The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of 23andMe Personal Genome Service Genetic Health Risk (GHR) tests for 10 diseases or conditions. These are the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) tests authorized by the FDA that provide information on an individual’s genetic predisposition to certain medical diseases or conditions, which may help to make decisions...
Category: <span>Diagnostic</span>
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Engineered E. coli could color-code your poop to diagnose gut problems
Engineered E. coli has been shown to help diagnose gut problems in mice by expressing fluorescent proteins into their feces Humans have an uneasy relationship with bacteria – sure, they can make us very sick, but we also couldn’t live without the complex society residing in our guts. Now, researchers at Rice University have engineered E. coli to help...
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Method identified to boost detection of highly cancerous stem cells
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) escape from 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA)-based photodynamic detection (PDD) (upper panel). An iron chelator deferoxamine (DFO) enhances accumulation in CSCs of PpIX from 5-ALA, which will facilitate the elimination …more Japanese researchers identify process to improve fluorescence detection of cancer stem cells, which are primarily responsible for brain tumor progression and recurrence...
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Simple blood test points doctors towards best drug to treat depression
Researchers at UT Southwestern have recently made a major breakthrough in developing a simple blood test that could allow physicians to more successfully direct initial drug treatments Due to the lack of a biological test, determining which drug will work best in individuals suffering depression is often a game of trial and error. But...
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New gene-based blood tests identify more skin cancers
Genetic testing of tumor and blood fluid samples from people with and without one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer has shown that two new blood tests can reliably detect previously unidentifiable forms of the disease. Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and its Perlmutter Cancer Center, who led the study, say having quick and accurate monitoring...
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Microfluidic device isolates plasma cells from blood rather than bone marrow
Engineers at MIT have devised a microfluidic technique to capture and count circulating plasma cells from small samples of blood. The technique, which relies on conventional blood draws, may provide patients with a less painful test for …more Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells, which are white blood cells produced in bone...
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Single-cell analysis reveals subtypes of colorectal tumors
Cancer — Histopathologic image of colonic carcinoid. Combining single-cell genomics and computational techniques, a research team including Paul Robson, Ph.D., director of single-cell biology at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), has defined cell-type composition of cancerous cells from 11 colorectal tumors, as well as adjacent noncancerous cells, a key to more targeted diagnosis and treatment....
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AI that detects cancer in blood and pinpoints its location before symptoms appear ‘could be ready in one year’
Scientists from the University of California developed the new software It works by looking for specific molecular patterns in cancer DNA The algorithm was able to correctly detect cancer in 80 per cent of cases A machine that can detect cancer from a blood sample could be ready in a year. Scientists in California have developed a computer program that...
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X-Rays Of The Earliest Stage Of Alzheimer’s Offer Critical Clue About How It Starts
Scientists peered into the brains of mice and saw something about Alzheimer’s they hadn’t seen before. As many as 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease today, and that number could more than triple by 2025. The brain disorder is the most common form of dementia, causing memory loss that worsens over time and eventually pushes the...
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MRI use may “change the equation” for prostate cancer screening
Screening for prostate cancer is controversial. It can save lives, but it can also lead to unnecessary diagnoses, followed by surgical or radiation procedures, which themselves may lead to severe side-effects. Now a new study, coming from the Dutch part of the European Randomised study for the Screening of Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) has found that...