The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Southern Research have discovered a new drug candidate that offers a major advance in the treatment for diabetes. Tested on isolated human and mouse pancreatic islets, mouse and rat cell cultures and animal models of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, the experimental drug significantly improved four […]
New human-mouse chimera is the most human yet
A newly-created mouse-human embryo contains up to 4% human cells — the most human cells yet of any chimera, or an organism made of two different sets of DNA. Surprisingly, those human cells could learn from the mouse cells and develop faster — at the pace of a mouse embryo rather than a more slowly […]
Producing human tissue in space
On 6 March at 11:50 p.m. EST, the International Space Station resupply mission Space X CRS-20 took off from Cape Canaveral (U.S.). On board were 250 test tubes from the University of Zurich containing adult human stem cells. These stem cells will develop into bone, cartilage and other organs during the month-long stay in space. […]
Towards better anti-cancer drugs: New insights into CDK8, an important human oncogene
Most cancers are caused by a large variety of factors that vary from one person to another. To unravel this complexity, genes that contribute to the development of a respective cancer must be identified. Such genes are called oncogenes. A good example of an oncogene is CDK8: Cyclin-dependent kinase 8. Misregulated CDK8 is an important […]
Human Body-on-Chip platform enables in vitro prediction of drug behaviors in humans
Drug development is an extremely arduous and costly process, and failure rates in clinical trials that test new drugs for their safety and efficacy in humans remain very high. According to current estimates, only 13.8% of all tested drugs demonstrate ultimate clinical success and obtain approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). There are […]
Scientists use crabs to validate popular method to identify unknown human brain neurons
“Being crabby” might have a whole new meaning. A crab’s nervous system could help scientists learn what causes single neurons in the human brain to become “out of whack,” which can contribute to the development of neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. Knowing exactly how a single neuron operates among the billions housed in the human […]
Brain scans reveal how the human brain compensates when one hemisphere is removed
Researchers studying six adults who had one of their brain hemispheres removed during childhood to reduce epileptic seizures found that the remaining half of the brain formed unusually strong connections between different functional brain networks, which potentially help the body to function as if the brain were intact. The case study, which investigates brain function […]
Liver-chip identifies drug toxicities in human, rat, and dog models
Among the numerous microengineered Organ-on-a-Chip (Organ Chip) models developed at the Wyss Institute, the Liver Chip is of special interest to a number of industries because the real-time analysis of complex biochemical interactions could greatly enhance the liver toxicity testing that is ubiquitous in the development of drugs, foods, and other consumer products. The Wyss […]
10-year limit on storing frozen eggs is a 'breach of human rights'
Government’s 10-year limit on storing frozen eggs is a ‘clear breach of human rights’ because it is forcing women to destroy them before they are ready to have children, fertility experts warn Eggs can be frozen for several decades with the latest medical technology However, current laws in the UK say they should be destroyed […]
Study targets ‘fingerprint’ of human consciousness
Western researchers have moved a step closer to identifying a ‘brain fingerprint’ for consciousness—a discovery that will unlock further understanding into why some patients, presumed to be vegetative, are still aware of the world them. In his landmark 2006 study, Western neuroscientist Adrian Owen and his collaborators showed for the first time that functional neuroimaging […]