News • Traditional medicine
100-year-old fertility technique reduces need for IVF
Infertile couples have a major opportunity to achieve a successful pregnancy without the need for IVF, thanks to new research into a 100-year-old medical technique.
News • Breast cancer
New imaging technique to ensure surgeons completely remove cancer
Of the quarter-million women diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the United States, about 180,000 undergo surgery to remove the cancerous tissue while preserving as much healthy breast tissue as possible. However, there’s no accurate method to tell during surgery whether all of the cancerous tissue has been successfully removed.
News • Brain pathology
New insights into early cognitive markers of Alzheimer's
New research led by the University of Hertfordshire, may significantly change the understanding of cognitive processes that are most impaired at very early stages of Alzheimer's disease. The findings could potentially be used to detect the condition at an earlier stage and improve diagnostic accuracy, by creating new cognitive tests that are more sensitive to brain pathology than ones currently…
Article • Disease Research
Falsified genetic pathways may explain poor results
Spanish researchers are challenging the validity of many past and ongoing clinical trials and stress the importance of working with raw or preprocessed data in genetic information study.
News • Neurology
New-found brain pathway has implications for schizophrenia treatment
Neuroscientists at Tufts University School of Medicine have discovered a new signaling pathway that directly connects two major receptors in the brain associated with learning and memory – the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (a7nAChR) – which has significance for current efforts to develop drugs to treat schizophrenia.
News • Oncology
Radiotherapy could extend lives of pancreatic cancer patients
Patients with early stage pancreatic cancer could be given longer to live if they receive radiotherapy at a high enough dose, according to research presented at the ESTRO 36 conference.
News • Ophthalmology
Potential predictor of glaucoma damage identified
Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, most often is diagnosed during a routine eye exam. Over time, elevated pressure inside the eye damages the optic nerve, leading to vision loss. Unfortunately, there’s no way to accurately predict which patients might lose vision most rapidly. Now, studying mice, rats and fluid removed from the eyes of patients with glaucoma, researchers at…
News • Oncology
A clue to where cancer metastases are born
Even in remission, cancer looms. Former cancer patients and their doctors are always on alert for metastatic tumors. Now scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered why some cancers may reoccur after years in remission.
News • Study
Link between blood sugar and brain cancer found
New research further illuminates the surprising relationship between blood sugar and brain tumors and could begin to shed light on how certain cancers develop. While many cancers are more common among those with diabetes, cancerous brain tumors called gliomas are less common among those with elevated blood sugar and diabetes, a study from The Ohio State University has found. The discovery builds…
News • Microdevices
A miniscule robot could assist in minimally invasive surgeries
A tiny robot that gets into the human body through the simple medical injection and, passing healthy organs, finds and treats directly the goal – a non-operable tumor… Doesn’t it sound at least like science-fiction? To make it real, a growing number of researchers are now working towards this direction with the prospect of transforming many aspects of healthcare and bioengineering in the…
News • Global database
Scientists create leukaemia online tool to aid search for cure
Finding a cure for a rare type of blood cancer could be accelerated by a new virtual platform that allows researchers easy access to data from patient samples generated by laboratories around the world. LEUKomics, which has been launched by scientists at the University of Glasgow and the University of Melbourne, is a comprehensive database describing over 100 chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)…
News • Stem cell research
3D bioprinting of cartilage could soon be a reality
A team of researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy has managed to generate cartilage tissue by printing stem cells using a 3D-bioprinter. The fact that the stem cells survived being printed in this manner is a success in itself. In addition, the research team was able to influence the cells to multiply and differentiate to form chondrocytes (cartilage cells) in the printed structure.
News • Distribution
Grabbing multiple sclerosis by the nose
Over the next few years, in a research project funded by the EU, an international consortium is developing a new technology for a better treatment of multiple sclerosis. The idea of the innovative “Nose2Brain” approach is to transport a special active substance directly through the nose into the central nervous system.
News • Neural activity
Movie research results: Our brains are bad at multitasking
The brain works most efficiently when it can focus on a single task for a longer period of time. Previous research shows that multitasking, which means performing several tasks at the same time, reduces productivity by as much as 40%. Now a group of researchers specialising in brain imaging has found that changing tasks too frequently interferes with brain activity. This may explain why the end…
News • Neonatology
Artificial womb supports lamb fetus, may save extreme human preemies
A unique womb-like environment designed by pediatric researchers could transform care for extremely premature babies, by mimicking the prenatal fluid-filled environment to give the tiniest newborns a precious few weeks to develop their lungs and other organs.
Article • Disease analysis
No shortage of biobank donors
By definition, biobanks are collections of specimens of human bodily substances, such as tissue, cells, DNA, proteins, blood or other fluids, with data on the donor attached.
News • Biotechnology
Engineered muscle for the treatment of heart failure
MBM ScienceBridge GmbH successfully negotiated a license agreement between Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Stiftung Öffentlichen Rechts, Universitätsmedizin (UMG) and the biotech company Repairon GmbH about commercial production and use of engineered human myocardium for heart failure repair. The production methods are based on the scientific work from the group of Prof. Dr.…
News • Intoxication
Oktoberfest study: beer drinking may lead to heart problems
Researchers who studied beer drinkers at the Munich Oktoberfest have found that the more alcohol consumed the higher was the likelihood of developing abnormal heart rhythms called cardiac arrhythmias.
Article • Vocal pathology
New voice app to detect diseases
A new app measuring the biomechanics of the voice could impact the market of ENT and speech pathology products.
Article • Annual conference
The role of cardiology at the extremes
Cardiology at the extremes will be the key theme at the British Cardiovascular Society annual conference in Manchester in June. Topics covered include reflections in cardiology and space travel, physiological challenges associated with living under extreme environmental conditions and polar expeditions. Report: Mark Nicholls
News • Osteoporosis
Making bones stronger through math
Mathematical model shows injections of peptide could raise density of bones badly degraded by osteoporosis back to healthy levels.
News • Recurrent aphthous stomatitis
Research comes to terms with old ideas about canker sores
A burning pain sensation – and treatments that do not work. This is what daily life is like for many of those who suffer from recurrent aphthous stomatitis. Research from the Sahlgrenska Academy now sheds new light on the reasons behind this condition found in the mouth.
Article • Infections
Start of advanced genetic antibiotic resistance testing
Curetis, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced that the Company has established Ares Genetics GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Curetis GmbH. Ares Genetics builds on GEAR GEnetic Antibiotic Resistance and Susceptibility Database and associated assets recently acquired for Siemens. The Company will use GEAR to investigate the genetic foundations of antibiotic…
Mobile technology shakes up pregnancy research
Andrew Su, a professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), was sitting in an exam room with his newborn son when the idea for a new scientific study hit him.
News • Infectious disease
Antibody removed: help with resistant bacteria
Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Newcastle University found that the unusual approach of removing antibodies from the blood stream reduced the effects of chronic infections, the requirement for days spent in hospital and the use of antibiotics.
