Health Problems

Why can’t Bertrand Might cry? Scientists offer an answer: missing water channels

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have shown that cells from children with NGLY1 deficiency—a rare disorder first described in 2012—lack sufficient water channel proteins called aquaporins. The discovery was published in Cell Reports and may help explain the disorder’s wide-ranging symptoms—including the inability to produce tears, seizures and developmental delays—and opens new […]

Personal Health

A single missing gene leads to miscarriage

A single gene from the mother plays such a crucial role in the development of the placenta that its dysfunction leads to miscarriages. Researchers from the Medical Faculty of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have observed this in so-called knockout mice that were specifically modified for this purpose. These mice lack the gene for the transcription factor […]

Health Problems

New method adds missing functionality to brain organoids

In a collaborative study between Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute, and George Washington University, researchers have developed a new procedure for generating miniature 3-D versions of the brain called “organoids” from human stem cells. By providing an environment for cells to interact the way […]