News • Cardiovascular diseases
Repairing damaged hearts with self-healing heart cells
Researchers discover a new molecule, ‘Singheart’, that may hold the key to triggering the regeneration and repair of damaged heart cells.
News • Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Developing a new active ingredient against chronic infections
Chronic lung infections caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa require complex and, in most cases, long-term treatment with antibiotics—new medication is badly needed.
News • Infections
Killing bacteria by hacking plastics with silver and electricity
Researchers at the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center at Karolinska Institutet have developed an innovative way of hacking conducting plastics so as to prevent bacterial growth.
News • Oncology
Blood test spots tumor-derived DNA in early-stage cancers
In a bid to detect cancers early and in a noninvasive way, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report they have developed a test that spots tiny amounts of cancer-specific DNA in blood.
News • DNA fragments
Using barcodes to trace blood cell development
There are various concepts about how blood cells develop. However, they are based almost exclusively on experiments that solely reflect snapshots. In a publication in Nature, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg now present a novel technique that captures the process in a dynamic way.
News • Gene-based testing
Skewing the aim of targeted cancer therapies
Headlines, of late, have touted the successes of targeted gene-based cancer therapies, such as immunotherapies, but, unfortunately, also their failures.
News • Sugar molecules
Sweet help for cancer detection
Scientists from the University of Würzburg have synthesized a complex sugar molecule which specifically binds to the tumor protein Galectin-1. This could help to recognize tumors at an early stage and to combat them in a targeted manner.
News • Vaping
E-Cigarettes accelerate cardiovascular aging
A new study suggests that a single exposure to e-cigarette (e-cig) vapor may be enough to impair vascular function.
News • Young at heart
Cardiac stem cells from young hearts could rejuvenate old hearts
Cardiac stem cell infusions could someday help reverse the aging process in the human heart, making older ones behave younger, according to a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.
News • Weather influence
Rain increases joint pain? Google suggests otherwise
Some people with achy joints and arthritis swear that weather influences their pain. New research, perhaps the deepest, data-based dive into this suggestion, finds that weather conditions are indeed associated with Google searches about joint pain.
News • Rheumatoid arthritis
Hibernation causes inflammation
A research team found that in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, a special cell population called innate lymphoid cells are in a state of hibernation which is why these patients suffer from persistent inflammation.
News • Metastasis
Prostate cancer cells become ‘shapeshifters’ to spread to distant organs
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists report they have discovered a biochemical process that gives prostate cancer cells the almost unnatural ability to change their shape, squeeze into other organs and take root in other parts of the body.
News • European congress
Rett syndrome: connect people, share knowledge
Genetics and research, transition and aging, activities and participation, pain orthopedics and physiotherapy as well as new treatment options...
Article • Neurological diseases
No health without brain health
A largely aged population is already a reality in some countries, and this will become a worldwide problem by 2047, when the number of the Earth’s old people is likely to surpass the number of young people.
News • Auditory Attention Decoding
Hearing aid uses deep neural network to filter out the noise
Columbia Engineers make major advance in helping the hearing impaired follow a conversation in a noisy environment - and bring cognitive hearing aids a step closer to reality.
News • Rise and shine
Caffeine shortens recovery time from general anesthesia
Caffeine helps quickly boost wakefulness following general anesthesia, a new study finds. The stimulant—used daily by more than 90 percent of adults in the U.S.—appears to alter physiological function in two different ways to shorten recovery time.
News • Caudate nucleus
How Alzheimer's puts your brain on autopilot - in a good way
Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have a larger caudate nucleus, a brain area involved in habits and used to navigate in the environment on an autopilot mode, shows for the first time a Canadian-Norwegian study published in Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. Not good news, you may think. Hold on, this could open new research avenues for AD.
News • Virus study
Close contact not at fault for Zika spread
Saliva is no way to pass a Zika virus infection. According to researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who conducted studies with monkeys, casual contact like kissing or sharing a fork or spoon is not enough for the virus to move between hosts.
News • Vocalization
Speech impediment? The nucleus might be to blame
A genetic study identifies neuronal circuits responsible for ultrasonic calls uttered by mouse pups. The cries of human babies may well depend on similar connections, which could also be impaired in speech disorders.
Article • Skin protection
Self-improving DNA sun screen developed
Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a coating made out of DNA that gets better at protecting skin from Ultraviolet light the more it is exposed to the sun and which could potentially be used as wound covering for extreme environments.
News • Mutation Study
Influential gene neighbourhood
Genes do not exist in isolation. So far, little has been known about how the position of a gene on a chromosome affects its evolution.
Article • Infection control
Zika-vaccine receives boost
A promising Zika vaccine is on its way. Themis Bioscience GmbH (Vienna, Austria), a company specialised in vaccine development, has announced that the firm will receive One milion pounds sterling in funding by the innovation agency of the United Kingdom, Innovate UK, for the further development of this prophylactic vaccine and the conducting of a Phase 1 clinical trial.
News • Blood test alternative
Oral "Hep E" test could simplify detection tremendously
A saliva test developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health nearly matches the performance of a blood test widely used to assess recent or past hepatitis E virus infections, a new study reports. The findings could offer an easier, less expensive alternative to gathering data for studying and eventually treating the disease, which infects an estimated 20 million…
News • Exposure study
Got eye freckles? The sun might be to blame
In a study well-timed for summer, vision scientists have found that eye freckles, dark spots on the colored part of the eye (iris), are more frequently found in people with higher lifetime exposure to sunlight. While not malignant, eye freckles could indicate the presence or risk of sunlight-triggered eye diseases like cataract or macular degeneration.
News • Pregnancy loss
Single cell RNA-sequencing to offer miscarriage hope
A new technique – single cell RNA-sequencing – may offer answers and hope to the 200,000 mothers and partners affected by pregnancy loss in the UK every year.