Alzheimer’s disease is an increasingly prevalent, neurodegenerative condition that erodes memory and other cognitive functions. Treatments for this complex disease have been elusive, although researchers have previously uncovered its main biological features: amyloid-beta plaques and tau tangles. PET scan of a human brain with Alzheimer’s disease. Credit: public domain A study by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH),...
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Metabolomics applications for precision nutrition, formula, and Neurodegenerative disorders
Metabolomics is the latest omics systems science technology with emerging applications towards psychiatry, personalized medicine, and most recently, precision nutrition research. Infant formula, for example, is manufactured to match the molecular composition of human milk. A new study reporting on the comparative lipid profiles of infant formulas and human milk using metabolomics is published in OMICS: A...
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CRISPR Study Shows Cas12a May Select DNA Target Sequences More Precisely Than Cas9
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Cas9 enzyme is known to have certain problems with binding to off-target DNA sequences, but for the most part, it is still considered to be the gold standard CRISPR enzyme for genome editing. However, in a new study in Molecular Cell today, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin...
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Blocking digestive hormone may prevent diet-induced pancreatic cancer
Cholecystokinin pathways influence cancer progression and spread AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY Rockville, Md. (Aug. 2, 2018)–A high-fat diet may promote the growth of pancreatic cancer independent of obesity because of the interaction between dietary fat and cholecystokinin (CCK), a digestive hormone. In addition, blocking CCK may help prevent the spread of pancreatic tumors to other areas...
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How diet modifies the correlation between genetics and obesity
A correlation between obesity and genetics has been found to be modified by diet, according to a scientific paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A research group led by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist found that a specific gene—APOA2—can result in a higher body mass index (BMI). The APOA2 gene encodes...
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Blood serum study reveals networks of proteins that impact aging
A team of researchers from several institutions in Iceland and the U.S. has conducted a unique blood serum investigation and discovered multiple protein networks that are involved in the aging process. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study and what they found. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Prior research has shown that when older mice have...
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Joint study raises questions about treatments for arthritis
A study examining how molecules are transported into knee-joint tissue could have major implications for understanding and treating arthritis. UNSW biomedical engineers have shown for the first time that a mixture of variously-sized molecules in the bloodstream can be separated by the constituent tissues of a healthy knee joint. And an arthritic joint was observed to disrupt...
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Study elucidates epigenetic mechanisms behind autoimmune diseases
A group of researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil used a DNA editing tool called CRISPR/Cas9 to manipulate the genes associated with the autoaggressive T lymphocytes responsible for inducing autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS-1) and type 1 diabetes. Immunofluorescence image of mTECs, with cell nucleus highlighted in blue...
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Scientists develop novel drug that could potentially treat liver cancer more effectively
A research team led by scientists from the Cancer Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a novel peptide drug called FFW that could potentially stop the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or primary liver cancer. This landmark discovery opens the door for more effective treatment of liver cancer with...
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Can arthritic dogs (and their owners) benefit from stem cell injections?
(HealthDay)—If dogs with arthritis can gain benefit from stem cell injections, maybe people can, too. That’s the opinion of an Italian veterinarian who oversaw the stem cell procedures in 130 arthritic dogs. “For at least six months, the results are very satisfactory and promising. The lack of any complications in the dog should be taken into account...