Squished Cells Could Shape Design of Synthetic Materials
May 5, 2024 10:13 am | by University of Wisconsin-Madison | CommentsAll living cells are basically squishy balloons full of water, proteins and DNA, surrounded by oily membranes. Those membranes stand up to significant amounts of stretching and bending, but only recently have scientists started to fully appreciate the useful organization and functions that result from all that stress.
Breast Milk Hormones Impact Bacterial Development in Infants' Guts
May 5, 2024 10:08 am | by University of Colorado Denver | CommentsA new study finds that hormones in breast milk may impact the development of healthy bacteria in infants' guts, potentially protecting them from intestinal inflammation, obesity and other diseases later in life.
Study Suggests Bipolar Disorder Has Genetic Links to Autism
May 5, 2024 9:59 am | by University of Iowa | CommentsA new study suggests there may be an overlap between rare genetic variations linked to bipolar disorder (BD) and those implicated in schizophrenia and autism.
New Method Allows First Look at Early Embryo Development
May 5, 2024 9:50 am | by Rockefeller University | CommentsDespite significant biomedical advances in recent decades, the very earliest events of human development--those that occur during a critical window just after fertilization--have remained an unobservable mystery, until now.
Robot Stitches Tissue by Itself, a Step to More Automated OR
May 5, 2024 9:36 am | by Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer | CommentsGetting stitched up by Dr. Robot may one day be reality: Scientists have created a robotic system that did just that in living animals without a real doctor pulling the strings.
Simulating Evolution: How Close Do Computer Models Come to Reality?
May 5, 2024 9:29 am | by Christoph Adami, Michigan State University, The Conversation | CommentsScientists of all kinds turn to computer models to investigate questions they can't get at any other way. Here's how models work and why we can trust them.
Call to Re-examine '14-day rule' Limiting In vitro Human-embryo Research
May 4, 2024 2:06 pm | by Case Western Reserve University | CommentsBioethicists are proposing a reexamination of an internationally recognized rule limiting in vitro research on human embryos to 14 days post-fertilization.
Back from Death? ReAnima Project to Try and Wake the Dead Brain
May 4, 2024 10:21 am | by Seth Augenstein, Digital Reporter | CommentsTwo biotech companies will attempt to bring some measure of life into the brains of 20 people in India with the application of stem cells. It’s called the “ReAnima Project,” and it just received an institutional review board approval.
Mapping the Circuit of Our Internal Clock
May 4, 2024 9:36 am | by Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences | CommentsThe SCN is the control center for our internal genetic clock, the circadian rhythms which regulate everything from sleep to hunger, insulin sensitivity, hormone levels, body temperature, cell cycles and more.
Autism, Cancer Have 'Remarkable' Number of Risk Genes in Common
May 4, 2024 9:31 am | by University of California, Davis Health System | CommentsAutism and cancer share more than 40 risk genes, suggesting that common mechanisms underlying the functions of some of these genes could conceivably be leveraged to develop therapies not just for cancer but for autism as well.
Genetic Detectives: How Scientists Use DNA to Track Disease Outbreaks
May 4, 2024 9:13 am | by The Conversation, Emily Toth Martin, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of Michigan | CommentsThey’re the top questions on everyone’s mind when a new disease outbreak happens: where did the virus come from? When did this happen? How long has it been spreading in a particular country or group of people?
Math Points to 100-Times Faster Mapping of Gene Activity
May 3, 2024 10:01 am | by UCSF | CommentsNew research could accelerate – by 10 to 100-fold – the pace of many efforts to profile gene activity, ranging from basic research into how to build new tissues from stem cells to clinical efforts to detect cancer or auto-immune diseases by profiling single cells in a tiny drop of blood.
New Breast Cancer Genes and Mutations Pave Way for Personalized Treatment
May 3, 2024 9:55 am | by Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute | CommentsThe largest-ever study to sequence the whole genomes of breast cancers has uncovered five new genes associated with the disease and 13 new mutational signatures that influence tumor development.
Neuroscientists Find Evidence for 'Visual Stereotyping'
May 3, 2024 9:49 am | by New York University | CommentsThe stereotypes we hold can influence our brain's visual system, prompting us to see others' faces in ways that conform to these stereotypes, neuroscientists have found.
Monkey Bars Alert: Playground Concussions Are on the Rise
May 3, 2024 9:43 am | by Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer | CommentsPlayground concussions are on the rise, according to a new government study, and monkey bars and swings are most often involved. Most injuries studied were mild, but all concussions are potentially serious and the researchers say the trend raises public health and safety concerns.
