Systems biologist Paola Picotti receives this year’s Rössler Prize for her groundbreaking work in the field of proteomics. She has developed a method of measuring structural changes in thousands of proteins at the same time, paving the way for personalised therapy. The announcement in March 2003 that a human genome had been completely sequenced for...
Microrobots Roll Along Blood Vessel Walls to Deliver Drugs
Precise delivery of therapeutic drugs into diseased tissue remains a challenge in a variety of cases. Tumors can be hard to seed with chemo agents, particularly when the blood flow is not favorable for delivery. Now, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany have developed microscopic drug delivery devices that can...
Princeton’s “poisoned arrow” molecule shreds superbugs from the inside
By Nick Lavars June 03, 2020 How the human species contends with an alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a pressing issue, with some experts predicting these superbugs could kill millions a year by 2050 if we don’t develop new weapons to neutralize the threat. A team of Princeton researchers has put forward a new...
New synthetic red blood cells are even better than the real thing
By Michael Irving June 03, 2020 Researchers have created synthetic red blood cells (RBCs) that have all of the useful properties of the real thing, plus a few new tricks. These new cells could be put to work carrying oxygen or drugs through the body, sensing toxins, and other tasks. It goes without saying that...
For acute myeloid leukemia, genetic testing is often worth the wait
Study suggests the benefits of a more personalized therapy typically outweigh the risks of delaying treatment to await test results AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY PRINT E-MAIL New tailored therapies offer exciting prospects for treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but taking advantage of them may require waiting a week or more for genetic testing before starting...
Vision and balance issues are common in elementary school-age children with a concussion
Collaborative research between CHOP and CDC stresses importance of proper assessments at initial health care visit CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA Philadelphia, June 4, 2020 – Head injuries that lead to concussions can happen at any age, and children impacted by concussions have different needs and recovery patterns. In a new study, researchers at Children’s Hospital...
Intranasal delivery of MSCs provides hope for treating Alzheimer’s disease
Durham, NC – In the search for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, mesenchymal stem cells and their derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) offer much promise, thanks to their protective and anti-inflammatory properties. The results from a new study done on mice, released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, strengthens this idea by showing for the first...
Scientists discover that nicotine promotes spread of lung cancer to the brain
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – June 4, 2020 – Among people who have the most common type of lung cancer, up to 40% develop metastatic brain tumors, with an average survival time of less than six months. But why non-small-cell lung cancer so often spreads to the brain has been poorly understood. Now scientists at Wake Forest...
Discovery of a novel gene involved in DNA damage repair and male fertility
Clarifying the mechanisms for meiotic recombination in sperm production KUMAMOTO UNIVERSITY A research group from the Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics (IMEG)at Kumamoto University, Japan has discovered that the gene C19ORF57 plays a critical role in meiosis. The gene appears to be related to the cause of male infertility and could be a big...
Biochemical alterations revealed in patients with Lesch-Nyhan disease
UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA An international study by the Institute of Neuroscience of the UAB (INC-UAB), Emory University and Hospital Universitario La Paz, published in the PNAS journal, shows that patients suffering from Lesch-Nyhan, a rare neurological disease, present biochemical alterations in skin cells (fibroblasts), urine and cerebrospinal fluid. Researchers have also discovered why these...