Scientists at the University of Illinois have developed new hybrids of purple corn containing different combinations of phytochemicals that may fight obesity, inflammation and diabetes, a new study in mice indicates. The pericarp – or outer layer – of purple and other brightly colored corn kernels also may provide an alternative source of colorants for food products, giving corn producers another value-added product from their crop, said the U....
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New Type Of Antibody Can Hold HIV Virus At Bay For 4 Months
A single injection may have prevented the progression of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, to up to four months, a new study suggests. Researchers in Taiwan reported that the antibodycalled UB-421 was safe and it effectively prevented the virus from destroying the immune system. They reported that a single injection of the antibody is as effective as a daily pill regimen. They published the results of...
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Virus identified as a cause of paralyzing condition in Minnesota children
Researchers from Minnesota and the CDC made the breakthrough on the puzzling ailment. By Jeremy Olson Star Tribune APRIL 18, 2019 — 10:42PM At home Thursday following surgery in California, Quinton Hill, right, showed his arm brace to his friend Max Joyce. A virus appears to be the cause behind a rash of polio-like illnesses that struck Minnesota last fall, causing paralyzing symptoms...
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New method to detect off-target effects of CRISPR
by Julie Langelier, Gladstone Institutes Since the CRISPR genome editing technology was invented in 2012, it has shown great promise to treat a number of intractable diseases. However, scientists have struggled to identify potential off-target effects in therapeutically relevant cell types, which remains the main barrier to moving therapies to the clinic. Now, a group of scientists at the Gladstone Institutes...
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Preventing triple negative breast cancer from spreading
A breast cancer cell is like a house with three locks on the front door. Keys, or receptors, allow drugs to unlock the door and kill the cell. However, in triple-negative breast cancer, these keys are absent, thereby resulting in few options for drug therapy, until now. A protein called p53 suppresses and kills cancer in people. However, a defective, mutant form of...
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Researchers are testing ultrasound to treat neuropathic pain
by Sarah Meehan, The Baltimore Sun Steroid injections, nerve stimulators and spinal fusions were no match for the chronic pain in Tammy Durfee’s left side—never mind the “searing-hot poker” sensation that would jab her leg without warning. After a decade searching for relief, a four-hour procedure in Baltimore put her pain to rest. Durfee, of Higginsville, Mo., was the...
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Liver illness strikes Latino children like a ‘silent tsunami’
by Rob Waters, Kaiser Health News Saira Diaz uses her fingers to count the establishments selling fast food and sweets near the South Los Angeles home she shares with her parents and 13-year-old son. “There’s one, two, three, four, five fast-food restaurants,” she says. “And a little mom-and-pop store that sells snacks and sodas and...
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Working out makes hydrogels perform more like muscle
Mechanical ‘training’ produces strong, fatigue-resistant, yet soft hydrogels with possible uses in medicine MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Human skeletal muscles have a unique combination of properties that materials researchers seek for their own creations. They’re strong, soft, full of water, and resistant to fatigue. A new study by MIT researchers has found one way to give synthetic hydrogels this...
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Evidence grows for an HPV-heart disease connection
In several studies, it’s also linked to the nation’s leading cause of death—cardiovascular disease. There are more than 150 strains of HPV, including the ones responsible for cancers of the cervix, penis, anus and the back of the throat. In a study published earlier this year in Circulation Research, researchers found that Korean women infected with these “high-risk”...
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J-shaped association seen for BMI, Hodgkin lymphoma
(HealthDay)—There is a strong positive association between body mass index (BMI) and incident Hodgkin lymphoma(HL), with the positive association seen at BMIs greater than 24.2 kg/m², according to a study recently published in the British Journal of Cancer. Helen Strongman, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues examined the shape of the correlation between BMI and HL in individuals aged 16...