by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in the United States, and it’s increasingly understood that they share common risk factors, including tobacco use, diet, blood pressure, and obesity. Thus, a diagnostic tool that could screen for cardiovascular disease while a patient is already being...
By Ben Coxworth May 19, 2021 The experimental treatment uses enzymes to produce a 15-fold reduction in the binding force between the bacteria and fungus that make up dental plaquerobertprzybysz/Depositphotos With their often high-sugar diets and lax brushing habits, many children are particularly susceptible to cavities. An experimental new treatment could help, however, using enzymes...
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have found a key new piece of the puzzle in the quest to use gene therapy to enable people born deaf to hear. The work centers around a large gene responsible for an inner-ear protein, otoferlin. Mutations in otoferlin are linked to severe congenital hearing loss, a common type...
One of the major initial challenges of the COVID vaccine rollout? Making sure anybody who got an initial dose of the Pfizer, Moderna, or AstraZeneca vaccines could be matched with a second dose of the same vaccine. Besides not knowing what it would do if we did vax-mix-and-match, combining different brands of a brand-new vaccine,...
By Nick Lavars May 18, 2021 Scientists have identified a new set of blood-based biomarkers that may help predict Alzheimer’s risk maxxyustas/Depositphotos While the exact causes behind Alzheimer’s are still unknown, research is beginning to demonstrate how biomarkers of the disease might reveal themselves long before symptoms appear, raising the prospect of earlier diagnosis and better treatments...
By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD May 19 2021 Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. With the controversy surrounding the dosing interval for the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a new preprint published on the pre-print server medRxiv* discusses the results of a study of antibody responses to the first and second dose of two currently...
MAY 19TH, 2021 CONN HASTINGS Researchers at the University of Zurich have developed a virus-based therapy that causes a tumor to destroy itself. They modified an adenovirus, which is a common virus that typically infects the respiratory tract and which is already widely used in medicine, to deliver genetic material that codes for an anti-cancer protein. In...
ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY World-leading eye experts have made a breakthrough that could potentially change the way cataracts are treated – with potential for drug therapy to replace surgery. Cataract is a clouding of the eye lens that develops over time and affects the quality of vision. It is caused by an accumulation of protein in...
PARKINSON’S UK Wednesday 19 May 2021 – New research published today sheds important light on how the production of a key protein in the brain is controlled, which could pave the way for new treatments for a wide range of neurological conditions. In a study part-funded by Parkinson’s UK, researchers investigated a section of genetic material known...
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON A pioneering new study led by UCL scientists has revealed, for the first time, a layer of genetic material involved in controlling the production of tau; a protein which plays a critical role in serious degenerative conditions, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. The international research, conducted in mice and cells, also revealed...
