Biosingularity

An international team of scientists led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute has developed a straightforward technique to determine the ethnic origin of stem cells. The Scripps Research scientists initiated the study—published in the January 2010 edition of the prestigious journal Nature Methods—because the availability of genetically diverse cell lines for cell replacement therapy and [...]

Advances in antiaging drugs, acoustic brain surgery, flu vaccines–and the secret to IQ. via Technology Review: The Year in Biomedicine.

For years, practitioners of alternative medicine have been touting the benefits of ginkgo, especially for maintaining brain health, but a new study finds that the centuries-old nostrum does little to slow the cognitive decline of aging. Researchers at six universities across the U.S., led by Dr. Steven DeKosky at the University of Virginia School of [...]

The link between obesity and death from heart disease may be even worse than previously thought, but health problems associated with being underweight  may have been exaggerated, a new study shows. Previous studies have shown that a higher than normal body mass index (BMI), a barometer of unhealthy weight levels, is associated with higher rates [...]

Two newly discovered genes may act as master control switches in the progression of the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma.Researchers say the two genes are active in about 60% of all glioblastoma patients and identifying these genes could help identify those with this type of aggressive brain tumor.Glioblastoma is among the most lethal [...]

The human brain works at a far higher level of complexity than previously thought. What has been given little attention up to now in the information processing of neuronal circuits has been the time factor. “Liquid computing” — a new theory about how these complex networks of nerve cells actually work from computer scientists at [...]

A new type of gene therapy may help stop the progression of emphysema in young people who have an inherited form of the deadly disease. Researchers say previous attempts to correct the gene mutation that predisposes young people to emphysema have failed to achieve lasting results. But a new study shows a different approach that targets [...]

In a lab at the University of Pennsylvania, a plastic dish holds two rows of tiny black dots, pairs of them connected by dozens of thin, hairlike filaments. Each dot is a cluster of thousands of neurons, explains Douglas Smith, who is a professor of neurosurgery and the director of Penns Center for Brain Injury [...]

Platelets can quickly stanch the bleeding from a cut in your finger, but the hemorrhaging caused by a car crash or a battlefield injury might overwhelm the blood-clotting abilities of these cell fragments. Now, researchers report that they have designed a potential helper for such situations, a synthetic platelet that they show can curtail blood [...]

Two mice. One weighs 20 grams and has brown fur. The other is a hefty 60 grams with yellow fur and is prone to diabetes and cancer. They’re identical twins, with identical DNA So what accounts for the differences? It turns out that their varying traits are controlled by a mediator between nature and nurture [...]

Scientists have unlocked the entire genetic code of two of the most common cancers – skin and lung – a move they say could revolutionise cancer care. Not only will the cancer maps pave the way for blood tests to spot tumours far earlier, they will also yield new drug targets, says the Wellcome Trust [...]

Taking a hint from natural antibiotics, a startup spun out of Stanford University is developing a way to chemically alter existing drugs to dramatically improve their half-life By sequestering the drugs within cells, the researchers hope to protect them from the bodys efforts to destroy them. So far, the company has developed long-lasting versions of [...]

Since the 1950s, researchers have been trying to mimic the abilities of red blood cells. These flexible discs carry oxygen throughout the body, squeezing through the smallest capillaries to do so. But the physical characteristics of red blood cells, including their doubly concave shape, have made them difficult to copy with precision. In research published [...]

Every cup of coffee a person drinks per day may lower the risk of diabetes by 7%. A new review of research on the link between lifestyle factors, like coffee and tea consumption, and diabetes risk suggests that drinking regular or decaffeinated coffee and tea all lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. via Coffee, [...]

Ever since he first discovered the lifespan-extending effects of proteins called sirtuins 15 years ago, MIT Professor Leonard Guarente has been accumulating evidence to demonstrate a link between sirtuins and the effects of calorie restriction on lifespan. For decades, it has been known that cutting normal calorie consumption by 30 to 40 percent can boost [...]

Unlike most researchers, the engineers at ImThera Medical just might consider it a compliment if someone called their product a “snooze.” The experimental device is designed to treat sleep apnea, a breathing disorder that can disrupt sleep and trigger serious complications, including an increased risk for heart disease and stroke, as well as daytime sleepiness [...]

gene which is essential for stem cells’ capabilities to become any cell type has been identified by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of California, San Francisco. The discovery represents a further step in the ever-expanding field of understanding the ways in which stem cells develop into specific cells, a necessary [...]

Scientists have resolved a question about how a popular class of drugs used to treat schizophrenia works using biosensors that reveal previously hidden components of chemical communication in the brain.

A previously incurable blood disorder – sickle-cell disease – has been successfully treated in 9 of 10 adults who received stem cells transplanted from tissue-matched siblings. via Stem cell transplants treat ‘incurable’ blood disorder – health – 10 December 2009 – New Scientist.

Researchers at Yale have demonstrated a device that uses a magnetic liquid to separate blood cells based on their size and shape in just minutes.The device applies a magnetic field to a liquid containing magnetic nanoparticles. The nanoparticles create waves that carry cells along depending on their size, shape and mechanical properties. The researchers, led [...]

A team of Princeton University scientists has produced a systematic listing of the ways a particular cancerous cell has “gone wrong,” giving researchers a powerful tool that eventually could make possible new, more targeted therapies for patients.

What would happen if some soft tissue cells in your body randomly got the message to transform into stiff bone cells? Patients born with a disease called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) are locked into this fate, often becoming severely disabled before adulthood. The disease first manifests itself at birth, when a baby appears normal but [...]

If youve been diagnosed with breast cancer, you may want to cut down on alcoholic beverages.Thats the suggestion of researchers who found that cancer is 34% more likely to come back in breast cancer survivors who drink more than three drinks a week, compared with those who abstain or drink less.Drinking more than three drinks [...]

Scientists at New York University report they have developed a drug-free, noninvasive way to temporarily block the return of fearful memories in people. The technique, the researchers contend, could eventually change the way scientists view how the brain’s memory storage process works and perhaps even lead to new ways to treat anxiety disorders, including posttraumatic stress [...]

Scientists have discovered a new type of stem cell in the skin that acts surprisingly like certain stem cells found in embryos: both can generate fat, bone, cartilage, and even nerve cells. These newly-described dermal stem cells may one day prove useful for treating neurological disorders and persistent wounds, such as diabetic ulcers, says Freda [...]

Giving women more of the male hormone testosterone can turn them into fairer and more amiable game players, according to tests.A single dose of testosterone was enough to have this effect, European scientists found, but only if the woman was oblivious to the treatment.If she realised she had received the hormone and not a dummy [...]

Besides treating depression, the antidepressant Paxil may affect personality traits in positive ways, a new study suggests. Researchers say Paxil and likely other antidepressants in the class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may improve higher levels of neuroticism and lower levels of extraversion that are commonly seen with depression. Neuroticism is characterized [...]

Drinking coffee regularly may help lower the risk of advanced prostate cancer, a study shows. The study, presented this week at a conference of the American Association for Cancer Research in Houston, shows men who drank the most coffee were nearly 60% less likely to develop advanced prostate cancer than non-coffee drinkers. Researchers say it's [...]

Moderate intake of soy foods by breast cancer survivors appears to be not only safe but beneficial, according to a new study.Women who had a higher soy intake had a lower mortality and lower risk of relapse [than women with a low intake],” says researcher Xiao Ou Shu, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt [...]

Healthy levels of vitamin D may help patients with a certain type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma live longer. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have discovered that patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and low vitamin D levels are two times more likely to die from the cancer than patients with optimal levels. Deficient vitamin D [...]

An experimental drug developed by Danish startup Santaris effectively controls the hepatitis C virus in chimpanzees without creating drug-resistant forms of the virus–a major advantage over other compounds in clinical development. The compound, a synthetic nucleic acid that binds to a microRNA molecule required for viral reproduction, is now in early-stage clinical trials. It is [...]

A new study of the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing could help to understand the positive effect of dietary restriction on healthy ageing. Previous evidence from different organisms (fruit flies and mice) have shown that dietary restriction increases longevity, but with a potential negative side effect of diminished fertility. So the female fruit [...]

The body is a battle zone. Cells constantly compete with one another for space and dominance. Though the manner in which some cells win this competition is well known to be the survival of the fittest, how stem cells duke it out for space and survival is not as clear. A study on fruit flies [...]

Researchers from Yale University and Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., reversed the growth of lung tumors in mice using a naturally occurring tumor suppressor microRNA. The study reveals that a tiny bit of RNA may one day play a big role in cancer treatment, and provides hope for future patients battling one of the most prevalent and [...]

The electroencephalogram (EEG) has been widely used in research and medicine for more than eighty years. The ability to measure the electric activity in the brain by means of electrodes on the head is a handy tool to study brain functions as it is noninvasive and easy to apply. However, the interpretation of the EEG [...]

In the first study to demonstrate a clear positive association between adolescent fitness and adult cognitive performance, Nancy Pedersen of the University of Southern California and colleagues in Sweden find that better cardiovascular health among teenage boys correlates to higher scores on a range of intelligence tests – and more education and income later in [...]

A desktop instrument recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration might finally bring pharmacogenomic testing–the use of a patients genetic information for drug prescription decisions–to the mainstream. The device, made by Nanosphere, a startup based in Northbrook, IL, can, in a matter of hours, detect genetic variations in blood that modulate the effectiveness [...]

Previous studies have shown a link between low vitamin D status and heart disease. Now a new study shows that patients with high blood pressure who possess a gene variant that affects an enzyme critical to normal vitamin D activation are twice as likely as those without the variant to have congestive heart failure.

Scientists have long known that the human immune system has a method for detecting and destroying precancerous cells. But finding the cells behind this defense mechanism in order to study and perhaps even mimic them has proved quite the challenge. Since the malignant precancerous cells are eradicated before we even know they exist, identifying the [...]

Can stem cells safely repair heart attack damage? Yes, a clinical trial suggests.Bone marrow stem cells are supposed to home in on damaged parts of the heart. Once there, they send out signals that help the body repair the injury. Theres also evidence, from animal studies, that the stem cells themselves engraft to the heart [...]

Nanoparticles that deliver two or more drugs simultaneously can significantly shrink pancreatic cancer tumors and also reduce its spread, say researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital. Tayyaba Hasan, who is also a professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, led the development and testing of two “nanocells.” These nanocells combine light-based therapy with molecules that inhibit [...]

A healthy body may be the first step to achieving a healthy mind and appetite for learning. A large new study links cardiovascular fitness in early adulthood to increased intelligence, better performance on cognitive tests, and higher educational achievement later in life. Researchers say the results suggest that promoting physical and cardiovascular fitness as a [...]