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For the first time, scientists have developed a method for generating accurate three-dimensional models of the entire DNA strand of a cell, known as a genome. The genome plays a central role in the functions of almost all human cells, and flaws in its structure are thought to cause various disorders, including cancer. Understanding the [...]

Older female cancer survivors are significantly more likely to suffer from long-term cognitive impairment after diagnosis and treatment compared to their twin sibling with no history of cancer, a USC study found. The risk was higher among survivors of gynecologic cancers and those who had treatments directly or potentially affecting ovarian functioning, according to the [...]

It’s rubbed on the skin to reduce signs of aging and consumed by athletes to improve endurance but scientists now have the first evidence of one of vitamin E‘s normal body functions. The powerful antioxidant found in most foods helps repair tears in the plasma membranes that protect cells from outside forces and screen what [...]

A new drug candidate may be the first capable of halting the devastating mental decline of Alzheimer’s disease, based on the findings of a study published in PLoS ONE. When given to mice with Alzheimer’s, the drug, known as J147, improved memory and prevented brain damage caused by the disease. The new compound, developed by [...]

In an example of life imitating art, biologists and bioengineers at UC San Diego have created a living neon sign composed of millions of bacterial cells that periodically fluoresce in unison like blinking light bulbs. Their achievement, detailed in this week’s advance online issue of the journal Nature, involved attaching a fluorescent protein to the [...]

An unfortunate consequence of many industrial and manufacturing practices, from textile factories to metalworking operations, is the release of heavy metals in waterways. Those metals can remain for decades, even centuries, in low but still dangerous concentrations. Ridding water of trace metals “is really hard to do,” said Joseph Calo, professor emeritus of engineering who [...]

An inexpensive, culturally sensitive diabetes prevention program created by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School reduced pre-diabetes indicators in a Latino population at risk for developing diabetes. Results…

About half of newborns who have seizures go on to have long-term intellectual and memory deficits and cognitive disorders such as autism, but why this occurs has been unknown. In the December 14 Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at Children’s Hospit…

Compared to the general population, patients with myotonic muscular dystrophy (MMD; a form of muscular dystrophy marked by generalized weakness and muscular wasting that affects the face, feet, hands and neck) are at increased risk of canc…

High levels of tau protein in fluid bathing the brain are linked to poor recovery after head trauma, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Fondazione IRCCS Ca Granda-Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico in Mil…

GALVESTON, Dec. 13, 2011 — Stillbirth is associated with a range of health and socio-demographic factors identifiable before or at the start of pregnancy, including prior pregnancy outcomes, ethnicity and modifiable health factors, such as diabetes,…

New research published today in the journal Science suggests it may be possible to use brain technology to learn to play a piano, reduce mental stress or hit a curve ball with little or no conscious effort. It’s the kind of thing seen in Hollywood’s “M…

Hitching a ride into the retina on nanoparticles called dendrimers offers a new way to treat age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. A collaborative research study among investigators at Wayne State University, the Mayo …

Patients who receive a blood stem cell transplant from a donor outside of their family to treat leukemia and other blood diseases are more likely to have graft failure but less likely to experience graft-versus-host disease, a condition caused…

Thanks to a new study from Columbia Engineering School, doctors may now be able to diagnose in their offices non-periodic arrhythmias — noninvasively and at low cost — within a single heartbeat.

Nurses working in hospitals around the world are reporting they are burned out and dissatisfied with their jobs, reported researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research in a study of 100…

Food prices are soaring at the same time as the Earth’s population is nearing 9 billion. As a result the need for increased crop yields is extremely important. New research led by Carnegie’s Wolf Frommer into the system by which sugars…

Ovarian cancer is a major health concern for women and the identification of sensitive biomarkers for early detection and/or monitoring of disease recurrence is of high clinical relevance.
New work published in the Dec. 7 issue of the online journal P…

By changing the behavior of certain cells within human blood vessels, Cornell University researchers have discovered important clues as to the underlying causes of atherosclerosis — a discovery researchers hope can lead to more targeted drug therapi…

A long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) regulates programmed cell death during one of the final stages of red blood cell differentiation, according to Whitehead Institute researchers. This is the first time a lncRNA has been found to play a role in red blood cell development and the first time a lncRNA has been shown to affect programmed cell death.