Scientists from an international consortium have identified a large number of new genetic markers that predispose individuals to lupus The study is published in the July 17 issue of the journal Nature Communications and was led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, King’s College of London and Genentech Inc. Autoimmune diseases...
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How Does the New ‘Gene-Altering’ Therapy Fight Cancer?
A new type of cancer treatment that involves altering a person’s genes — and could save children’s lives — passed a major hurdle this week, when a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel recommended that the agency approve the therapy, The New York Times reported. But how does the treatment work? The treatment is for...
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Key immunological mechanism for regulating intestinal flora discovered
Researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) have shown for the first time that immunoglobulin M, secreted by the human intestine, plays a key role in maintaining the diversity of intestinal flora by including and maintaining microorganisms that are beneficial to health. These results have been published in the journal Immunity. “We have...
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Breathing in a new gene therapy to treat pulmonary hypertension
Mount Sinai has partnered with Theragene Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to advance a novel airway-delivered gene therapy for treating pulmonary hypertension (PH), a form of high blood pressure in blood vessels in the lungs that is linked to heart failure. If the therapy succeeds in human clinical trials, it will provide patients for the first time with...
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The fork in the road to DNA repair
Japanese researchers from Osaka University have uncovered a way in which our cells regulate the repair of broken DNA. Their results, published in the journal “Cell Reports,” show a common molecule regulates multiple repair mechanisms and help shed light on how the cell maintains the integrity of the human genome when it is damaged. The...
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Study reveals cells can be reprogrammed to repair severe liver injury
A new study has revealed that bile duct cells can switch to become normal liver cells to help repair the liver after severe damage. Understanding how this back-up system is controlled could pave the way for new liver therapies, say the scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University...
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New gene therapy treatment routes for motor neurone disease uncovered in new study
Scientists investigating the genetic causes and altered functioning of nerve cells in motor neuron disease (MND) have discovered a new mechanism that could lead to fresh treatment approaches for one of the most common forms of the disease. The team, based in the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), investigated a mutation in one particular...
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Brain training has no effect on decision-making or cognitive function: study
During the last decade, commercial brain-training programs have risen in popularity, offering people the hope of improving their cognitive abilities through the routine performance of various “brain games” that tap cognitive functions such as memory, attention and cognitive flexibility. But a recent study at the University of Pennsylvania found that, not only did commercial brain training with Lumosity...
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US Military Seeks Neural Implants to Restore Hearing, Sight
What if a portable computer system could one day interact directly with the human brain to help restore a person’s ability to see or hear? A project recently launched by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is tasking research teams with answering that question. DARPA, the research arm of the U.S. military, has awarded...
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Ejaculating at least 21 times a month significantly reduces a man’s risk of prostate cancer
This is compared to men who ejaculate just four-to-seven times a month Ejaculation is protective regardless of whether it’s through sex or masturbation Past research suggests ejaculation rids the gland of cancer-causing substances It may also help to ease inflammation, which is a known cause of the condition Researchers from Harvard University analyzed 31,925 men...