Patients with von Hippel–Lindau disease, a genetic condition brought on by a mutation in the VHL gene that predisposes the carrier to developing different kinds of tumors, have a high incidence of cancers, like kidney cancer. This is because of an inactive VHL gene that leads to hypoxia signaling, a condition that results from an imbalance...
Month: <span>December 2021</span>
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Breakthrough in using CRISPR-Cas9 to target fat cells
Fat—it is vital for life but too much can lead to a host of health problems. Studying how fat, or adipose, tissue functions in the body is critical for understanding obesity and other issues, yet structural differences in fat cells and their distribution throughout the body make doing so challenging. “Fat cells are different from...
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Promising anti-melanoma properties discovered in a sea squirt
Few places are farther from the medicine cabinet than the tissues of an ascidian, or “sea squirt,” on the icy Antarctic seafloor — but that’s exactly where scientists are looking to find a new treatment for melanoma, one of the most dangerous types of skin cancer. In a new paper published in mSphere, a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded team...
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Researchers reveal how our brains update memories when recollections are proven wrong
Researchers from the University of Toronto have confirmed the critical role played by the brain’s hippocampus in updating our memories when those recollections are shown to be inaccurate. The hippocampus is part of the brain’s limbic system – the amalgam of neurological components that, among other functions, creates and retrieves our memories. Previous research demonstrated that...
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Researchers working on injection-free cell therapy for diabetes
In a person with type 1 diabetes, the body mistakenly attacks pancreatic cells that produce insulin, a hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar. Without insulin, serious and eventually fatal symptoms will occur. Yet, imagine if, instead of needing daily insulin injections, people with diabetes could have insulin-producing cells placed back into the body, fixing the problem...
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Sensor based on quantum physics could detect SARS-CoV-2 virus
Mathematical simulations show the new approach may offer faster, cheaper, and more accurate detection, including identifying new variants. A novel approach to testing for the presence of the virus that causes Covid-19 may lead to tests that are faster, less expensive, and potentially less prone to erroneous results than existing detection methods. Though the work,...
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Medicinal cannabis oil found effective for treating autism
TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY IMAGE: PROF. DANIEL OFFEN CREDIT: TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY Researchers at Tel Aviv University, led by Ph.D. student Shani Poleg and Prof. Daniel Offen of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Felsenstein Medical Research Center, and Sagol School of Neuroscience, have successfully treated autism in animal models with medical cannabis oil. The researchers found that...
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HIIT for liver health
NICM HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE, WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY New research led by Western Sydney University suggests that aerobic exercise interventions incorporating either high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) are effective for improving non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. One of the most prevalent liver diseases in the world, affecting approximately 20-30% of the population, non-alcoholic...
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Traditional medicinal plant relieves malaria symptoms
MARTIN-LUTHER-UNIVERSITÄT HALLE-WITTENBERG IMAGE: BUTTERCUP RANUNCULUS MULTIFIDUS CREDIT: PROF. DR. KALEAB ASRES The active plant ingredient anemonin could provide a new approach in the treatment of malaria. It was identified by researchers from Ethiopia and Germany in a buttercup that is traditionally used in some African countries as a medicinal plant to treat malaria. Extracts from...
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Low-Dose Rituximab May Keep RA Activity Low in Responders
Richard Mark Kirkner November 19, 2021 Rituximab doses as low as 200 mg reduced disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis to an extent that’s similar to the standard 1,000-mg dose during more than 3 years of follow-up, according to results from an extension study of a clinical trial in the Netherlands. Nathan den Broeder We could...