotechnology. For as long as scientists have been able to create new proteins that are capable of self-assembling into fibers, their work has taken place on the nanoscale. For the first time, this achievement has been realized on the microscale—a leap of magnitude in size that presents significant new opportunities for using engineered protein fibers.

27 Oct 2014

Cornell University chemists uncover new insight into the underlying causes of ALS

Using a technique that illuminates subtle changes in individual proteins, chemistry researchers at Cornell University have uncovered new insight into the underlying causes of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

27 Oct 2014

Study: Engaging brain areas linked to 'off-task' mental activities can boost performance

To solve a mental puzzle, the brain's executive control network for externally focused, goal-oriented thinking must activate, while the network for internally directed thinking like daydreaming must be turned down to avoid interference – or so we thought.

27 Oct 2014

UT Southwestern receives CPRIT grant to expand genetic screening services in North Texas

Genetic screening services for rural and underserved populations will expand from six to 22 counties in North Texas under a $1.5 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to UT Southwestern Medical Center.

26 Oct 2014

Study reveals subtypes, potential diagnostic and treatment clues for papillary thyroid carcinomas

A comprehensive analysis of the genomes of nearly 500 papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) – the most common form of thyroid cancer – has provided new insights into the roles of frequently mutated cancer genes and other genomic alterations that drive disease development.

25 Oct 2014

UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center named new 'alpha clinic'

In a push to further speed clinical development of emerging stem cell therapies, Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health System was named today one of three new "alpha clinics" by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency.

25 Oct 2014

High risk for congenital heart defects in Down syndrome provides tool to identify changes in genes

Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal abnormality in humans, involving a third copy of all or part of chromosome 21. In addition to intellectual disability, individuals with Down syndrome have a high risk of congenital heart defects. However, not all people with Down syndrome have them – about half have structurally normal hearts.

25 Oct 2014

New NIH award aims to help increase diversity in biomedicine

The University of Alaska Fairbanks received a $23.8 million, five-year award from the National Institutes of Health to launch a new undergraduate program that will engage students from diverse backgrounds, especially those from rural Alaska, in biomedical research as a way to foster their interest and success in biomedical and health careers.

25 Oct 2014

Growth factor boosts natural defence against auto-immune diseases

Our immune system defends us from harmful bacteria and viruses, but, if left unchecked, the cells that destroy those invaders can turn on the body itself, causing auto-immune diseases like type-1 diabetes or multiple sclerosis. A molecule called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) boosts the body's natural defence against this 'friendly fire', scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy, have found.

25 Oct 2014

Researchers reveal how particular melanoma cells help tumors resist drugs

UNC School of Medicine researchers have pinpointed a set of intriguing characteristics in a previously unknown subpopulation of melanoma cancer cells in blood vessels of tumors. These cells, which mimic non-cancerous endothelial cells that normally populate blood vessels in tumors, could provide researchers with another target for cancer therapies.

25 Oct 2014

Nano-sized discovery helps explain bipolar disorder

A nano-sized discovery by Northwestern Medicine® scientists helps explain how bipolar disorder affects the brain and could one day lead to new drug therapies to treat the mental illness.

24 Oct 2014

Medical Science News

Engineered cells reveal changes associated with learning, memory and reward

Digoxin drug may be adaptable for ALS treatment, study suggests

Study sheds light on why we remember some things and not others

Ludwig researchers discover key mechanism that control plasticity of epithelial cells

UT Southwestern assistant professor named Moore Investigator in Data-Driven Discovery

Salk Institute scientists identify promising target for HIV/AIDS treatment

Scientists devise novel way to use stem cells in fight against brain cancer

Rewriting the family history of Ebola

Tiny nano-sized particles may play major role in detecting, tracking breast cancer

New material advances tissue engineering, drug delivery

Cornell University chemists uncover new insight into the underlying causes of ALS

Study: Engaging brain areas linked to 'off-task' mental activities can boost performance

UT Southwestern receives CPRIT grant to expand genetic screening services in North Texas

Study reveals subtypes, potential diagnostic and treatment clues for papillary thyroid carcinomas

UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center named new 'alpha clinic'

High risk for congenital heart defects in Down syndrome provides tool to identify changes in genes

New NIH award aims to help increase diversity in biomedicine

Growth factor boosts natural defence against auto-immune diseases

Researchers reveal how particular melanoma cells help tumors resist drugs

Nano-sized discovery helps explain bipolar disorder

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

Latest News