For the first time, medical doctors and researchers could alleviate serious symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which causes shaking, muscle stiffness and slow movements in those affected. However, before these symptoms appear, and during the course of the disease, many patients experience sleep disorders, gastrointestinal problems, anxiety, and depression. Unlike the symptoms in the motor system,...
Post
Antioxidant found to wind back the clock on blood vessel function by up to 20 years
Much mystery surrounds the physiological processes by which humans age, but scientists are learning more all the time. With this knowledge come new possibilities around how we can not only slow them down, but possibly even reverse them. A new breakthrough at the University of Colorado is the latest advance in the area, demonstrating how a chemically...
Post
Targeting molecules called miR-200s and ADAR2 could prevent tumor metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer
Researchers at SBP target miR-200s and ADAR2 in regulating metastasis of colon cancer cells. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The main cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer is liver metastasis, with nearly 70% of patients eventually developing a liver tumor. Recent research...
Post
Glowing contact lens could prevent a leading cause of blindness
Worn during sleep, the lens interrupts the process that destroys cells of the retina. Hundreds of millions of people suffer from diabetes worldwide, putting them at risk for a creeping blindness, or diabetic retinopathy, that comes with the disease in its more advanced stages. Existing treatments, though effective, are painful and invasive, involving lasers and...
Post
Leading genetics study method may need reconsideration, significant distortions discovered
Many conclusions drawn from a common approach to the study of human genetics could be distorted because of a previously overlooked phenomenon, according to researchers at the Department of Genetics and Genomics Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and collaborators from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute. Their conclusions and...
Post
Researchers Identify Essential Genes for Pluripotent Stem Cells Through CRISPR-Cas9 Screening
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel have built a reference library of essential and growth-restriction genes in haploid human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) that they believe will reveal key aspects of cellular essentiality. In a study published yesterday in Nature, the researchers used a recently discovered group of haploid hPSCs to generate...
Post
Chemotherapy without Pills or Needles
A promising new class of lung-cancer therapies can simply be inhaled, minimizing the side effects to other, healthy organs Imagine you’ve just been diagnosed with lung cancer. Only instead of prescribing a physically challenging course of radiation or chemotherapy, your oncologist hands you an inhaler with at-home treatment instructions, followed by office check-ups to monitor...
Post
How ‘ninja polymers’ are fighting killer superbugs
With advances in stem cell research and nanotechnology helping us fight illnesses from heart disease to superbugs, is the fusion of biology and technology speeding us towards a sci-fi future – part human, part synthetic? In Ridley Scott’s seminal blockbuster Blade Runner, humanity has harnessed bio-engineering to create a race of replicants that look, act...
Post
Size matters when fighting cancer, study finds
Killer T cells surround a cancer cell. Doctors could be a step closer to finding the most effective way to treat cancer with a double whammy of a virus combined with boosting the natural immune system, according to a pioneering study by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and...
Post
Get off the golf cart if you have knee osteoarthritis
From presidents to retirees, more than 17 million people over the age of 50 golf regularly. Knee osteoarthritis, which causes swelling, pain, and difficulty moving the joint, is one of the leading causes of disability in this age group. It may seem intuitive that golfers with knee osteoarthritis should stay off their feet and ride...