New Gene Discovered that Stops the Spread of Deadly Cancer
July 18, 2024 2:01 pm | CommentsScientists at the Salk Institute have identified a gene responsible for stopping the movement of cancer from the lungs to other parts of the body, indicating a new way to fight one of the world's deadliest cancers. By identifying the cause of this metastasis—which often happens quickly in lung cancer and results in a bleak survival rate—Salk scientists are able to explain why some tumors are more prone to spreading than others.
Cell Membrane Proteins Give Up Their Secrets
July 17, 2024 11:21 am | CommentsRice University scientists have succeeded in analyzing transmembrane protein folding in the same way they study the proteins’ free-floating, globular cousins. Rice theoretical biologist Peter Wolynes and his team at the university’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP) have applied his energy landscape theory to proteins that are hard to view because they live and work primarily inside cell membranes.
One Injection Stops Diabetes in Its Tracks
July 17, 2024 11:03 am | CommentsIn mice with diet-induced diabetes, the equivalent of type 2 diabetes in humans, a single injection of the protein FGF1 is enough to restore blood sugar levels to a healthy range for more than two days, according to a new study.
Bioscience Technology This Week #2: Do Your Genes Make You Smarter?
July 16, 2024 1:29 pm | CommentsOn this episode of Bioscience Technology This Week, Editor-in-Chief Rob Fee reports on the finding that some chimpanzees are smarter than others due to genetics. Our second story reports on how the same genes influence reading and math abilities.
Climate Change May Bring More Kidney Stones
July 11, 2024 1:57 pm | CommentsAs daily temperatures increase, so does the number of patients seeking treatment for kidney stones. In a study that may both reflect and foretell a warming planet’s impact on human health, a research team found a link between hot days and kidney stones in 60,000 patients in several U.S. cities with varying climates.
Bioscience Technology This Week #1: Tick Bites Pack Double Punch
July 9, 2024 11:24 am | CommentsOn this episode of Bioscience Technology This Week, Editor-in-Chief Rob Fee reports on the possible double-punch of tick bites and how to control and undo years of heart damage.
Dodging Dots Helps Explain Brain Circuitry
July 8, 2024 2:02 pm | CommentsA neuroscience study provides new insight into the primal brain circuits involved in collision avoidance, and perhaps a more general model of how neurons can participate in networks to process information and act on it. In the study, neuroscientists tracked the cell-by-cell progress of neural signals from the eyes through the brains of tadpoles as they saw and reacted to stimuli including an apparently approaching black circle.
Proton Therapy Has Advantages Over IMRT
July 3, 2024 8:30 am | CommentsA new study by radiation oncologists has found that proton beam therapy significantly improved disease free survival and tumor control when compared to IMRT in a variety of advanced head and neck cancers.
Treasure Trove of Genes Key to Kidney Cancer
July 2, 2024 9:24 am | CommentsA genomic analysis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common form of kidney cancer, from 72 patients has uncovered 31 genes that are key to development, growth and spread of the cancer, according to researchers.
Research Gives 3-D View of Important Brain Receptor
June 30, 2024 12:02 pm | CommentsResearchers with Oregon Health & Science University's Vollum Institute have given science a new and unprecedented 3-D view of one of the most important receptors in the brain—a receptor that allows us to learn and remember, and whose dysfunction is involved in a wide range of neurological diseases and conditions, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, schizophrenia and depression.
Sequencing Electric Eel Genome Unlocks Shocking Secrets
June 27, 2024 2:17 pm | CommentsThe genome of the electric eel has been sequenced. This discovery has revealed the secret of how fishes with electric organs have evolved six times in the history of life to produce electricity outside of their bodies. The research sheds light on the genetic blueprint used to evolve these complex, novel organs.
Gene in Brain Linked to Kidney Cancer
June 25, 2024 12:54 pm | CommentsA gene known to control brain growth and development is heavily involved in promoting clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common form of kidney cancer, researchers are reporting.
Cancer Chain in the Membrane
June 24, 2024 1:50 pm | CommentsSupercomputer simulations have shown that clusters of a protein linked to cancer warp cell membranes, according to scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School. This research on these protein clusters, or aggregates as scientists call them, could help guide design of new anticancer drugs.
Scientists Break the Genetic Code for Diabetes in Greenland
June 19, 2024 3:35 pm | CommentsA piece of detective work has mapped a special gene variant among Greenlanders that plays a particularly important role in the development of type 2 diabetes. The results can be used to improve prevention and treatment options for those genetically at-risk.
Sleep Quality and Duration Improve Cognition in Aging Populations
June 18, 2024 10:42 am | CommentsMaybe turning to sleep gadgets—wristbands, sound therapy and sleep-monitoring smartphone apps—is a good idea. A new University of Oregon-led study of middle-aged or older people who get six to nine hours of sleep a night think better than those sleeping fewer or more hours.
