by Cristy Lytal, University of Southern California Scientists from the USC Stem Cell laboratories of Neil Segil and Justin Ichida are whispering the secrets of a simpler way to generate the sensory cells of the inner ear. Their approach uses direct reprogramming to produce sensory cells known as “hair cells,” due to their hair-like protrusions...
by Bob Yirka, Science X Network, Medical Xpress A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions in China and one in the U.S. has found evidence of a new strain of swine flu that poses a possible threat to humans. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the...
By Christy Cheung, MRes Neuronal cell death in the nervous system is a major contribution to neurodegenerative diseases. Despite occasional neuronal deaths during the process of aging, extensive neuronal cell death is rare in adults with a mature central nervous system (CNS). Nevertheless, there is an increased neuronal loss in patients with neurodegenerative diseases compared...
By Heidi Ledford, Nature magazine on June 25, 2020 A suite of experiments that use the gene-editing tool CRISPR–Cas9 to modify human embryos have revealed how the process can make large, unwanted changes to the genome at or near the target site. The studies were published this month on the preprint server bioRxiv, and have...
by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute A novel liquid biopsy method can detect kidney cancers with high accuracy, including small, localized tumors which are often curable but for which no early detection method exists, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The report in Nature Medicine suggests that if validated in larger trials and applied widely, the non-invasive...
Multi-disciplinary research has led to the innovative fabrication of molecule-sized robots. Scientists are now advancing their efforts to make these robots interact and work together in the millions, explains a review in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. A molecular robot, which is typically between 100 nanometers to 100 micrometers long, requires an...
by RIKEN A new study by researchers at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Science in Japan reports differences in blood cell mutations between Japanese and European populations. The study found that these pre-clinical mutations were strongly associated with different types of cancers and can explain why Europeans have higher rates of chronic lymphocytic leukemia,...
By Rachel Schraer Health reporter A drug that could stop cancer cells repairing themselves has shown early signs of working. More than half of the 40 patients given berzosertib had the growth of their tumours halted. Berzosertib was even more effective when given alongside chemotherapy, the trial run by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)...
by University Health Network Dr. Daniel De Carvalho and Krembil Brain Institute Medical Director Dr. Gelareh Zadeh collaborated to combine advanced technology with machine learning to develop a highly sensitive and accurate blood test to detect and classify brain cancers. Credit: UHN A simple but highly sensitive blood test has been found to accurately diagnose...
Computational modeling yields a protein fragment that could bind to coronavirus spike proteins and destroy them. The research described in this article has been published on a preprint server but has not yet been peer-reviewed by scientific or medical experts. Using computational models of protein interactions, researchers at the MIT Media Lab and Center for...
